The eight chapters of this theme issue deal with the design, implementation, and evaluation of computer-assisted information systems for educational organizations. Points of commonality and difference across seven countries are explored with regard to the processes and uses of computing in school administration and management. (SLD)

Three challenges that face distance educators at the national, institute, and individual subject level in Australia are discussed in a set of Occasional Papers by the Riverina-Murray Institute of Higher Education (RMIHE). Australia is undergoing a period of major change. The binary system of universities and colleges of advanced education is…

Research on new information technology suggests that it can be a very effective teaching and learning tool, but there is much to learn before it can be used to its fullest potential in the classroom. Internet connectivity has become more available to rural areas, but inequity of access still remains a problem. Rural schools and schools with high…

Seven chapters exhibit some of the viewpoints occurring in discussions of educational restructuring or redesign. Most of the writers assert that schools cannot meet growth and quality requirements if they continue to operate within the framework of existing operating practices. Dramatic systemwide delivery improvements must be demanded. (SLD)

Issues connected with knowledge acquisition through the development of complex computer programs--Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs)--are discussed. The components of such a system and its applications are considered, including: elicitation of knowledge, tutoring with incomplete/uncertain knowledge, self-improving tutoring systems, and…

Articles in this companion volume to the "International Journal of Educational Research" discuss evaluation of computerized mathematics instruction for mentally retarded children; conceptions of science learning and instruction by academics; effects of language arts tasks on motivation and learning; and effects of study strategies on learning.…

Six articles analyze 1989 data from the Computers in Education Study of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), a cross-national elementary and secondary education assessment. A seventh paper describes the rationale and procedures for construction of tests used in the study's second stage in 1992. (SLD)

This brief uses a regional approach to address issues related to teacher quality and supply. It discusses some of the factors and prospects that might inform the regional perspective, focusing on raising the ceiling by working as a region on teacher quality, viewing teacher quality as the key to reaching goals for student achievement, and…