| Current receptivity of seventh and eighth grade home economics teachers and supervisors in New York State to the four modules of the Home and Career Skills curriculum was investigated in relation to level of curriculum implementation and to perceived risks and/or benefits to status perquisites. The statuses studied were position and years in position. Giacquinta's (1975) Status-Risk Theory of Receptivity provides the theoretical framework for data analysis. In his theory, he proposes that receptivity to an innovation is related to the statuses that people hold and the perceived gains or losses in perquisites that accrue to their statuses.;A total of 358 questionnaires was sent to all supervisors of home economics and a random sample of seventh and eighth grade home economics teachers in New York State. The original sample size was adjusted to 340 based on the returned questionnaires. Two hundred ninety-seven questionnaires were returned and 280 responses were used in the study.;Five major findings were identified in the study: (1) the teachers and supervisors were highly receptive to the four modules of the Home and Career Skills curriculum, (2) the perception of perquisite risk/benefit was the strongest factor in explaining receptivity, (3) the statuses chosen for this study did not offer much explanation on differences in receptivity, (4) the level of implementation of the four modules of the new curriculum was moderately high to high, and (5) the level of implementation partially explained perceived changes in perquisites and receptivity.;Several key conclusions from the study were: the innovation was well received by the teachers and supervisors, receptivity of home economics teachers and supervisors based on the Status-Risk Theory of Receptivity was partially supported, and the theory needs further development.;Key factors found to be important in introducing and implementing change among home economics teachers and supervisors were: ability, in-service education, availability of resources, teacher involvement, and support at the local level. |
