This book, the 14th yearbook of the American Education Finance Association (AEFA), provides a review and appraisal of the "educational perestroika" that has occurred over the past decade, both in the United States and in other developed countries. Rather than assessing the outcomes of a decade of educational reform, it examines the present and…

Innovations for dealing with large classes (defined as those with over 60 pupils) are offered in this guide for teachers and administrators. Based on a systems approach, this document describes the difficulties with which teachers of large classes must cope and lists solutions that can be introduced by teachers and administrators at various…

Carroll's (1963) model of school learning and Bloom's (1968) mastery learning both address theoretical and practical aspects of the time factor in school learning via an appeal to diagnostic-prescriptive teaching. The design of instructional environments and materials--particularly as advocated by Glaser (1976)--represents the mechanism to bring…

A discussion of spelling instruction for learners of English as a second language (ESL) looks at writing systems, the literature of ESL instruction, and the literature of English language arts in general. It begins with a typology of writing systems, examining how they represent both grammatical and phonological features. The nature of English…

This book presents a systematic approach to integrated library and information skills instruction that is based on six broad skill areas necessary for successful information problem-solving, otherwise referred to as the "Big Six Skills." It begins with definitions and explanations of the Big Six Skills approach, moves to a discussion of…

Peace lifestyles are possible in social environments that endorse peace activism. This discussion of community change processes provides an outline of mechanisms needed for successful community activism working at the cultural level. The Community Peace Cultures Program (CPCP) is an approach to building supportive environments for peace…

This paper presents a decision making model that uses a systematic approach to design; has as a driving force the needs and goals of a particular learning situation; is derived from traditional instructional system design models such as Kemp, Dick & Carey, and Romiszowski; and in addition addresses the potential impact of multimedia as a…

This book provides new tools for thinking about and designing the education system. Four sections, each with its own introduction, follow Charles M. Reigeluth's introductory chapter, "Introduction: The Imperative for Systemic Change." Section 1 describes some theoretical frameworks for understanding the "big ideas" of system…

The University of Glamorgan (Wales) conducted a research project to determine the counseling and guidance needs of its mature students. The project's long-term objective was to develop a new institutional policy for a coordinated guidance and counseling system reflecting the different needs, perceptions, and situations of students and staff, and…

The current "third-wave" educational reformers are committed to deeper and more far-reaching school improvement efforts that have been conceived almost totally in structuralist terms. The word "restructuring" often appears in such reforms to signal reformers' intent to institute "systemic" reform. The latter term…

New technologies available today can be used to improve accountability, establish and manage learning environments, and extend contextual learning. To harness these technologies, however, beliefs and practices must be redefined in education, training, and human development. If technology is developed according to a systems approach, new…

The development of information systems using an engineering approach employing both traditional programming techniques and nonprocedural languages is described. A fourth generation application tool is used to develop a prototype system that is revised and expanded as the user clarifies individual requirements. When fully defined, a combination of…

This paper presents an overview of systems theory as an introduction to the applications possible to a model of burnout. Literature dealing with burnout is reviewed and shown to be in an early, descriptive stage, with basic concepts largely unchallenged. Meier's (1982) expanded model of burnout, based on current cognitive-behavioral and vocational…

The Canadian Health Field Concept (recognizing that health care organization, human biology, environment, and consumer life styles all contribute significantly to health status) is explained and promoted for use in the United States. (AG)

A process based on a systems analysis approach to tasks is proposed for developing a curriculum for the study of plastics. The process may be used with any subject area, at any grade level, to validate the concepts selected, the performance objective developed, the time allotted, and the teaching strategies selected. (AG)