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Adoption and change in schools glossary

48 terms from R19, Adoption and change in schools — 23 defined in the guide itself and 25 more from the field around it. Every term the guide teaches links to the slide that teaches it.

The whole craft glossary

R19 · How to measure & scale

Adoption and change in schools

Why do good tools go unused?

Every term below is defined in the words of adoption and change in schools, guide R19 of craft guides for educational technologists, and opens the guide at the slide where it is taught. 25 of the 48 are the field’s vocabulary rather than the guide’s own: words a reader will meet around this subject, defined here because the guide assumes them. 1 term is also defined by another guide in the series; where the two differ, both wordings are given. The whole craft glossary holds all of them together.

TermDefinitionReferred to inRead further
A
Abandonment

Stopping use of a technology after adopting it, often without anyone deciding to (Greenhalgh et al., 2017).

  • Greenhalgh, T., Wherton, J., Papoutsi, C., Lynch, J., Hughes, G., A'Court, C., Hinder, S., Fahy, N., Procter, R., & Shaw, S. (2017). Beyond adoption: A new framework for theorizing and evaluating nonadoption, abandonment, and challenges to the scale-up, spread, and sustainability of health and care technologies. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 19(11), Article e367. doi
  • Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations (5th ed.). Free Press.
ADKAR

A model of individual change with five steps in order: awareness, desire, knowledge, ability and reinforcement. It is used to find where a person or group is stuck.

  • R19Adoption and change in schoolsFrom the field · not in the guide
  • Hiatt, J. M. (2006). ADKAR: A model for change in business, government and our community. Prosci Learning Center Publications.
Adopter categories

Five groups sorted by how early they take up an innovation, from innovators to laggards (Rogers, 2003).

  • Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations (5th ed.). Free Press.
  • Moore, G. A. (1991). Crossing the chasm: Marketing and selling technology products to mainstream customers. HarperBusiness.
Adoption

A lasting change in what people do because of a new tool or practice. More than access, and more than a login.

  • Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations (5th ed.). Free Press.
  • Cuban, L. (2001). Oversold and underused: Computers in the classroom. Harvard University Press. doi
  • Sharples, J., Eaton, J., & Boughelaf, J. (2024). A school's guide to implementation: Guidance report. Education Endowment Foundation. educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk
B
Buy-in

Real agreement, from the people who must carry out a change, that it is worth doing. It is distinct from compliance.

  • R19Adoption and change in schoolsFrom the field · not in the guide
  • Sharples, J., Eaton, J., & Boughelaf, J. (2024). A school's guide to implementation: Guidance report. Education Endowment Foundation. educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk
  • Kotter, J. P., & Whitehead, L. A. (2010). Buy-in: Saving your good idea from getting shot down. Harvard Business Review Press.
C
Change agent

A person who works to bring about the adoption of an innovation in a group, often from outside it, on behalf of the organisation promoting the change.

  • R19Adoption and change in schoolsFrom the field · not in the guide
  • Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations (5th ed.). Free Press.
Change curve

A picture of how morale and performance often dip after a change is announced and recover as people accept it, adapted from Kübler-Ross's stages of grief.

  • R19Adoption and change in schoolsFrom the field · not in the guide
  • Kübler-Ross, E. (1969). On death and dying. Macmillan.
Change fatigue

Weariness and disengagement in staff who have been asked to absorb too many changes in too short a time.

  • R19Adoption and change in schoolsFrom the field · not in the guide
  • Bernerth, J. B., Walker, H. J., & Harris, S. G. (2011). Change fatigue: Development and initial validation of a new measure. Work & Stress, 25(4), 321–337. doi
Change management

The planned work of moving people and an organisation from one way of working to another: preparing, supporting and following up, not only announcing.

  • R19Adoption and change in schoolsFrom the field · not in the guide
  • Fullan, M. (2001). Leading in a culture of change. Jossey-Bass.
  • Kotter, J. P. (1996). Leading change. Harvard Business School Press. doi
Compatibility

The degree to which an innovation is viewed as consistent with the current values, previous experiences and needs of prospective adopters. Late adopters weigh it heavily (Rogers, 2003).

  • Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations (5th ed.). Free Press.
Concerns-Based Adoption Model

A model developed at the University of Texas at Austin that describes the stages of concern and levels of use a person moves through as they meet a change (Hall & Hord, 2014).

  • Hall, G. E., & Hord, S. M. (2014). Implementing change: Patterns, principles, and potholes (4th ed.). Pearson. pearson.com
  • American Institutes for Research. (n.d.). Stages of concern: Concerns-Based Adoption Model. Retrieved September 17, 2026, from air.org
Core components

The parts of an approach that must stay the same for it to work; also called active ingredients (Sharples et al., 2024).

