Computer simulation is recognized as a valuable systems analysis research tool which enables the detailed examination, evaluation, and manipulation, under stated conditions, of a system without direct action on the system. This technique provides management with quantitative data on system performance and capabilities which can be used to compare…

The fifth (of 14) volume of the Education and Training Consultant's (ETC) series on systems engineering of education is designed for readers who have completed others in the series. It reviews arithmetic and algebraic procedures and applies these to simple education and training systems. Flowchart models of example problems are developed and…

A simulation model of a suburban school district is synthesized by incorporating the results of multiple regression analysis within an Industrial Dynamics framework. The intermediate empirical analysis is described and results of the validation procedure for the final simulation model presented. Three computer experiments with the system model are…

This study evaluates a project proposal prepared by a California school district. Using simple arithmetic and algebraic methods, the evaluators determined that the proposed individualized instruction system would be unsuccessful. A flowchart developed from the proposal visually depicts the weaknesses in the proposal for which appropriate…

In its most general sense, a system is a group of components integrated to accomplish a purpose. The heart of an educational system is the instructional system. An instructional system is an integrated set of media, equipment, methods, and personnel performing efficiently those functions required to accomplish one or more learning objectives. An…

A bibliogrpahy of about 4,000 entries was compiled as a first step in assessing the state of the art of the systems approach to training (SAT). It was concluded that the voluminous SAT literature reveals an underlying confusion concerning the nature of SAT. The same terms are used to refer to different methodologies, thereby yielding the illusion…

The methods of operations research (OR) can make many contributions to the solution of the complex problems which beset urban education. OR techniques such as PERT are useful aids to planning school construction, budgets, and research projects. System planning models can be used to represent urban educational systems and to predict the effects of…