The focus of this paper is on the development of a model for assessing community educational needs, referred to as the Needs Assessment Project (NAP). The model's primary purpose is to classify, organize, and assign priority to community needs, so that the educational system can assign these needs to the proper administrative unit for changes to…

In this era of rapid social change, educational administrators have discovered that new approaches to problem solving and decision making are needed. Systems analysis could afford a promising approach to administrative problems by providing a number of systematic techniques designed to sharpen administrative decision making, enhance efficiency,…

Since the great need in elementary education is to help children understand the social world in which they live, the great need in the education of elementary teachers is to help them link social science themes with children's experiences. The objectives of the new social science teacher education program are to develop the ability of prospective…

This is a report of a five-day training session on systems research for counselors, counselor educators, and supervisors. The training session was an advanced program dealing with the use of systems research for planning and evaluating counseling, counselor education, supervision and related programs. The primary aims of the program were to: (1)…

Assignment of ESEA Title III monies to State agencies mandates a research model for needs assessment to facilitate interstate comparisons and generalizations. Theoretical postulates for and empirical evidence from the Virginia Needs Assessment Project suggest a prototype design, moving in three phases from ideas into program outcomes. Phase I…

An interactive model for the design of individualized instruction was developed and implemented, with activities explicitly prescribed for the instructor and the educational technologist. Using this model--PIERIM (Production, Implementation Evaluation and Revision of Instructional Modules)--a traditional elementary education course was converted…

A major variable by which national educational systems may be compared is their structural differentiation, defined (1) as a process, referring to the multiplication of one structural element into two or more structurally distinct elements; and (2) as a state, referring to the number of structurally distinct elements which exist in a system at a…

A selected reference list is presented of 94 source publications of interest to architects contemplating employing systematic methods in the execution of professional services involving planning, programing, and design. The publication is divided into four major topical areas--(1) architectural design, (2) design (general), (3) decision making,…

The Syracuse University model educates teachers to confront change and initiate change responsibly in schools and communities. The model's 4 preservice years, composed of seven instructional units, focus on process goals. The first 2 1/2 years are devoted to liberal education with the aim of developing in the trainee new ways of perceiving,…

Drawing largely on data from Los Angeles, but with reference to other cities where appropriate, this paper attempts to clarify the distinctive positions taken by advocates of community control as opposed to proponents of administrative decentralization. While community control is essentially a political demand, oriented toward citizens influencing…

A systems approach is applied to the assessment of the Model 4 project (administered by Mountain-Plains Education and Economic Development Program, Inc.), a residential career education program for rural, multiproblem families in the States of Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. The program involves three phases of…

Instructional task variables of analytical explanation and sequence were studied in two experiments to assess the systems approach proposition of efficiency and effectiveness in concept learning. The independent variable of analytical explanation consisted of two components: a procedure for focusing the subject's attention on the critical…

A review was made of current practices, problems, and related efforts to improve public education. It showed that teachers have been asked to perform an impossible instructional task, and to improve public education a systematic study of the important relevant variables must be initiated. These findings need to be implemented in systematic…

This document is comprised of reference information to aid Educational Development Teams in developing programs for nontraditional students in the Junior College Educational Improvement System Program. Following a discussion of Educational Change Through a Change Team, a brochure titled "The EDO: New Man on the Junior College Campus"…

This book attempts to show how schools can go about humanizing their own processes and procedures. It takes the view that schools are complex social systems and that systematic changes--not merely changes in individual attitudes--are required to realize humanization. From this "systems" point of view, the most powerful tool for developing…