Using a systems approach, this paper explores the impact of devolution on additional learning needs (ALN) policy in compulsory phase education. Focus is placed on ALN/SEN Codes of Practice, the schools curriculum, teacher training, and the work of education inspectorates and tribunals. Analysis reveals that the move to quasi-federalism in the UK…

After almost three decades of school reform, student achievement nationally is about where it was when it started, and student behavior has declined dramatically. Numbers of dropouts, especially in cities and among the poor and minorities, have gotten much higher. Yet many billions of dollars have been spent; countless professionals have carried…

Two elements are necessary in any systems theory. The first is a correct definition of the structure of the system in question; the second is an explication of the processes of the system functions over time. A comparative methodology is required for understanding changes in a system over time and for defining differences between two or more…

Since the late 1980s, support has been growing for a "systemic" vision of reform that would pair ambitious, coordinated state policies with professional discretion at the school site. Policymakers at all levels of government, as well as associations, foundations and national agencies, support this approach. This paper highlights issues 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)…

This paper outlines the complexity of the politics of education and the difficulty of dealing with 19,000 districts and fifty States, each of which is relatively unique. A case is made for increased research efforts in this field. (LLR)

The six papers in this publication discuss how reasonable planning processes can be established and how budgeting procedures can be related to the wider planning process. In the first selection, K. George Pedersen establishes the current context of educational planning and decisionmaking with emphasis on economic implications, and he outlines…

An increasing number of elementary school sites have begun to implement nongraded, multiage, primary developmental learning environments. Nongraded primaries are more than just a loosening of the age limits and a changing of the promotion strategies. This broad educational restructuring strategy provides a unique opportunity for creating new…

As the problems encountered by big city school systems have increased, the educational establishment has come under sharp attack in some part because professional educators have unilaterally made far reaching decisions, insulated from public scrutiny. In order to voice opposition to these decisions, some community members have begun to form new…

Current theory and law support a comprehensive model of school reform. The Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration Program suggests that changes in isolated parts of a system may not be linked to increases in overall achievement. A comprehensive reform program must synthesize nine essential components to improve the whole system across all the…

Eric abstracts on educational planning, announced by this and other clearinghouses in RIE through April 1973, are presented. This abstract compilation updates an earlier ERIC Abstract on educational planning, and it contains all those documents that deal with the theories and techniques of planning education. The key term used in compiling this…

The paper compares aspects of decision making in health and education in the United States and Great Britain from 1890-1970. The major purpose is to demonstrate variety in the degree of centralization within the two policy areas during this period. Centralization is defined as the degree to which all resources of a given type are controlled by one…