This essay is a commentary on Brighouse, Ladd, Loeb and Swift's "Educational Goods: Values, Evidence, and Decision-Making." It discusses the book's conceptualisation of childhood goods, and it comments at length on its place within the larger philosophical enterprise of promoting normatively and evidentially sound decision-making in…

In a collaborative partnership between a public school district in the northeast United States and university faculty, social-emotional/behavioral (SEB) screening was implemented across the district at three elementary schools serving students in kindergarten through second grade. Although both parents and teachers served as informants in SEB…

"Better Evidence, Better Choices, Better Schools," a recent report from the Center for American Progress and the Knowledge Alliance, focuses on the evidence-based research provisions in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). ESSA provisions ask districts and schools to consider various sources of evidence, make judgments about the…

A framework for decision making in implementing development projects has three dimensions: (1) personal and project expectations; (2) multiple responsibilities (to whom is the team leader responsible); and (3) carrying out implementation tasks (unconditional positive regard for clients; "do no harm"). (SK)

States the need for a close and continuous interrelationship between theory and practice in the reform of teacher education. Describes the guiding notions of a "uni-phasic" reform project which addresses problems of theory-based decision making and implementation in the reform process. (Author/GEA)

Discusses problems in implementing the basic environmental law, The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). Lists 10 principles (in the form of "commandments") for use by decision makers, suggesting that they serve as guidelines for actions involving environmental and social considerations. (Author/JN)

The development of theories to explain decision-making requires a model that identifies the factors relevant to decision-making. Seven sets of explanatory factors--called the "seven analytical A's"--should be analyzed. They include (1) axiological factors, or those related to values; (2) ten axiomatic factors comprising socioeconomic,…

This article offers some strategies for closing the linkage between initial needs assessment and the implementation of change. Examined are: prioritizing needs through criteria analysis, developing a cyclical implementation/staff inservice plan, and utilizing an analytical problem solving approach to curriculum and decision making. (Author/RAO)

Analysis of the assumptions underlying the stakeholder approach to evaluation combined with the limited experience in testing the approach reported in this volume, suggests that some claims are cogent and others problematical. (Author)

Comments on an article by Dunst and Bruder. Twenty years ago, amendments to the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (P.L. 99-457, 1986) included language that required each state early intervention system to ensure that families had access to a case manager. The article by the authors and the study conducted as part of the Research and…

A utilization-focused approach in evaluating a problem-solving skills training program (see TM 510 179) would have placed more emphasis on identifying evaluation users, their information needs, and likely use of findings. Other methods options are also discussed, along with how to prepare decision makers for utilization. (Author/BW)

This document consists primarily of copies of overhead transparencies that outline the content of a presentation on the establishment of policy for the implementation of educational technology. Individual displays present three fundamental goals for the implementation of educational technology; broad areas affected by changes in technology; a…

Describes changes in the instructional designer's role with the development of intelligent computer assisted instruction (ICAI). A shift in decision-making from the design to the implementation phase of instruction is emphasized, as the designer writes rules that allow systems to select methods once instruction has begun. Seventy-nine references…

A conceptual framework that will increase understanding of the link between educational planning and implementation is presented. The framework is based on three basic components: (1) identifying the problems to be solved, (2) making decisions in choosing among alternative actions, and (3) communicating change inherent in the educational plan. (RM)

A discussion of Executive Information Systems, the newest decision-support computer application for organizations, argues that this approach could profoundly change how colleges and universities are managed. Using graphics, icons, and mainframe data retrieval software, middle management can handle large quantities of information. Proven design…