In September 2011, the Association of American Universities launched a major initiative to improve undergraduate STEM education. The overall objective was to influence the culture of STEM departments at AAU institutions so that faculty members are encouraged and supported to use teaching practices proven by research to be effective in engaging…

Among the many external forces that have impacted upon institutions, league tables have been the dynamic to which universities across the world are now responding. Following the appointment of a new vice-chancellor at one post-92 UK university, a modernisation project was introduced aimed at maximising the institutions' research standing. For the…

A network of volunteers, the International Union for Conservation of Nature Commission on Education and Communication (CEC), present some reflections on their contributions towards the field of education for sustainability from 1992 to the present. Many CEC members have been thought leaders to this multidimensional field, and advocates for a more…

Achieving a shared vision is often cited as a prerequisite to successful organisational change. What change strategists do not take into consideration is how this concept applies to complex systems such as those found in higher education. This paper explores and identifies the divergent perspectives and meanings found among the multiplicity of…

The national qualifications framework (NQF) in South Africa has been seen internationally as one of the most, if not "the" most, ambitious qualifications frameworks. Support for the NQF at its inception was described as "extraordinary". It aimed to replace all existing qualifications in the country with a set of new…

General education reform provides strategic opportunities for departments. This article analyzes reform at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, illustrating how departments could use the reform process to clarify their strategic planning, align with institutional goals, and steer the university closer to departmental objectives. (Contains 1 table.)

Addresses the changing nature of Catholic schools, emphasizing, however, the core beliefs of Catholicism that have remained the same throughout. Focuses on the implementation by Catholic schools of three goals: enthusiasm, invitation, and witness of Catholicism. (YKH)

Most people would agree that schools should strive to increase their effectiveness. This handbook provides leaders and facilitators of the school-improvement process with practical information and guidelines for conducting the day-to-day work of school change and improvement. The book is organized around five questions that represent stages of the…

Educational policy does not always translate into programs that are consistent with the policymakers' original intentions. This paper presents findings of a case study that followed the course of a policy developed at the state level to teacher practice at the classroom level. Set in a western state, the study collected data through document…

A program planning model developed in collaboration with primary decision makers and program planners is described in this study. A 6-month pilot test of the planning document was evaluated by a followup questionnaire of program planners and decision makers. Results indicate that a majority of the respondents viewed the planning model as…

Conducted by the State Office of Education in cooperation with IBM Corporation, this study was designed to examine the uses of technology in Utah schools and how the implementation of technology could greatly assist the educational process. Six objectives are specified in Section I: (1) design state-of-the-art technological models to be offered by…

This handbook was designed to help school administrators, teachers, and community members make a successful transition from a junior high school to a middle school. The focus is on the process rather than content. Chapter 1 provides an example of how one junior high school faculty and administration made the shift to a middle school. Chapter 2…

Recommendations of a task force, directed to study ways to upgrade teacher preparation programs to make the course of study more rigorous and effective, became mandatory for constituent institutions once they were adopted by the Board of Governors and the General Assembly of a southeastern state. This provided an opportunity to study the process…

In discussing the improvement of schools by using research and development findings, two different outcomes of a change program are considered. One is the effective implementation of new programs through use of available knowledge. The second is the broader issue of achieving school improvement through making the organization more healthy, the…

Bronx Community College created a three-year College Discovery (CD) master plan for 1998-2001 to help restructure its counseling programs and support services and enable CD students to acquire an associate's degree level of education. The first area of restructuring is in the role of the director of College Discovery and Counseling. General…