Complexity is a feature common to all vocational education and training (VET) governance arrangements, due to the wide range of students VET systems caters for, and the number of stakeholders involved in both decision making and funding and financing. In this article, Pierre and Peter's framework of governance is used to examine complexity in VET…

A basic description of the Planning, Programming and Budgeting System (PPBS) and how it can be utilized by the practicing librarian is presented. PPBS is described as a system of relating planning to budgeting that seeks to get your dollars worth for you by analyzing what you are doing in the light of what you should be doing and plan to do in the…

This paper describes the characteristics and circumstances defining nine decision cases in an effort to provide methodological assistance for practitioners. Each case is examined according to its objectives (single or multiple), resource level (limited or unlimited), time frame (a priori or evaluative), and the nature of desired decisions. In…

This study attempted to identify the differences in cost-effectiveness analysis methods in order to select the most appropriate one as a decision-assisting aid for instructional management. The study is organized to explore and identify what cost-effectiveness methods are being used, identify and examine the differences among these methods in an…

This paper considers selected aspects of the systems analysis of administrative decisionmaking regarding resource allocations in an educational system. A model of the instructional materials purchase system is presented. The major components of this model are: environment, input, decision process, conversion structure, conversion process, output,…

Three major presentations made at an October 1968 conference at Hartland, Michigan, for public school administrators and university professors are "The Systems Movement and Educational Administration," by Glenn L. Immegart; "Cost-Utility Analysis and Educational Decision-Making," by Austin D. Swanson; and "Educational…

Establishing evaluation objectives requires formal, frequent, and extensive interaction among program evaluators and administrators to obtain from administrators the information necessary to make the most effective choices in planning and carrying out evaluations. Three techniques are described that can be used to ensure that this interaction is…

Educational management programs have planned outcomes that can be achieved through alternative routes. Methods-means selection is a systematic approach to choosing the most favorable route. "Methods" refer to the specific strategies and "means" refer to the actual resources and personnel used to carry out the chosen method. This systems analysis…

This report, a clear statement of how one district developed a planning system, offers both a theoretical and a practical approach to providing the superintendent, his staff, and the board of education with a comprehensive planning system instrument for making policy decisions and allocating resources. Also provided are guidelines for involving…

Literature on program budgeting is synthesized. Program budgeting has progressed considerably in development and use, but only recently has it been used by the public schools. Program budgeting is practiced differently, depending on the mission of an organization or school district. With regard to schools, literature on the subject is mainly…

There are basically four dimensions to a systems analysis that we find in current educational research: (1) Collecting information, (2) analyzing input-output relationships, (3) deriving models built upon these relationships to evaluate alternatives and to derive feasible solutions, and (4) attempting to derive the best solution consistent with…

A review of cost-effectiveness analysis techniques was conducted in order to facilitate the selection of the most appropriate tool to aid any given instructional development effort. A survey was made of the cost-effectiveness techniques in current use, the differences among these techniques were examined in an analytical framework, and criteria…

This report explores the need for cost-benefit analysis in non-traditional education for the disadvantaged and presents practical suggestions and steps needed to carry out an effective analysis, based upon the experiences in the Community College of Vermont. Steps in such an anslysis include: (1) understand the informational needs of the various…

A set of procedures were developed which assist in structuring tasks and objectives in a manner to permit rational decision making. The model uses a jury of experts to rank various objectives and program processes in terms of their importance. Values are generated which relate to costs in the form of a utility-cost ratio. The model was tested in a…

A production system simulator has been developed which is capable of simulating a wide variety of realistic manufacturing environments. The simulator is used as an aid in teaching the concepts of designing production control systems and as a research vehicle for investigating various aspects of control theory for production systems. This report…