The Grantmakers for Education (GFE) Institute attracted more than 60 grantmakers from national, corporate, community and family foundations, with interests in systems and programs from early learning through postsecondary completion. And while attendees arrived with diverse experiences and expertise in grantmaking to support policy change, they…

The authors question tensions between policymakers and local educational institutions and suggest that there are substantial gaps between the intentions and actual consequences of implemented policies concerning educational reform. They argue for cooperative strategies between federal, state, and local authorities that attempt to balance…

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…

Participants in the "Beyond the Looking Glass" Conference established a set of objectives for each of the three teacher education constituencies: practice, policy, and research. The teacher education continuum of preservice, induction, and inservice served as one dimension of a framework for structuring dialogue, discussion, and…

A synthesis is presented of the outcomes of the "Beyond the Looking Glass" Conference which brought together educational practitioners, policy makers, and researchers to make concrete suggestions for what should be done to improve the conditions, processes, and effects of teacher education. Three major points of agreement formed the…

Examines the evolution of the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC). Presents an overview of the ERIC system. Discusses ERIC's historical development, including the three "signature strategies" at the core of its historical evolution; ERIC's redesign in 1986-87, and resultant policy emphases; current status; and eight…

A study was conducted to determine the characteristics that key decision makers deem important for the curricula of Minnesota's technical institutes in the year 2000. The technical institutes in question are postsecondary institutions that offer both day school and adult extension programs. The study focused on the actual process of curriculum…

The Federal Government has been funding state- and locally operated adult literacy programs for nearly 25 years. Unfortunately, despite the best intentions and efforts, the federal initiative in adult literacy has been minimal, inefficient, and ineffective. There has been no consistent federal policy guiding the growth of programs since 1965.…

The decline in Federal funding for state-provided social services during the 1980s triggered a transformation in the states' roles in family policymaking. This booklet documents four state initiatives designed to bring about systems change: (1) Healthy Start (California); (2) the Governor's Families and Children Initiative (Colorado); (3) the…

Egypt's educational system has divided its attention among a series of humanistic, social, and economic goals. Recently, however, the increasingly rapid pace of technological change within the country has caused Egyptian educational policymakers to place greater emphasis on reforming and updating its technical education system. The approach to…

This report describes a project which developed and implemented a process for the ongoing identification of national information needed for improving programs and services to infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities. The process involved creating a polling panel of stakeholder groups, creating a list of national program information…

The evolution of the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC); and changes in its mission and operating policies at its creation, the redesign of 1987, and during the present planning for a second quarter century are discussed. Eight program improvement initiatives are discussed. (SLD)

Using the University of West Florida as a case study, six major dilemmas facing institutions as they attempt to implement reforms caused by recent changes in state-level teacher education policies are identified: (1) keeping abreast of events including reform proposals; (2) providing input to reform panels; (3) dealing with public relations; (4)…

A perspective is given and recommendations are made for restructuring education personnel development with major emphasis on preservice teacher education. Issues facing teacher education are put in a socio-historical context. It is stated that teacher training has been largely separated from the public school system, and that training has been…

This report presents an interim analysis by an independent commission of current moves to reform Chapter 1 of the Hawkins/Stafford Elementary and Secondary School Improvement Amendments of 1988. Chapter 1 is the largest federal assistance program to elementary school and secondary school education. The report responds to questions on strengthening…