A PERSISTENCE & CHANGE MODEL OF SOCIAL INNOVATION:
AN ANALYSIS OF THE SCHOOL-TO-CAREER
EDUCATION REFORM INITIATIVE
Charles Thomas Diebold, Doctor of Philosophy
University of Missouri-Kansas City, 2002
ABSTRACT
Prior propositions of philosophies of the structure o f science, conceptualizations
of orders of change, schemas of levels of action and effect, and theories of diffusion are
integrated into a conceptual model of persistence and change—the Assimmodation
Innovation Model (AIM). The model is framed as a 2 x 2 matrix o f low and high levels of
assimilation and accommodation, representing persistence capacities of maintenance and
containment, and change capacities o f discovery and innovation.
A theoretical capacity for change (ie., Assimmodation Innovation Capacity—
AIC) is developed that logically entails and extends the set of prior propositions,
concluding that in planning, implementing, and evaluating community initiatives or
innovations, degree and type of change with respect to a domain’s prevailing paradigm as
well as global and contextual persistence-change prototypes (or habits of thinking) of
expected implementers must be assessed.