A market system based on user subsidies which can provide libraries with a mechanism for accurately determining user need and incentives to provide more efficient services is suggested. Benefits of the market, equity, assessing staff performance, and exploiting new technologies are highlighted. Nineteen references are provided. (EJS)

Defines and explicates the systems approach--the conceptual heart of educational technology--in the broader context of general systems theory, and presents four propositions based on principles from four schools of philosophical thought that may provide alternative means for analyzing the mediation of experience and practice of educational…

Critiques Dobbert et al's holistic systems analysis approach to cultural transmission, as presented in this journal. Argues that there is no substitute for the ethnographic narrative as the cornerstone of cross-cultural comparison and that the model is mainly useful as a mnemonic for other scientists trying to generate comprehensive models. (RDN)

Compares physical time and social time, illustrated with a case study of a husband and wife who are in the midst of their transition to second-time (and unexpected) parenthood. Demonstrates the heuristic value of a social-time framework for understanding the transition to parenthood in particular and family systems in general. (Author/JAC)

A community-oriented treatment program was successful according to its clinical objectives for deinstitutionalizing psychiatric patients but failed at the systems level. Responsibility is traced to developing a community-oriented program in an institutionally oriented system. Suggestions are made to ensure success through three steps, including…

Investigated the relationships between computer-simulated, in-vitro interactional personality behavior and various indices of interpersonal relationships using data collected from 31 families. Analysis showed that strife was allied most closely with rigid, unstable interpersonal interactions. Concluded that the systems approach offers a unique,…

Ivey's Do-Use-Teach (DUT) model offers an important and viable vehicle for helping trainees get more than book learning out of training sessions. This article presents a basic structure for implementing a DUT model within the confines of the usual conseling theories or practicum courses. (Author)

Precautions and modifications in existing buildings that can prevent and detect fire in schools. (MLF)

Delineates a model systems approach for job development placement services intended to show how a specialist may program his annual work load through the use of the Performance and Evaluation Review Technique (PERT) Chart. (TA)

The participant's manual contains training materials for a national teleconference on coalition building for systems advocacy in agencies concerned with independent living for people with disabilities. Preliminary materials include the conference agenda, background information about the trainers, and organizational information on Independent…

This paper analyzes data on elementary schools in Memphis, Tennessee, that had reorganized 4 years prior to the study. The Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS) was used to provide performance scores showing students' year-to-year gains, whereas data analyzed for this paper were derived from scores on the TerraNova, the state-mandated…

School counseling educators and practitioners frequently find themselves so focused on the daily activities of serving their schools that rarely do they have the luxury of considering a long-term and large-scale vision for the profession. Yet a vision that anticipates the future needs of school counseling in a proactive manner is just what the…

This paper explores how high schools, through their structures and organizations, may influence their students' decisions about whether to stay in school until graduation or drop out. Traditional explanations for dropout behavior have focused on individual students' social background and academic behaviors. What high schools do to push out or hold…

Numerous studies about mentoring have been conducted, and this paper reviews current studies on mentoring programs from a systems approach. To understand current studies about mentoring, the paper identified three major research questions and reviewed how those questions have been examined in each area: mentoring input, mentoring process, and…

This guidebook is designed to help school leaders think systemically as they examine school improvement issues and make decisions about change. The guidance offered is based on what has been learned from systems theory, research on school improvement, and conversations with a broad array of school leaders. Because schools are complex systems of…