Following his previous article in this journal on the centralisation of power in English education post the 1988 Education Reform Act ("The Era of Centralisation", "FORUM", 50[2], pp. 255-261), the author considers the apparent turn to school autonomy central to the Conservative Educational Revolution. He argues that the power…

Program evaluation, the evaluation of the performance of a unit of an organization (rather than of specific persons within that unit) against criteria that are consonant with the goals of other units in the organization, is currently the most important mechanism for the increased coordination, or coupling, of various hierarchical levels in the…

British Columbia's College Councils were one province's solution to the need to impose central direction without sacrificing sensitivity to outlying parts. Their creation, particular structure, and demise are described. (Author/MLW)

The European strategy of institutional self-regulation is a step back from the centralized control accompanying higher education's recent growth, requiring a new management approach, perhaps in strategic planning. Viewed through organizational theory, self-regulation combines two fundamentally different concepts, and a "new autonomy"…

The continuing intervention of the Commonwealth government in postsecondary education will become increasingly dysfunctional. Some issues discussed are planning and coordination, increasing degree of centralism, growth of bureaucracy, attitudes toward the sectors, and accountability. (MLW)

This book discusses the controversy over the extent to which a nation's government has the right to determine the nature of the educational system, and the limits on that right. In Great Britain, the government has established a series of Education Acts and a National Curriculum. The concepts of accountability and cost effectiveness are commonly…

Addressed are the issues of government/school relationship and the increasing centralization of postsecondary education. Drawing from the experiences of foreign countries, the value of institutional differentiation, and the need for planning and autonomous action for differentiation, coordination, and change are discussed. (JMD)

A relatively low level of state funding and an emphasis on cooperative efforts between local boards and state organizations to resolve problems have enabled Pennsylvania community colleges to maintain local control. They now face increased state funding leading to greater state control and a general trend toward more centralized control. (LS)

An educational planning exercise that increased centralization in Britain's public sector colleges in 1984-85 is described, and the issues it has raised about the relationship of government and institutions and the nature of educational policymaking are discussed. The responses of eight institutions to the changes are examined. (MSE)

Faculty development in Mexico may have raised teacher productivity, but it has not enabled universities to make the radical changes necessary to improve society. The active involvement of professors is required in the analysis and solution of problems in their communities prior to their participation in modifications of the university. (Author/MLW)

The careers of George N. Rainsford, president of Kalamazoo College, and John T. Bernhard, president of Western Michigan University, and their commitment to institutional cooperation are described. Government control over institutions, the Kalamazoo Consortium, and private-public cooperation at the local, state, and national levels are discussed.…

By their blind advocacy of institutional interests as advanced by faculty and administrators, many college and university governing boards are assuring their gradual displacement by stronger coordinating councils or super boards governing a state system of public higher education. (Author/JMD)

The impact of increasing federal regulation on American universities is discussed based on an informal survey of senior academic and administrative officials in 13 public and private universities. As government regulation is becoming more intensive and compliance more resource- and time-consuming, government is perceived as having little…

Three questions about the relationships between campus autonomy and measures of faculty quality, student quality, and external funding are examined. The results suggest that changes in these measures of university quality are more influenced by state financial support than by state regulation. (Author/MLW)

This paper presents findings of a case study that identified the new forms of accountability and control being constructed locally in the education service of England and Wales since the major legislative changes made in 1988. The changes include local school management, grant-maintained schooling, and competitive contract tendering. The 1988,…