Effective strategic planning has clearly become a skill that is essential to the survival of managers in public and private sector agencies alike. While sometimes thought of as being an overly quantitative and excessively time-consuming activity, strategic planning does not need to be characterized in these terms. In its simplest and most…

This paper discusses finding new approaches to personnel evaluation, learning to handle special problems that arise, and calculating prospects for program success. Obstacles to an effective evaluation program, which the paper discusses and diagrams, include diverse or conflicting expectations, time drain, negative attitudes, lack of relevancy,…

Several tools exist that school districts can use to help solve current or potential problems in compensatory programs. The school district should begin by conducting (1) a study to determine the extent to which students are served by multiple compensatory programs, (2) on-site observations of the programs, and (3) a review of the curriculum and…

Educational leadership has been supported by an inadequate knowledge base for administrative preparation and an inadequate research base for program improvement. Over the past 40 years, no new programmatic ideas have been produced in this field. This paper reports on trends to improve the quality of research and theory development in the teaching…

Although Public Law 94-142 (Education for All Handicapped Children Act) raised public awareness of the civil rights of the handicapped, the policy problems that it was intended to solve included more than civil rights issues. In particular, the law did not provide for modifications of its policies in improving public education opportunities for…

Not much research has been done on the factors that affect schools' willingness to undertake school-improvement efforts with the assistance of outside organizations. To address this lack, staff of the Quest project at AEL, Inc. conducted a multi-method exploratory study of issues considered significant to schools' engagement with reform. Focus…

To assure accountability to educational policy developed by elected and appointed leaders, agencies and organizations must adopt high quality evaluation designs tailored to meet three basic tenets: (1) different processes for policy formation and demonstration of accountability; (2) clear accountability expectations built into policies; (3)…

It is pointed out in this discussion that mentoring, as a delivery tool in a beginning teacher induction program, has great potential, and the use of experienced educators in guiding relatively inexperienced teachers is of value not only to the first-year teacher but also to the mentor. In examining the goals of mentoring-induction programs, the…

This paper raises issues regarding two reports on improving teaching: the Report of the California Commission on the Teaching Profession, "Who Will Teach Our Children: A Strategy for Improving California's Schools" and the Carnegie Report, "A Nation Prepared: Teachers for the 21st Century." A brief review is presented on the…

Every program evaluation should provide formative as well as summative data; evaluators should tell educators more about the causes of program failure and less about the consequences. Evaluation should address itself primarily to program improvement rather than to program assessment. Such an emphasis has been previously impossible since little has…

This paper focuses on critically analyzing both the potential and the problems of practitioner action research as a means of genuine professional development for classroom teachers today. Action research is a process of systematic inquiry and of knowledge, skill, and attitude growth in which classroom teachers on either an individual or…

Results of a comprehensive study of the school climate component in the School District of Philadelphia's school improvement project--the Replicating Success Project (RSP)--are reported. The RSP study, which was implemented in a large urban public school system, uses multiple indicators and a chart essay in reporting findings in order to present…

The status of action-research is measured in this paper. First, the political character of action-research is identified. Then, the degree to which differing versions of its character may be said to be political is examined. Argument is for the creation of a balance between the institution and the individual in collaborative activity. Examined…

The theory of action research is discussed in terms of how second-order action research can help theorists to clarify and deepen their understanding of action research. After a brief introduction, the paper examines methodological criteria governing a piece of action research conducted at an action research training workshop sponsored by the…

In education, action research is research carried out by practitioners with a view to improving their professional practice and understanding it better. This paper concentrates particularly upon classroom action research by inservice teachers, although the approach can also be embodied in preservice training courses and can embrace a very wide…