The objectives of the Pennsylvania School Improvement Program (PSIP), funded by the National Institute of Education from 1976 to 1980, were to help schools analyze basic skills needs and improve student performance through the use of research-based programs and techniques. The data uncovered the need to improve instructional management, improve…

Instructional supervision, despite the lack of evidence for its value, can potentially help improve instruction and promote educators' professional growth. To realize this potential, schools should analyze their supervisory practice according to these four premises: (1) that each school district and each school has unique organizational…

The described inservice program was designed to bring together teachers to collectively address overall school problems. The project was based upon the belief that school improvements could be best effected by providing teachers the opportunity to actively participate in the design and implementation of changes in school functioning. Emphasis was…

To develop a college-wide resolution process for dealing with student concerns, Burlington County College, in New Jersey, undertook a planning effort involving the faculty, student, staff, and administrator senates in the college's governance system. Rather than appoint an administrator to lead the project, a member of the staff senate was…

The successful operation of teacher centers is critical if the problems evident in teacher education are to be resolved. (JD)

Evaluability assessment is a diagnostic and prescriptive technique that can be used to determine the extent to which different problems inhibit program evaluation. It involves policymakers, managers, and staff in developing program theory, clarifying intended uses of evaluation information, and planning further evaluations that would stimulate…

The organization and procedures of universities make it tempting to try to avoid contemporary challenges to graduate education. Much of the malaise in current graduate education results from a focus on the decline in resources, in the availability of conventional careers for graduates, and in the availability of talented students. (Author/MLW)

This report covers the first year of a five-year study of 11 school districts that are involved in school improvement activities. The schools are attempting to create new programs that will increase the effectiveness of linking agents working with the schools in three curriculum areas: basic skills, career preparation, and citizen education.…

The author proposes that four basic questions be answered prior to the institution of any program of job improvement at the workplace, regardless of the problem or the solution involved. Each of the questions may help bring to light some hidden assumptions and, in doing so, may clarify the goals of program development. These questions are: (1)…

A consultant is often an effective source of assistance for an agency undergoing change. Community mental health centers (N=80) randomly assigned to treatment and control groups were studied to determine the impact of problem-oriented consultation on problem solution, and the characteristics of both consultant and consultee which are critical in…

This book has a threefold purpose. First, it provides a problem-solving framework for comprehensively analyzing and attacking current weaknesses in both pre- and in-service teacher education. Next, it explains how this approach can be applied by providing concrete examples of procedures and products appropriate to each of three problem-solving…

"Microville II," a simulation-game idea, is a creative effort to develop and apply resources, processes, and programs necessary to resolve contemporary problems faced by rural and urban leaders. The strategy is that a community council has been established within the community of "Microville" and participants assume the various…

This handbook provides program planners in vocational education with self-paced instruction in the framework of a problem-solving approach to program improvement. (The process can be applied to vocational school administration and management, student services, staff development, and instructional program areas.) Section 1 is a brief overview of…