The task of improving educational administrator preparation is one of epic proportions. The magnitude of the task is expressed using allusions to the epic style and the myth of Jason and the Golden Fleece. The paper presents a quick "environmental scan" to determine how visionary and revolutionary are some current ideas for improvements…

Mastery learning is both a philosophy about student learning and a set of instructional implementation techniques. This volume presents 10 case studies of instructional programs identified as mastery learning or outcome-based education. The programs are organized according to whole-class mastery, flexible grouping, flexible grouping/continuous…

Although education technologies have had a substantial impact on curricula, teaching, and learning, the overall impact on education has been limited. Evaluative studies of technology in the classroom in California, England, and France, have shown that computers and other new education technologies were embraced initially as viable educational…

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…

In 1983 California enacted a comprehensive bill containing dozens of education reform provisions (Senate Bill 813). A sample of 17 secondary schools was selected in order to understand if a number of state-level education reform features could be implemented locally. The major study findings listed below are described in greater detail in the…

Written primarily for teachers, this sourcebook explains the characteristics and needs of young adolescents and examines the kinds of curricula and teaching most appropriate for them. Chapter 1 provides definitions, a history of the junior high school, and a discussion of the characteristics of education in the middle years. Chapter 2 describes…

The purpose of the Ministerial Paper No. 6 and Schools Project is to develop strategies and materials for use by individual schools in the state of Victoria, Australia, as they plan and implement curricula consistent with the guidelines in the Victoria Ministry of Education's Ministerial Paper 6. The strategies focus on improving the balance and…

This speech describes ongoing research by the Research and Development Center for Teacher Education in Austin, Texas, on the role of the principal in the process of school improvement. Basic assumptions of the research are that change is a process, not an event, that change begins with individuals, and that it involves personal growth; hence,…

The findings of 13 studies of educational change, leadership, and decision-making are summarized in this report. Conducted by the staff of the Project on Administration and Organization for Instruction at the University of Wisconsin Center for Education Research, the studies utilized data gathered in over 100 middle, junior, and senior high…

This document consists of assorted supplementary materials for a conference session on the topic of "Improving Education in America through Staff Development and Learning Technology." It contains (1) a preface; (2) a list of assumptions central to West Virginia's educational reform model; (3) a statement of the session's basic purpose,…

The results of a study of five midwestern school districts suggest that the abandonment of program innovations or revisions may be related to a lack of understanding of how schools work as social systems and how political processes influence change efforts, as well as a failure to appreciate the many dilemmas facing those who attempt to facilitate…

School buildings designed in Norway during the early 1970s were frequently of the open plan type. This document briefly describes problems faced in the designing of open plan buildings and planning and implementation of educational activities appropriate to the new facilities. In anticipation of future elementary school construction, the document…

The question addressed in this thesis was, "Does the decision source for change make a difference to a teacher's or implementor's organizational commitment and job satisfaction?" It was hypothesized that the decision sources for implementing Individually Guided Education (IGE) in schools does not affect the teacher's commitment to the school and…

Examines current thinking on the nature of intergovernmental relations, examines the data on the development of the Michigan compensatory education program and the issues that have characterized its administration, and draws some conclusions about the state-local interaction in education and about the leadership capacities of state education…

Describes the Principal-Teacher Interaction Study that focused on the interventions made by nine elementary school principals and their staff and on their involvement together in the implementation of new curricula. Examines what principals and others did in the process of facilitating change and what effects their interventions had on the…