This newsletter summarizes the debate on the use of state-level initiatives as levers to effect fundamental changes in higher education. It provides several perspectives on the use of incentive/enhancement programs to achieve state higher education goals. The concept of budgetary leverage is outlined, and the growth in enhancement programs…

This consensus report on supported employment for people with severe mental retardation was a product of a conference which brought together the expertise of consumers, practitioners, researchers, family members, and analysts. Determinants of success in supported employment for this population are identified along with critical issues for…

Microcomputers need to be introduced and effectively managed in academic organizations, where compatibility becomes an important issue as users wish to communicate with other users via computer. The need to standardize hardware and software thus becomes an important issue. The first step in selecting a microcomputer standard is the selection of a…

In 1987, the Oregon Legislature passed House Bill 2020, the School Improvement and Professional Development Program. Designed to encourage innovation and professional development in a select number of Oregon schools, this act was intended to upgrade educational quality and create models for other state schools. Rather than evaluating program…

As part of an 8-year study of education reform in rural Kentucky, this report examines the primary program that has evolved in six rural elementary schools as a result of the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA), which requires that grades K-3 be replaced by a nongraded program. This change aimed to eliminate failure in the first 2 years of…

This publication's theme, "Institutional Change," is broadly examined in fourteen articles that range from research and opinion to allegory and satire. A student teacher, a dean, and a state education director are among the authors. Articles concern: 1) key elements of change; 2) relationships between local, county, state, and federal educational…

A study examined nine strategies for disseminating "The New Occupational Student: Mature Adult Woman," a counseling program for re-entry women at thirty-nine two-year colleges in New York State. The major purpose was to determine whether there was a particular service or combination of services that was most conducive to the implementation of the…

This report highlights four urban comprehensive secondary schools that are developing, implementing, and evaluating reform initiatives that include vocational and technical education as a key component of these efforts. Efforts of these four high schools are described: Bryan High School, Omaha, Nebraska; Humboldt Secondary Complex, St. Paul,…

Nongraded primary education is the practice of teaching children of different ages and ability levels together, without dividing them or the curriculum into steps labeled by "grade" designations. Changing from graded to nongraded structure requires a major investment of time, energy, and commitment on the part of teachers and…

In contrast to the recent back-to-basics movement, which emphasizes rote-learning and the acquisition of mechanistic skills, small-group cooperative learning emphasizes the development of thinking and problem-solving skills. It also seeks to minimize student anxiety and competition by creating an environment in which students feel safe to make and…

This yearbook, consisting of 18 papers, deals with updating the content of secondary business education programs. The focus of the articles is on trends affecting secondary business education curricula, determining curriculum needs in secondary business education, implementing content changes, and changing secondary business education content to…