This report examines "permanency planning" and "special needs adoption" for children with disabilities, based on the experience of Project STAR in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Project STAR (Specialized Training for Adoption Readiness) was established in 1985 to provide support services for families of children with disabilities…

This research project brings a critical perspective to the examination of computer literacy as an ideological form through a study of the reactions of high school teachers and students. On-site interviews with teachers and students found both acceptance of and resistance to the message of adjustment to an inevitable future of vocational and…

The 1992 introduction of Compact Disc-Interactive (CD-I) technology, the initial obstacles this new technology faces, and its known progress in its first year are explored, focusing on why new technologies are successful or are not adopted. Similar to a VCR, a CD-I player links directly into any television receiver, and each 5-inch disc is capable…

This study focused on the personal dimensions of the change process, and on teacher concerns about using microcomputers in the classroom. Eighteen senior high school teachers volunteered to complete the Stages of Concern Questionnaire (SoCQ), which yields reliable data on seven distinct stages of concern. Based on their SoCQ profiles, three…

Wisconsin has a local options competency-testing policy for public schools: participating districts receive state assistance, but are subject to regulations on test development and use. This paper examines influences on school district program adoption, focusing on local support for any testing program and superintendents' attitudes toward state…

When new educational technology is put into actual use, new ways of using the technology and new ways of organizing instruction can emerge. A critical feature of formative research conducted in actual settings is that the organization of instruction can change as the educational environment appropriates the technology to its own goals. Thus, the…

This report summarizes the results of a nationwide survey of teachers in grades 4 through 12 who are experienced and accomplished at integrating computers into their teaching. Of 1200 teachers who were sent the 16-page questionnaire, 608 returned completed surveys. The purpose of studying these teachers was to discover the ways in which they use…

This publication is the second of three volumes of a resource book intended for anyone who wants to start, strengthen, or support a program or course that combines community or public service with learning. This volume, which is organized in four parts, provides a variety of practical issues and ideas for programs and courses that combine service…

Effective leaders operate with three different styles: manager-as-technician, manager-as-conductor, and manager-as-developer. The first two work well if the manager remains a hero, but this heroic style diminishes the subordinates' own capabilities and confidence and is counterproductive to change. The post-heroic manager, or manager-as-developer,…

A study was implemented to conduct a long-range observation and analysis of the process by which computers are channeled into educational practice. Data collection involved a structured interview with knowledgeable representatives of 35 school districts in Wisconsin. Participating schools were selected randomly and stratified by size. Questions in…

This document begins by detailing the history of Nigerian television in the areas of politics and development, entertainment and culture, and information dissemination, news, and education from 1959 to the present. The use of television in Nigerian education at all levels, including elementary and secondary, higher, informal, and nonformal…

This bulletin reflects the commitment of Syracuse University's Center on Human Policy to the idea that children belong with families. The bulletin contains a policy statement which recommends; that all children, regardless of disability, belong with families and need enduring relationships with adults; that families with severely disabled children…

Expressed concerns about competency-based education implementation by vocational teachers in six school divisions in Virginia were monitored from April 1983 to April 1984 during the last two years of a movement to statewide competency-based education implementation. At six-month intervals--in April and October 1983 and April 1984--vocational…

Change processes at the school building level are considered in order to formulate a number of locally based strategies, derived from research, for significantly improving schools and classrooms. Part I of the three-part analysis examines, through illustration, what is known about successful change processes at the school and classroom levels.…

Restructuring the American education system has become perhaps the leading popular proposal for remedying what has been identified as the sorry state of the nation's schools. This term suggests a thorough, even radical, overhaul and redirection of the entire system. But the intent of these proposed strategies is the restructuring--not the…