  • Sharples, J., Eaton, J., & Boughelaf, J. (2024). A school's guide to implementation: Guidance report. Education Endowment Foundation. educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk
  • Fixsen, D. L., Naoom, S. F., Blase, K. A., Friedman, R. M., & Wallace, F. (2005). Implementation research: A synthesis of the literature (FMHI Publication No. 231). University of South Florida, Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, National Implementation Research Network.
D
De-implementation

Stopping an approach on purpose, with the same care as starting one (Sharples et al., 2024).

Diffusion

The process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system (Rogers, 2003).

  • Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations (5th ed.). Free Press.
  • Ryan, B., & Gross, N. C. (1943). The diffusion of hybrid seed corn in two Iowa communities. Rural Sociology, 8(1), 15–24.
Distributed leadership

Leadership spread across several people, such as heads of department and subject leads, which is how a tool becomes part of everyday routines (Leithwood et al., 2008).

  • Leithwood, K., Harris, A., & Hopkins, D. (2008). Seven strong claims about successful school leadership. School Leadership & Management, 28(1), 27–42. doi
E
Effort ledger

A count of the minutes a change adds and removes for one person over a set period.

  • Davis, F. D. (1989). Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information technology. MIS Quarterly, 13(3), 319–340. doi
  • Venkatesh, V., Morris, M. G., Davis, G. B., & Davis, F. D. (2003). User acceptance of information technology: Toward a unified view. MIS Quarterly, 27(3), 425–478. doi
Eight-step change model

Kotter's sequence for leading change, which runs from creating urgency and building a guiding coalition, through short-term wins, to anchoring the change in the culture.

  • R19Adoption and change in schoolsFrom the field · not in the guide
  • Kotter, J. P. (1996). Leading change. Harvard Business School Press. doi
  • Kotter, J. P. (1995). Leading change: Why transformation efforts fail. Harvard Business Review, 73(2), 59–67.
F
Facilitating conditions

The support and infrastructure a person believes exist for using a system (Venkatesh et al., 2003).

  • Venkatesh, V., Morris, M. G., Davis, G. B., & Davis, F. D. (2003). User acceptance of information technology: Toward a unified view. MIS Quarterly, 27(3), 425–478. doi
  • Venkatesh, V., Thong, J. Y. L., & Xu, X. (2012). Consumer acceptance and use of information technology: Extending the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology. MIS Quarterly, 36(1), 157–178. doi
First-order barrier

An external obstacle to using technology, such as time, access or support (Ertmer, 1999).

  • Ertmer, P. A. (1999). Addressing first- and second-order barriers to change: Strategies for technology integration. Educational Technology Research and Development, 47(4), 47–61. doi
G
Grammar of schooling

The standard structures of school, such as age-graded classes, separate subjects and fixed lessons, which persist because they work for teachers and which absorb or reject reforms.

  • R19Adoption and change in schoolsFrom the field · not in the guide
  • Cuban, L. (2001). Oversold and underused: Computers in the classroom. Harvard University Press. doi
  • Tyack, D., & Tobin, W. (1994). The “grammar” of schooling: Why has it been so hard to change? American Educational Research Journal, 31(3), 453–479. doi
H
Hype cycle

Gartner's picture of how expectations of a new technology rise to a peak, fall into disillusionment and then settle at a realistic level.

  • R19Adoption and change in schoolsFrom the field · not in the guide
  • Fenn, J., & Raskino, M. (2008). Mastering the hype cycle: How to choose the right innovation at the right time. Harvard Business Press.
I
Implementation dip

A fall in performance and confidence while new skills are learned (Fullan, 2001).

  • Fullan, M. (2001). Leading in a culture of change. Jossey-Bass.
  • Sharples, J., Eaton, J., & Boughelaf, J. (2024). A school's guide to implementation: Guidance report. Education Endowment Foundation. educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk
Implementation phases

The EEF's four phases of implementation, Explore, Prepare, Deliver and Sustain, which end in an explicit decision to sustain, scale or de-implement an approach (Sharples et al., 2024).

Innovation configuration

A map, from the Concerns-Based Adoption Model, that describes what an innovation looks like in use, from ideal to unacceptable variations of each component.

  • R19Adoption and change in schoolsFrom the field · not in the guide
  • Hall, G. E., & Hord, S. M. (2014). Implementing change: Patterns, principles, and potholes (4th ed.). Pearson. pearson.com
Institutionalisation

The stage at which a change has become part of an organisation's routines, budgets and expectations and no longer depends on the people who introduced it.

  • R19Adoption and change in schoolsFrom the field · not in the guide
  • Fullan, M. (2007). The new meaning of educational change (4th ed.). Teachers College Press.
L
Leaky funnel

This guide's picture of adoption: people lost between awareness, trial, use and changed practice.

  • Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations (5th ed.). Free Press.
  • Cuban, L. (2001). Oversold and underused: Computers in the classroom. Harvard University Press. doi
Levels of use

Eight levels describing how a person uses an innovation, from nonuse to renewal (Hall & Hord, 2014).

  • Hall, G. E., & Hord, S. M. (2014). Implementing change: Patterns, principles, and potholes (4th ed.). Pearson. pearson.com
  • Hall, G. E., Loucks, S. F., Rutherford, W. L., & Newlove, B. W. (1975). Levels of use of the innovation: A framework for analyzing innovation adoption. Journal of Teacher Education, 26(1), 52–56. doi
Loose coupling

The weak connection between what a school system decides centrally and what happens in each classroom, which lets teachers buffer their practice from outside change.

  • R19Adoption and change in schoolsFrom the field · not in the guide
  • Weick, K. E. (1976). Educational organizations as loosely coupled systems. Administrative Science Quarterly, 21(1), 1–19. doi
N
NASSS framework

A framework for health and care technology programmes that names non-adoption and abandonment as outcomes to plan for, not only to explain afterwards (Greenhalgh et al., 2017).

  • Greenhalgh, T., Wherton, J., Papoutsi, C., Lynch, J., Hughes, G., A'Court, C., Hinder, S., Fahy, N., Procter, R., & Shaw, S. (2017). Beyond adoption: A new framework for theorizing and evaluating nonadoption, abandonment, and challenges to the scale-up, spread, and sustainability of health and care technologies. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 19(11), Article e367. doi
O
Observability (of an innovation)

How visible the results of an innovation are to others. Teachers adopt more readily what they can see working in a colleague's classroom.

  • R19Adoption and change in schoolsFrom the field · not in the guide
  • Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations (5th ed.). Free Press.
Opinion leader

A member of a group whose views colleagues seek out and follow. Their take-up of a tool, or their refusal, strongly influences everyone else's.

  • R19Adoption and change in schoolsFrom the field · not in the guide
  • Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations (5th ed.). Free Press.
P
Perceived ease of use

How free of effort a person expects a system to be (Davis, 1989).

  • Davis, F. D. (1989). Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information technology. MIS Quarterly, 13(3), 319–340. doi
  • Venkatesh, V., Morris, M. G., Davis, G. B., & Davis, F. D. (2003). User acceptance of information technology: Toward a unified view. MIS Quarterly, 27(3), 425–478. doi
Perceived usefulness

How much a person believes a system will help their work (Davis, 1989).

  • Davis, F. D. (1989). Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information technology. MIS Quarterly, 13(3), 319–340. doi
  • Venkatesh, V., Morris, M. G., Davis, G. B., & Davis, F. D. (2003). User acceptance of information technology: Toward a unified view. MIS Quarterly, 27(3), 425–478. doi
Pilot

A small, time-limited trial of a tool or practice in a few schools or classes, run to learn whether and how it works before a wider rollout.

  • R19Adoption and change in schoolsFrom the field · not in the guide
R
Re-invention

Changes that users make to an innovation as they adopt it. Some re-invention helps a tool fit local conditions; too much removes what made it work.

  • R19Adoption and change in schoolsFrom the field · not in the guide
  • Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations (5th ed.). Free Press.
  • Sharples, J., Eaton, J., & Boughelaf, J. (2024). A school's guide to implementation: Guidance report. Education Endowment Foundation. educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk
Readiness for change

How far the people in an organisation are both willing and able to carry out a particular change. It is assessed before a rollout begins.

  • R19Adoption and change in schoolsFrom the field · not in the guide
  • Sharples, J., Eaton, J., & Boughelaf, J. (2024). A school's guide to implementation: Guidance report. Education Endowment Foundation. educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk
  • Weiner, B. J. (2009). A theory of organizational readiness for change. Implementation Science, 4, Article 67. doi
  • Armenakis, A. A., Harris, S. G., & Mossholder, K. W. (1993). Creating readiness for organizational change. Human Relations, 46(6), 681–703. doi
Relative advantage

How much better an innovation is seen to be than what it replaces. It is the strongest of Rogers's five predictors of how fast an innovation is adopted.

  • R19Adoption and change in schoolsFrom the field · not in the guide
  • Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations (5th ed.). Free Press.
Resistance to change

Reluctance or refusal to take up a new way of working. It is often a reasonable response to extra effort, unclear benefit or a poor past experience.

  • R19Adoption and change in schoolsFrom the field · not in the guide
  • Ertmer, P. A. (1999). Addressing first- and second-order barriers to change: Strategies for technology integration. Educational Technology Research and Development, 47(4), 47–61. doi
  • Coch, L., & French, J. R. P., Jr. (1948). Overcoming resistance to change. Human Relations, 1(4), 512–532. doi
S
SAMR model

Puentedura's four levels of classroom technology use: substitution, augmentation, modification and redefinition. It is widely used in schools, though its research basis is thin.

