A Word About Education

• Unlike some fields, innovations adopted by education are done so by organizations rather than individuals. Early studies were carried out by Paul Mort at Columbia University. He found that the best single predictor of innovativeness was expenditure per student. The stereotype of the rich suburban school as highly innovative was largely confirmed. Mort found that considerable time lags were required. It took kindergartens about 50 years to be completely adopted. Driver training needed only 18 years while modern math needed only 5 years. Both were promoted by change agencies. The insurance companies and auto manufacturers in the case of driver training and the National Science Foundation for modern math.

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