Exploring Extension Agents Concerns about Implementation of School Garden-based Curriculum: An Application of the Concerns-based Adoption Model

Abstract

School garden programs are one intervention being implemented to address growing rates of childhood obesity in the United States, showing promising results for improving youth well-being. Learn, Grow, Eat, GO! (LGEG) is a multi-faceted school garden curriculum delivered through the university cooperative network, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. Because extension agents are tasked with facilitating the curriculum in Texas schools, their concerns about implementation are a salient determinant of program success. This study, framed by the Concerns-based Adoption Model (CBAM), used a phenomenological approach to assess extension agents’ concerns with LGEG implementation in two different areas of the state. Through the collection of qualitative focus group data, extension agents’ concerns were revealed and grouped into stages based on the type of concern expressed. In District 12 (n=5), participants’ concerns were largely Personal, focusing on the demands placed upon them to implement the curriculum successfully. In Districts 1 and 2 (n=6), participants’ concerns were primarily Refocusing, indicating their priority was to improve the curriculum and make adaptations for better implementation. These results suggest the ability of the CBAM to pinpoint stakeholder concerns and inform program specialists about where implementation may be stuck, as well as how to target program development. Additionally, a cross case analysis of the two groups gave insight into both the shared and varied experience of LGEG implementation, which may assist with restructuring organizational goals and outcomes for the extension network as a whole.