The Rand Change Agent Study Revisited: Macro Perspectives and Micro Realities

The Rand Change Agent study, undertaken from 1973–1978, indicated a significant shift in the ways people thought about affecting planned change in education. Rand found that effective projects were characterized by a process of mutual adaptation rather than uniform implementation, and that local factors (rather than federal program guidelines or project methods) dominated project outcomes. Revisiting these findings in light of today's changed practices and understandings reinforces some of Rand's findings and suggests modifications in others. This reconsideration also underscores the essential contribution of teachers' perspectives as informant and as a guide to policy and suggests that the challenge lies in understanding how policy can enable and facilitate effective practice.