Concepts developed by systems and organizational theorists are defined and used in a review of research on the structure of admissions in higher education. Relationships are identified among these influential factors: roles of those in boundary positions; administrative units; interorganizational associations; and institutional variables.…

It is increasingly important for physicians to develop competence in ordering and interpreting laboratory tests. The goals, organization, instructional approaches, and assessment of a course offering systematic instruction in laboratory medicine are described. (Editor/LBH)

Changing the name of human resource development (HRD) is not the wisest course of action given HRD's current state. A renamed HRD would still be the current, ambiguous, ill-defined field struggling to establish its identity and stalled in issues about what is central to the profession, how the profession adds value to the world, and what HRD…

Discussion of the dynamics of individualized funding for providing services to people with developmental disabilities focuses on how individual funding may drive the changes necessary to develop services that offer highly customized assistance. This discussion considers why the concept of paying customers is powerful but misleading in light of…

The purpose of this paper is to identify the various components of the educational system in higher education, to illustrate how and where they interact, overlap, and come together so that it may be better understood how Web-based instruction (WBI) may impact higher education. A definition of an educational system is given, and three principles…

A living systems model of community development has been synthesized from elements of three perspectives: (1) a global movement toward more sustainable patterns of human development that is identifying indicators of community health in a wide range of categories; (2) research on the complex interactions of living systems that make life on earth…

This paper begins with a discussion of the characteristics and the singularity of chaotic systems, including dynamic systems theory, chaotic orbit, fractals, chaotic attractors, and characteristics of chaotic systems. The second section addresses the digital libraries (DL) concept and the appropriateness of chaotic models, including definition and…

This monograph presents lessons learned from the five-year (1992-97) project, Together We're Better, a federally funded systems change project focused on inclusion of children with severe disabilities in Minnesota schools and communities. The project identified six focus areas: (1) district partnerships, (2) personnel preparation and development,…

Educators must adapt the way they think about change if they and their students are to see the benefits of instructional technology. This new paradigm is called systemic change, and combines general systems theory and what has traditionally been called diffusion of innovations. This paper explores some of the lessons it holds for integration of…

This booklet, which is intended as a support to the delivery of professional development of Australian literacy educators on critical literacy, presents a seven-step systematic model of all contexts through which a text may be constructed and studied. The first two sections discuss the model's use as a comprehensive framework for future teaching,…

There is no shortage of data in the education system today. States and school districts are gathering large amounts of information on school and student performance. The challenge now is to make sure states are collecting the most relevant data and that they have a coordinated system for using them effectively. To provide educators with the data…

This paper views the formulation of national education policy from a systems perspective; the principal foci of the inquiry are the origination of ideas and their movement onto the agenda for action. (Author/JM)

The sense of unity, of community, is lost because we have gone far beyond the human scale in which the individual can contain the social will and the social will can be an instrument ofpersonal fulfilment. Decision-makers need to move toward multi-purpose planning embracing the full spectrum of human needs. (Author)

Complete but concise picture of the California Education Information System, how it developed, its current status, its basic features, and a description of its contents. Covers design, developmental history, business subsystem, pupil subsystem, and a summary. (Author)

The essential components of an ideal facility for computer-assisted musical composition and research are briefly described. More detailed consideration is given to the central role of a graphical display unit in such a system. (Author)