Agent-based models combine data and theory during both development and use of the model. As models have become increasingly data driven, it is easy to start thinking of agent-based modelling as an empirical method, akin to statistical modelling, and reduce the role of theory. We argue that both types of information are important where the past is…

Public organizations charged with coordinating higher education institutions face a complex set of tasks. Whether coordinating institutions within one sector or across sectors, such organizations play vital roles in promoting a state's capacity for policy leadership to meet the growing need for an educated citizenry. National experts have…

A report on a conference titled "Communication Policy and Planning for Education and Development." A systems approach to communications planning is outlined. (BD)

Noting limitations of applying corporation techniques to universities, the author develops a model of decision-making which utilizes marketing techniques within a structure designed to encourage, sensitively record, and facilitate the efficient implementation of policy politically determined by the collision of various interests in continuing and…

An account of planning's evolution at American University emphasizes the importance of building flexible working relationships among the various representatives of the university community and the planning staff, in support of the faculty-student relationship at the core of the learning process. (Editor/LBH)

In 1972 each campus of the University of Wisconsin system was directed to develop a 10-year academic plan by the end of 1973. The response of UW-Green Bay to this mandate is presented, with special reference to the preplanning activities at the system level, and to the organization and implementation of comprehensive planning procedures at the…

The rationale and procedures are described for moving academic planning from "disjointed incrementalism" to a continuing, systematic, cyclical process involving six phases. They include: institutional assessment, goal clarification, data analysis and modeling, designing and testing change efforts, implementing the strategy, and program monitoring…

The speaker concentrates on the effects of statewide accountability implementation on school system management and on the state's delivery of educational services. In discussing the need to link accountability systems with existing organizational systems, the speaker spends the majority of his time examining how the New Jersey efforts relate to…

The necessity of design and planning for school restructuring with a macro focus on education systems design is discussed in this paper. Eight support and implementation strategies are identified: utilization of a formal change process; planned coordination; multiple sponsorship; formation of a grassroots collaboration network; external and…

The system approach to planning and managing educational change features the use of an adaptive framework and a strategy for planned system change. The approach focuses management attention upon (1) relevant future states of expectations or goals, (2) present and future state variables and contexts, (3) human organization factors, and (4)…

The collection and analysis of data concerning teacher effectiveness will continue to be of very limited use to teachers and administrators until our models of the educational process become much more sophisticated. Teacher performance indicators appear more relevant for judging teacher effectiveness than certification, education, and experience.…

Overwhelmed by conflicting demands from within its own administration, from its local school board, and from the state department of education, the school district of Summit, New Jersey, took action to develop a consensus among those making demands. Administrators and school board members attended a working dinner where each individual identified…

The work reported here is exploratory and investigative in nature, but it is expected to lead to a systematic research program designed to test the validity of propositions about the innovation process. Part 1 is introductory. Part 2 sets the stage for discussion of the Research for Better Schools, Inc. (RBS) field research. Part 3 enumerates the…

This book, which is an informal initiative of a group of 31 concerned South African specialists and practitioners in education and training, is designed to provide readers with a broad overview of South Africa's National Qualifications Framework, suggested tools/mechanisms for working within the National Qualifications Framework, and understanding…

Eight papers focus on strategies for educational planning. In "Policy Formulation and Policy Implementation Relationships in an Educational System," Donald Miller asserts that performance relationships can be explained in terms of an educational system and its environment. Arnold Reisman and Martin Taft present "A Systems Approach…