Presents a case study showing how one middle school in decline used the Comer school development program of integrative partnership to restructure education and support services to improve the school's performance. Describes how the school enacted the three-team approach of the Comer model, including governance, student support services, and…

Discusses conversation as a medium for school change, a way to build community, and as a means for designing new systems of learning. Examines the value of conversation and dialog, and suggests strategies for conversations that differ from traditional argument and debate. Notes that in design conversation, the group shares the responsibility for…

Presents techniques for developing a communication plan, or awareness plan, for education and corporate change programs. Discusses three basic components: message definition, audience definition, and the event plan. Addresses communicating for cultural change; communicating for management support; and communication influence on system design.…

Investigates how distance learning (DL) can be designed to meet the high demand of professional workforce development of knowledge workers (non-programmed, self-managed) in the 21st century. Addresses issues related to curricula reengineering and explains customization of learning environments. Examines how DL can be a viable tool for providing…

The purpose of this paper is to raise issues and promote discussion about learning environments that go beyond traditionally delivered instructional systems. Topics addressed include: delivering high quality education to all children, from infancy to adulthood; changing the role of the teacher; lifelong learning; and improving educational quality.…

Applies production functions with education externalities to East Asia, testing for net effects of policy differences concerning enrollments vs. expenditures and for feedbacks through education's effects on rates of physical and capital investment. Since most countries had universal primary education early, the rate of secondary-education…

Reviews three books concerned with the relationship of education to social and economic development. Compares the books with regard to their definitions of development and their conclusions about the benefits of educational investment in developing countries, the success of international agencies in poor countries, and directions for future…

Complexity is an important principle for those building new media and new ways to make content work. New media and forms of content must complement existing media, instead of aiming to replace them. People may be more willing to try something new if there's a connection with the old. (AEF)

Presents a report by Rigmor Sterner (Lulea University of Technology) on the 10th annual European Distance Education Network (EDEN) conference (June 10-13, 2001, Stockholm, Sweden). EDEN is a non-governmental educational association whose aim is to foster the development of open and distance learning and distance education. (AEF)

Presents suggestions a compilation of the responses to the National Communication Association's Task Force on Advancing the Discipline that came from individual sub-committee members in regard to small undergraduate college programs. Considers staffing and curriculum issues, problems of theory and performance, collegiality and participation in…

Describes the development of the Enhancing Catholic School Identity Program by the Consortium for Catholic School Identity. Reports that the program was created in an effort to focus on the development of the Catholic school administrator as the spiritual leader of the school community. Discusses and evaluates the program's first year. (VWC)

Argues that the post-Apartheid curricula of Namibians and South Africans are primarily influenced by western educational models. Contends that the cultural capital of the African masses is lacking in the curriculum. Suggests that the much-acclaimed African cultural renaissance in education will only become a reality when educationalists embrace…

Identifies key events that influenced the development of two-year colleges in Michigan, reviewing the beginnings, the expanding missions, and the recent struggles for independence and increased access. Summarizes historical and contemporary funding issues, examines current and future challenges facing the state's community colleges, and discusses…

Several issues related to the educational uses of varied resources must be addressed in order to successfully implement resource-based learning environment. This paper traces the changing nature of resources and perspectives in their use for learning in the digital age, describes the overarching structures of resource-based learning environments,…

Presents a calendar of 17 upcoming conferences (time frame from October, 2001 to June, 2002) that may be of interest to readers of the "Quarterly Review of Distance Education." For each conference, a Web site is included, and for all but three, descriptive statements about the conferences are provided. (AEF)