Administrator as a Change Leader: CBAM

Monitoring Change Efforts - Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM)

It takes 3 to 5 years for complex changes to move from initiation to institutionalization (Fullan, 1991; National Staff Development Council, 1995).

Because instituting a staff development program at the school level involves change, diagnostic procedures from the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) are used to identify and monitor the change efforts. What makes change efforts so complex is that individuals have different needs during each phase of the change process. It takes 3 to 5 years for complex changes to move from initiation to institutionalization (Fullan, 1991; National Staff Development Council, 1995).

Stages of Concern

Stages of Concern (SoC) is one dimension of CBAM that focuses on the concerns of individuals involved in change. There are seven stages. The first stage, Stage 0 (Awareness), indicates an individual has little concern or involvement at this time with an innovation. The other stages reflect three categories: Self, Task, and Impact.

Self Concerns (Stage 1, Informational and Stage 2, Personal)
- What is this new change and how will it affect me?
Task Concerns (Stage 3, Management)
- How do I implement this change?
- What do I need to do to make this change happen with my students?
Impact Concerns (Stage 4, Consequence; Stage 5, Collaboration; Stage 6, Refocusing)
- How are students learning?
- Are they learning more and are they learning better?
- How do I work with others who are also implementing these new ideas?
  (Hord et al., 1987; Hall & Hord, 2001)

Resistance is part of change. Often resistance shows up in self-concerns. The information should be given repeatedly over time, in small bits, and in different ways. If there are high personal concerns, it is important to listen before intervening to determine the reasons, which might include uncertainty about expectations of the implementation process, questioning of one's competency of designing assessments, or sense of loss over not being able to justify the use of other approaches. Personal concerns are often intensified if not enough information is communicated to individuals in a timely, consistent manner. Also with high concerns, individuals need to know from administration that there is a continuation of commitment to and support for the change.

If there is a tailing-up on refocusing stage, this might indicate resistance, especially if the individual is attempting to learn and implement other school/district initiatives. It is important to note that the individual might not be resisting but uncomfortable because the teacher doesn't have enough information. Figure 5 identifies the three dimensions and expression of concerns for the seven Stages of Concern.

Levels of Use

The Levels of Use (LoU) is one dimension of CBAM that describes the behaviors of individuals using the innovation. There are eight Levels of Use with a decision point between levels to indicate movement from one level to the next. Figure 5 identifies the Levels of Use and appropriate decision points.

Figure 5. Levels of Use and Decision Points




Levels of Use		Definition





Level 0 - Non-use		Having little or no knowledge of innovation.

Decision Point A - Takes action to learn more about innovation.



Level I - Orientation		Acquiring some information of innovation.

Decision Point B - Makes a decision to use innovation.



Level II - Preparation		Preparing for first use of innovation.

Decision Point C - Begins first use of innovation.



Level III - Mechanical Use		Focusing on immediate needs of user to master tasks of innovation.

Decision Point D-1 - Establishes routine use of the innovation.



Level IVA- Routine		Making few changes in ongoing use of innovation.

Decision Point D-2 - Changes in use are based on formal or informal evaluation.



Level IVB - Refinement		Varying use of the innovation to make impact on students.

Decision Point E - Initiates changes based on collaboration with colleagues for benefit of students.



Level V - Integration		Combining efforts of self and colleagues to achieve collective impact on students.

Decision Point F - Begins to explore alternatives.



Level VI - Renewal		Reevaluating own use, seeking major modifications, and exploring new developments.



(Hord et al., 1987, p. 55)

There are seven categories used to determine Levels of Use. Figure 6 identifies and describes each of the seven categories.

Figure 6. Description of Categories Uses to Determine Levels of Use




Category		Description





Knowledge		Knows about characteristics of the innovation, how to use it, and the consequences of its use.



Acquiring Information		Solicits information about the innovation in a variety of ways, questioning resource people, reviewing materials, and doing site visits.



Sharing		Discusses the innovation with others, shares plans and ideas, problem solves with others, shares resources.



Assessing		Examines the potential or actual use of the innovation through reflection or collection and analysis of data.



Planning		Designs both short and long term goals.



Status Reporting		Describes one's own use of innovation.



Performing		Operationalizes the innovation through actions.


(Loucks et al., 1975)

Continued...

Administrator as a Change Leader