Special education has effectively rescued many individual children, but its cost has drained resources required to improve classroom instruction for all children. Following the medical model of diagnosing the patient and prescribing remedies must yield to a systems approach to intervention design. Coteaching integrates children into regular…

Presents guidelines for staff developers who wish to create and sustain changes in schools. The article explains why staff development must be reconceptualized, discusses the emerging systems roles for staff developers, and shares information gained from extensive experience in applying a reconceptualized model of staff development. (SM)

An introduction to the concepts and terminology of chaos science and a discussion of its implications for the behavioral and social sciences are provided. The paper points out that chaos science assumptions pertaining to nonlinearity, controlled randomness, and dynamic system modeling offer challenging new directions to assessment and intervention…

Presents five definitions of "systemic change," ranging from "working with school districts or education departments to effect change" (vertical approach) to "working with every school in a system" or "working with every aspect of the school system (horizontal approaches). "Systemic" can also mean…

Using a dynamic systems approach, examined the development of intralimb coordination over the first year of independent walking in three infants. Found that, in the first month of walking, there was much instability between the thigh and shank of the leg, but after three months infants appeared to have found an adult-like stable coordinative…

Discusses limitations of current instructional design theory and suggests new approaches that should be emphasized. Constructivist theories of learning in cognitive psychology are described, research into student learning is reviewed, and the systems approach is discussed in conjunction with the use of objectives. (47 references) (LRW)

The key issue for management of campuswide information systems in higher education is content management: selecting what to include, organizing it, labeling items meaningfully, keeping content up-to-date, and presenting information in a useful way. Information technologists, librarians, and information providers on campus can all contribute to…

Uses a systems approach to creativity to study one student as that person learned to make art in an university-level introductory sculpture class. Shows ways that the class was an open system that modeled and encouraged artistic creativity and provided constraints and opportunities for the student to construct knowledge. (DSK)

"Synchronicity: The Inner Path of Leadership" (Joe Jaworski) draws on a view of the universe as open, dynamic, interconnected, and full of living qualities. The essence of leadership is an understanding of wholeness that leads to a wider set of positive possible outcomes and the ability to lead others to them. Implications for adventure…

Examines critically the types of educational literature being advanced under the rubric of "systemic change." Data from an Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) search suggest that most studies are theoretical rather than field based, conservative in their definition of change, and nonsystemic in both theory and practice.…

Suggests that attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is frequently misdiagnosed and provides an alternative way of viewing such problem behaviors in children. Presents a framework that views childrens' behaviors within the context of the parent/child attachment patterns and suggests interventions that shift the focus from the child to the…

Continues discussion of distance-education systems based on a model consisting of students, teachers, administrators and other professionals in schools, universities, libraries, and other institutions (presented in previous issue). Discusses place- and time-bound education systems; dynamics of education on demand; and characteristics of…

A response is given to the reactants of the authors' monograph "Racism, Mental Health, and Mental Health Practice" (1999). The construct of categorization and the dialectical nature of racism are discussed. Addresses the question of whether there is such a thing as a positive White identity. (GCP)

Increasing reliance of corporations on teamwork and peer evaluation of job performance requires the acquisition of these skills in high school. Article describes the Peer and Self-Evaluation System for informing teachers about group interaction from student view. This method of evaluating group work can be used in most subject matter areas, and…

Discussion of abstracting systems focuses on the paradigm concept and identifies and explains four paradigms: communicational, or information theory; physical, including information retrieval; cognitive, including information processing and artificial intelligence; and systemic, including quality management. Emphasizes multidimensionality and…