This report is complementary to one on student choice-making. Both were done because of an interest in the recent growth in the number of secondary alternatives in the Southeast Alternatives project. There were two principal reasons for investigating parent opinions about the school programs: to find out how parents felt about the choices…

This survey of 115 senior high school students in Des Moines, Iowa, shows how important selected individuals were in helping them decide what to do after graduation. The findings showed that parents ranked first. (Author/RK)

Investigates which decision items a school council should be participating in as perceived by the school principal, teacher members of the staff council, and the remaining school teachers. Also examines congruency between items the school council "should" be participating in and which items the school council "was" participating in as it relates…

The paper discusses curriculum change in American education and describes a social studies curriculum model intended to help high school students become better decision makers. The paper is presented in eight sections. Section I identifies educational programs which have been implemented in response to crisis situations. Among these are sex…

In this speech, the author considers how the authority dimension of school organization may be related to students' lack of attention to long-range goals and to some of their motivational problems in the classroom. First, the author reviews how the distinction between short-run and long-run returns is similar to familiar distinctions made by…

Most analyses of the effectiveness of educational systems or technologies report results in terms of the impact of educational resources on educational outputs, with virtually no attention to the decisions the student may make or the time the student takes to learn the course content. Focusing on the student as an important decision-maker leads to…

Describes a study that examined the choice of topics and problems made by 14- and 15-year-olds using a computerized tutorial mathematics program. The discussion covers the reasons for student choices, the effectiveness of the tutorial mode, and the need for teaching programs to present clear choices. (5 references) (CLB)

Four secondary schools engaged in a program of individualized schooling were selected for this longitudinal study based on theories of decision-making, leadership, and job satisfaction. Researchers examined the relationship between staff job satisfaction on the one hand and the amount of decision-making and the staff's perceptions of principal…

Examines secondary school student behavior in a computer assisted instruction course on transformational geometry which gave students option of selecting objectives within topics and then choosing either instruction or a test first. Results are discussed in terms of relationships between learner-control strategy, strategy consistency and…

The attempt to integrate school curricula with social concerns is a recurring motif in North American education. Impediments to integration can be reduced by incorporating a cognitive approach to social issues analysis. The approach was tested with 4seven9 grade 7-10 students in two Ontario, Canada, school systems with positive results. (MM)

With Circular H.S.1 1972/73, the Ministry of Education directed Ontario's secondary schools to provide an increased range of course offerings and to allow students as much freedom as possible to choose their own courses. To identify the effects of the individualized "credit system" established by this controversial circular, a number of…

Two aspects of knowledge use in schools are analyzed in this report. The first considers the "reception" of knowledge that results from professional social inquiry (PSI), and the second explores some factors that affect the internal school dissemination of such knowledge. Data were collected from 207 secondary school teachers in 45…

Research on school-based curriculum decision-making (SBCD) in Australia involved a national survey of 586 educators in 98 secondary schools and an ethnographic study of a Sydney (Australia) high school. The results are presented in 9 chapters and 67 tables. The study focused on what decisions are made in Australian schools about years 7-10…

Presents a cooperative two-day geography lesson in which student teams research and reach consensus about where in Western Europe they would like to live. Discusses use of the Jigsaw method in the lesson. Provides background information about 12 Western European countries. Explains how the lesson fulfills content and process objectives. (CH)

This study of Virginia state government commemorates the bicentennial celebration of America's independence and Virginia's role in the establishment of the United States. Presented by the Virginia League of Women Voters in outline form to serve as a quick reference guide for teachers and students, the booklet comprises eight chapters. Chapter I…