Overwhelmed by conflicting demands from within its own administration, from its local school board, and from the state department of education, the school district of Summit, New Jersey, took action to develop a consensus among those making demands. Administrators and school board members attended a working dinner where each individual identified…

The insights of various theoretical perspectives on school improvement can be integrated in a common framework called "the institutional perspective" when the sensitivity of each theoretical perspective to the nature of decision making for school improvement is taken into account. The institutional perspective thus generated considers the…

This is part of a series on selected areas of science and technology prepared by the Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy, at the request of the Science Advisor to the President of the United States. This volume includes four individual reports. The first is the report of the "Research Briefing Panel on Science of Interfaces…

Current efforts and methodologies to evaluate vocational education programs are plagued by a number of problems. Included among these are the following: disagreement over the primary role and function of vocational education, too great an emphasis on summative and product evaluation as well as on labor market outcomes as indicators of program…

This report, part of a research series on roles of participants in high school change, focuses on activities of principals in guiding and facilitating change, on leadership configurations found in high schools, and on how principals interact with other change facilitators during the change process. Two high schools were visited in nine districts…

The concepts of need and needs assessment are examined in the context of information needs for college administrators. A description is included of the conceptual framework underlying the Needs Assessment Information System (NAIS), which was developed by the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems. Attention is directed to: (1)…

The changing role relationships that occurred between the faculty and administrators of a university that implemented a decentralized management process over a 5-year period are discussed. The university changed from being highly centralized toward a shared and layered administrative approach. Five changes were instituted: an extensive committee…

Citing increased attention now focused on networking in organizational contexts, this paper addresses two networking questions related to an organization's strategic purpose: how the organization's formal and informal networking channels are connected, and how they are managed and maintained. Thought processing is defined as a networking system…

In the fall of 1967, during the 1967-68 academic year, a large scale survey (the "College Trustee Study") was made of members of college and university governing boards. A questionnaire was mailed to the trustees of over 500 colleges and universities in the United States. Responses were received from 5,180 college board trustee members.…

Some of the dynamics involved in ability grouping classification at the secondary level are described via an examination of the decision-making process involved. Specifically, the practitioners' perspectives of the curriculum, their use of selected student characteristics, and their beliefs about the goals of the classification process were…

This guide is intended for use in training counselors who are involved with their clients' career decision-making processes. A primary objective of the curriculum is to familiarize participants with labor market information (LMI) resources and help them develop ways to use these resources with their clients. The following topics are covered in the…

Ways to use strategic planning to enhance leadership in continuing education organizations are discussed in this collection of 12 papers. Paper titles and authors are as follows: "Why Continuing Education Leaders Must Plan Strategically" (Robert G. Simerly); "The Strategic Planning Process: Seven Essential Steps" (R. Simerly);…

An introduction by Barbara S. Plake emphasizes that this volume investigates social and technical influences on test development and usage. Essential preliminary information on how tests can be used and may be interpreted is presented. Under the heading "Social and Technical Influences" are: (1) "Struggles and Possibilities: The Use…

Factors influencing teachers' decision making in the classroom were studied. Fourteen elementary school teachers in five schools were observed and interviewed. Observations focused on formal, organized classroom activities, and interviews centered on what basis, or for what reason, a particular procedure or curriculum material was employed. Types…

In order to identify factors which indicate a student would benefit educationally from retention, and to provide information and recommendations to educators, parents, and others involved in the decision to retain a child, this paper addresses the issue of retention in four major areas: the historical basis of retention, negative and positive…