Draws on an ongoing project on "Elites in Policy-making," aimed at critically examining the postwar "partnership" between LEAs, teachers, and the Ministry of Education. Challenges pluralism as the dominant theoretical approach to the study of education policymaking in the United Kingdom and argues for a more state-centered,…

The goals, methods, and long- and short-term effects of a comprehensive intervention project are described. Included is a discussion of the social policy implications, particularly that intervention programs should provide quality services and options responsive to the needs of the individuals. (Author/GK)

The role of violence or threat of violence in the development of conflict intervention strategies and the relationship between collective violence and social reform are discussed in this paper. The effects of industrial, racial, and urban mass violence on institutional policies and the concept of social justice are examined. (JCD)

Describes how U.S. teacher unions have begun to depart from industrial principles, with the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers endorsing ideas such as peer review, training standards, job-embedded professional development, and alternatives to standard salary schedules. Asserts that substantial policy…

Defines strategic planning, outlines its key elements and activities, and summarizes the difficulties of applying a top-down, profit-driven process to education. Explains Strategic Planning for Educational Reform and Improvement (SPERI), a set of manageable, concise procedures for top school administrators. Describes SPERI applications in an…

Charged with their own planning and development activities, developing nations have amassed a record of failed undertakings. In this category is Trinidad and Tobago's policy for "de-shifting" its bisessional schools to serve only one group of pupils daily. Experiences with "war on poverty" programs indicates that implementation…

Examines the planning, policy, and organizational approaches taken by the United States and the Netherlands to use the computer as an administrative tool. Discusses applications in these countries to manage school finances, personnel data, administrative offices, plant operations, support services, and student data and implementation suggestions.…

All local education authorities (school districts) should have a policy for management development. All staff who manage the work of other adults in school should receive the appropriate training as an entitlement; for many of the teachers involved the training should be school-based. Evaluation of training is also important and deserves greater…

Examines New Jersey school boards and investigates what factors affect whether boards operate according to a professional or political model and whether professional and political boards differ in their governance role. The majority of school boards adopt the professional orientation. However, board influence depends primarily on board acceptance…

In today's context of increasing demands and diminishing resources, many Canadian teachers successfully manage the interrelated challenges in classrooms and school corridors. Yet teachers do not have a major voice in decisions affecting their work and development. Without a senior partnership in the boardroom, teachers will neither achieve true…

Examines pitfalls in analyzing school-level data, particularly expenditure data. Examples come from Ohio's experience with creating usable data structures for examining school-level information, aided by a statewide, complex, multipurpose Education Management Information System (EMIS). Since districts can choose different reporting software…

Using three Oakland, California, case studies concerned with implementing the Public Works and Economic Development Act (1965), this article explores the limits of science in policy implementation. Sources of uncertainty are examined and the science of chaos introduced as a possible interpretive framework for extending policy science. Includes 20…

British Columbia's Royal Commission on Education recommended extensive educational changes, including a revamped curriculum policy for guiding school programs and student assessment over the next decade. This article describes the context and production of this policy, arguing that it was characterized largely by a system of vague slogans. (48…

Cross-impact analysis is a recent innovation in the field of futures research. Its main purpose is to allow planning groups to consider the mutual interactive effects of related forecasts, trends, or events in a systematic way so that planning can be more effective. (JN)

Analyzes the organizational context of emergent market forms in education, focusing on policymakers' management of a mixed economy of provision. To examine the effects of different mixed economies, this article draws upon efficiency and equity concepts and applies them to recent field research in the United Kingdom. Currently, there is far too…