"Vision" is one of the most frequently used buzzwords in the education literature of the 1990s. This digest in Spanish presents an overview of visionary leadership, which many education experts consider to be a make-or-break task for the school leader. It discusses various definitions of vision, the significance of vision for…

The Water in Africa Project was realized over a 2-year period by a team of Peace Corps volunteers, World Wise Schools (WWS) classroom teachers, and WWS staff members. As part of an expanded, detailed design, resources were collected from over 90 volunteers serving in African countries, photos and stories were prepared, and standards-based learning…

Author examined the relationship of educational cost to educational quality while considering the issue of school finance reform. (RK)

Reports results of a study comparing teacher status in the Federal Republic of Germany and the Republic of Ireland. Notes that Irish teachers are more satisfied with occupational prestige and with teaching as a career, care more about professional status, and have greater faith that education can raise occupational status. (SB)

Discusses the origins and policy characteristics of the Education for Self Reliance project in Tanzania and the Secondary Schools Community Extension Project in Papua New Guinea. Compares the sociopolitical climate, the policy characteristics, the role of academic assessment, policy change, and examples of the existing policy in the two countries.…

An approach to conceptualization and analysis of institutional policy formation that differs from traditional models is proposed and applied to the University of Calgary. The model describes policymaking as a set of policymaking systems, each temporary in nature and developed in response to an identifiable stress in the institutional environment.…

Discusses various symptoms of burnout and argues that its main cause among teachers is the organizational pattern of public schools. Identifies teachers' noninvolvement in decision making, performance guidelines, routinization, and the division of labor as stress inducing administrative features that should be changed in order to reduce burnout.…

A study sought to identify, within the context of Indonesia, broad indicators of institutional effectiveness and efficiency felt to be important by the faculty surveyed, and assess whether these indicators reflect the characteristics of the institutions employing them. Seven criteria for such indicators are outlined, each addressing a different…

One potential factor contributing to increased productivity in higher education is the implementation of instructional innovations. A model of the innovation process was tested. Results suggest that formal organizational mechanisms for facilitating the discovery and implementation of innovations are as important to the process as faculty…

Reviews conceptual and methodological progress in climate research. A discussion of current thinking on the etiology of climates follows, and an integrative conceptual scheme is developed, based on Mead's (1934) symbolic interactionism. Implications are discussed with respect to measurement issues, management of climate acquisition, and the change…

Examines processes that maintain stability in educational organizations and the reaction of those stabilizing forces to educational innovations. Suggests that the success of innovations for school improvement depends on the development of (1) instruction-related executive functions; (2) collegial teaching units; (3) continuous staff development;…

Describes the emergence of the Quality of Working Life (QWL) approach to work organization. Discusses the benefits that may be gained by implementing this approach in education, for example in the areas of labor management negotiations, stress management, and staff development. (GC)

First- and second-year medical students' and faculty's perceptions of the relative importance of 28 output and support goals of medical schools showed substantial differences in the groups. Students usually assigned higher ratings than faculty. Students felt the university placed more emphasis on student-related goals than did faculty. (MSE)