The synthesis presents an initial overview of five investigations of educational dissemination and change in American schools and the implications of these studies for policy making related to federal and state dissemination programs, management of such programs, and needed research, development, and evaluation. A brief synopsis of each study was…

The "climate of opinion" is the dominant direction of opinions and perceptions as expressed by existing or assumed activities of constituent individuals, groups, and institutions. There are three regional definitions of this concept: macrolevel, local level, and individual level. A model of climate of opinion contains the following features: (1)…

In long established research organizations, it is necessary to safeguard good research ideas originating at lower organizational levels. The upward progress of unusually good ideas in an organizational hierarchy may be compared with that of ordinary ideas by means of a mathematical model, with the assumption that ideas follow a Poisson…

This is a collection of papers presented at an annual conference of the College and University Systems Exchange (CAUSE). Conference activities included a keynote address, general session, and five tracks of presentations: (1) Information Systems Development and Management's Expectations; (2) Information Systems Benefit Analysis; (3) Small College…

The final report on facilitation of knowledge utilization by institutions for child development contains analyses of consultation-intervention in four different child care institutions (including psychiatric facilities and an orphanage), and a guide to providing individualized services in children's residential centers. Described in each case are…

This study assesses the effectiveness of a book which designates places of interest in Michigan and Indiana. Developed by students at the University of Indiana, the book increases the local cultural awareness of both adults and children in the two state area. A questionnaire was sent to 336 families to determine the number of families who had used…

Success in secondary school depends largely upon students' competency in study skills. The English teacher emerges as the plausible agent for the development of the following skills: following directions, locating information, evaluating and selecting information, assembling and organizing data, retaining and recalling information, varying rates…

A basis is provided for judging the adequacy of evaluation plans or evaluation designs in this document. It is assumed that using the procedures suggested to determine the adequacy of evaluation designs in advance of actually conducting evaluations will lead to better evaluation designs, better evaluations, and more useful evaluative information.…

Discussed are personnel issues in special education from the perspective of an observational evaluation of an experimental course of study, "Social Learning Curriculum," used with students in 17 intermediate (ages 9 to 14 years) classes for the educable mentally retarded. Included is the 60-item rating scale which was used to evaluate…

The resources included in this Guide are geared for the Educational Information Consultant (EIC), an education specialist who receives, processes, and fulfills client requests for information needed to resolve specific curricular, instructional, and administrative problems. The Guide begins with highly-selective introductory sections on how to…

Special problems in the handling of biological information arise from the diversity of biological subject matter and the complexity of biological approaches towards phenomena of the living world. This state-of-the-art report on communications of information in the biological sciences provides information on: (1) users of biological information,…

The Information Unit on Early Childhood Education was formed to provide practitioners in the field with a readily accessible source of information on new program developments, so that decisions about adopting programs might be based on a rational consideration of alternatives. The Unit contains the following features: a review of trends in early…

This report is one of six to be released by as many task forces on educational improvement and reform. The main body of this report consists of five sections: (a) an introduction, which briefly describes the work of the task force; (b) a description of the alternative of community participation in education; (c) recommendations; (d) access to…

Research and researchers must be willing to break away from traditional approaches when dealing with the real world of the urban community. First, ways must be found that will bring research out of the rarefied atmosphere of the university and reduce the distrust and the misunderstanding it has produced in the urban community. Research should…

Recent technological advances in computers and communications make possible the integration of data systems and the exchange of data among them on an expanding scale. However, the full effect of these advances cannot be realized unless the need for uniform understanding of the common information (data elements) and its expression in data systems…