By Mike Murphy

Results, April 2001

Copyright, National Staff Development Council, 2001. All rights reserved.

Editor's note: A chart that accompanies this article is available only in the published or PDF version of this article.

The Standard: Effective staff development is based on knowledge about human learning and development.

Most school improvement efforts overlook issues of how school personnel react and adapt to changes.

Schools can accelerate positive change, not through piling on more initiatives, but by attending to the change issues that complicate the feelings, efforts, and senses of efficacy and worth of school people — the change agents.

Consider these suggestions when implementing an initiative in your school:

Study the "stages of concern" in Taking Charge of Change (Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 1987) and note Tom Guskey’s descriptions of each of the stages in the chart (Evaluating Professional Development, California: Corwin Press, 2000).

Discuss each stage with your school’s implementation team, noting how each stage is usually manifested, and possible processes for addressing the concerns and issues raised at that stage.

Ask school personnel to respond in writing to open-ended questions such as "When I think of (the change or initiative), I have concerns about ___________." Ask them to write as much as they wish about their feelings or concerns about any aspect of implementation.

Review the statements and chart the overall concerns of the staff.

In Taking Charge of Change, note possible facilitation remedies and how your team might address your staff’s most intense concerns.

When determining ways to address concerns, consider what your team may provide the staff as well as how to address the concerns. Use this process continually as your team monitors the planned change.

Mike Murphy is director of programs for the National Staff Development Council.