  • R19Adoption and change in schoolsFrom the field · not in the guide
  • Hamilton, E. R., Rosenberg, J. M., & Akcaoglu, M. (2016). The Substitution Augmentation Modification Redefinition (SAMR) model: A critical review and suggestions for its use. TechTrends, 60(5), 433–441. doi
Scale-up

Extending a tool or practice from a few sites to many. In Coburn's account, real scale means depth, sustainability, spread and a shift in ownership, not only numbers.

  • R19Adoption and change in schoolsFrom the field · not in the guide
  • Greenhalgh, T., Wherton, J., Papoutsi, C., Lynch, J., Hughes, G., A'Court, C., Hinder, S., Fahy, N., Procter, R., & Shaw, S. (2017). Beyond adoption: A new framework for theorizing and evaluating nonadoption, abandonment, and challenges to the scale-up, spread, and sustainability of health and care technologies. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 19(11), Article e367. doi
  • Coburn, C. E. (2003). Rethinking scale: Moving beyond numbers to deep and lasting change. Educational Researcher, 32(6), 3–12. doi
Second-order barrier

An internal obstacle, such as beliefs about teaching or confidence (Ertmer, 1999).

  • Ertmer, P. A. (1999). Addressing first- and second-order barriers to change: Strategies for technology integration. Educational Technology Research and Development, 47(4), 47–61. doi
  • Ertmer, P. A. (2005). Teacher pedagogical beliefs: The final frontier in our quest for technology integration? Educational Technology Research and Development, 53(4), 25–39. doi
Shelfware

Software that has been bought and licensed but is never or barely used.

  • R19Adoption and change in schoolsFrom the field · not in the guide
  • Glimpse K12. (2019, May 15). Glimpse K12 analysis of school spending shows that two-thirds of software license purchases go unused [Press release]. GlobeNewswire. globenewswire.com
  • Wood, C. (2018). Most educational software licenses go unused in K-12 districts. EdScoop. edscoop.com
Stages of concern

Seven stages describing what a person worries about as they meet a change, from unconcerned to refocusing (Hall & Hord, 2014).

R20 A model of how people's concerns about a change shift, from information and personal impact towards consequences and refinement (Hall & Hord, 2014).

  • Hall, G. E., & Hord, S. M. (2014). Implementing change: Patterns, principles, and potholes (4th ed.). Pearson. pearson.com
  • American Institutes for Research. (n.d.). Stages of concern: Concerns-Based Adoption Model. Retrieved September 17, 2026, from air.org
T
Technology Acceptance Model

Davis's model in which perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use predict use of a system, and ease of use shapes whether a tool seems useful (Davis, 1989).

  • Davis, F. D. (1989). Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information technology. MIS Quarterly, 13(3), 319–340. doi
  • Venkatesh, V., Morris, M. G., Davis, G. B., & Davis, F. D. (2003). User acceptance of information technology: Toward a unified view. MIS Quarterly, 27(3), 425–478. doi
The chasm

The gap between a product's enthusiastic early adopters and the pragmatic majority, who want proof, support and a complete solution before they commit.

  • R19Adoption and change in schoolsFrom the field · not in the guide
  • Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations (5th ed.). Free Press.
  • Moore, G. A. (1991). Crossing the chasm: Marketing and selling technology products to mainstream customers. HarperBusiness.
Trialability

How easily an innovation can be tried on a small scale before committing to it.

  • R19Adoption and change in schoolsFrom the field · not in the guide
  • Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations (5th ed.). Free Press.
U
Unfreeze–change–refreeze

Lewin's three-stage account of change: loosen the current way of working, move to the new one, then stabilise it so people do not drift back.

  • R19Adoption and change in schoolsFrom the field · not in the guide
  • Lewin, K. (1947). Frontiers in group dynamics: Concept, method and reality in social science; social equilibria and social change. Human Relations, 1(1), 5–41. doi
Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology

A model combining eight earlier models of technology acceptance, with four core determinants: performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence and facilitating conditions (Venkatesh et al., 2003).

  • Venkatesh, V., Morris, M. G., Davis, G. B., & Davis, F. D. (2003). User acceptance of information technology: Toward a unified view. MIS Quarterly, 27(3), 425–478. doi
  • Davis, F. D. (1989). Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information technology. MIS Quarterly, 13(3), 319–340. doi

Nearby

The guide itself, and the ones either side

Read adoption and change in schools (opens in a new tab)Basic statistics for educational technologists Communicating change to schools All 21 guides
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