Dissemination of Information from Centralized Bureaucracies to Local Schools: The Role of the Linking Agent

This paper examines the role of the educational linking agent in facilitating the dissemination and use of research information at the local school level. Four critical variables are examined: the amount of initiative used to reach the target group, the intensity of the relationship between the field agent and the client, the degree of expertise exhibited by the agent in carrying out the linking role, and the scope of the agent's clientele. Each is found to have a significant impact on the effectiveness of the linkage. A model is developed which summarizes the relationship between the variables discussed in the data.