Systems theory and its application to educational administration are discussed in this paper. An extensive literature review concludes that systems analyses are based on the concept of interdependence and on the assumption that the whole may be greater than the sum of its parts. Applications to educational administration include model building,…

This interlibrary loan (ILL) cost study was conducted at Union College Library in Schenectady, New York, in order to provide immediate feedback about ILL as well as to serve as a potential management tool for library and college administrators. This report describes the financial statistics of a 3-year period of use of ILL services at this small,…

Drawing on the research experience of the Dartington Social Research Unit, this paper discusses methods and perspectives used in evaluating English residential institutions for children. Work of the Dartington Social Research Unit has involved evaluating aspects of a wide range of institutions, from elite boarding schools to children's homes and…

To help administrators improve school efficiency in a time of financial constraints, this document reviews research on school productivity, points out possible improvements suggested by the research, and discusses several problems in measuring school costs and effectiveness. The author first explains the analytical concepts of school productivity,…

Four different methods for inputting enemy situation data--(1) typing, (2) typing with error correction, (3) menus (choosing appropriate entry from a list), and (4) typing with autocompletion and an English option--were compared for speed, accuracy, and ease of use. Thirty-two enlisted men and women, none of whom had used the inputting techniques…

The discrepancy evaluation model (DEM) specifies that evaluation consists of comparing performance with a standard, yielding discrepancy information. DEM is applied to programs in order to improve the program by making standards-performance-discrepancy cycles explicit and public. Action-oriented planning is involved in creating standards; a useful…

Three stages of teacher education are examined: preservice; the induction phase, defined as the first few years prior to the tenure decision; and inservice training. It is noted that there is often an incongruity between the real purpose of preservice students and that of their teachers in a teacher education system. Preservice students going…

Cost effectiveness of on-the-job training (OJT) can be determined by measures of effectiveness and by cost assessing the relationship between output and input. Defining effectiveness to be a measure of what an activity produces leaves two main groups of problems unresolved: hierarchies of effectiveness and multiple outcomes. The most significant…

THE PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT WAS TO IDENTIFY AND DEFINE THE PARAMETERS OF AN ECONOMICAL AND PRACTICAL INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR THE U.S. ARMY ENGINEER RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT LABORATORIES. THE PROGRAM INCLUDED FOUR PHASES--(1) DATA REQUIREMENTS DEFINITION, (2) COST ANALYSIS AND SYSTEM DEFINITION, (3) HARDWARE SELECTION, SYSTEM TEST AND EVALUATION, AND…

This document proceeds from the model presented in ED 088 147 outlining in general form some of the issues and needs in a management information system (MIS) for the National Institute of Education (NIE). This report discusses management information issues and needs more concretely. The discussion is related to planning, developing, and operating…

The least understood of complex systems is that which produces educated people. Superficially, many key elements of a manufacturing organization are part of the system: a product, product tolerance limits, methods for assessing product deviation, and a feed-back system for making compensatory adjustments. In layman's terms these elements are:…

The report prepared for the Five Associated University Libraries (FAUL) by the Technical Information Dissemination Bureau (TIDB) at Suny-Buffalo is divided into nine sections: (1) a summary of procedures used to accomplish the specified MASFILE-II tasks; (2) a graphic comparison of the MARC-II and the MASFILE-II formats; (3) recommend…

The features of an organization are examined in order to understand it and the way it affects information flow. The basic premise is that a typical organization fosters two opposing conditions--condition of stability and orderliness in order to protect its functioning and internal relationships; and a condition stimulating creativity and…

Production function applications to improve the efficiency of educational programs require identification of inputs and outputs and the establishment of a data bank to provide information on input and output variables. This generalizable input identification model organizes inputs for systems analysis at various levels of inputs and provides a…

Discusses and compares advantages and disadvantages of large and small computer-based instructional systems. Predicted and actual costs in two systems--PLATO, which uses a mainframe system, and VITAL, a microcomputer-based system--are analyzed, and cost comparisons are made based on class size. (LRW)