Leadership involves more than analyzing data and making decisions. Even the most strategically made plans can be circumvented by people or unanticipated events. Scenario planning allows administrators to weave various components (driving forces, predetermined elements, and critical uncertainties) into plausible stories of what futures can unfold.…

Outlines basic steps to plan and execute effective performance-based assessments. Highlights include defining the purpose; choosing the activity to be assessed, and whether it will be formal or informal; defining the criteria; creating performance rubrics; and assessing the performance by the checklist approach, narrative/anecdotal approach,…

Planning is a social activity in which educators negotiate personal and organizational interests in constructing programs. Four concepts encompass a planning model: power, interests, negotiation, and responsibility. (SK)

Summarizing the case studies and critique in this issue, the authors conclude that planners must (1) learn to negotiate power and interests responsibly because their actions validate whose interests matter; (2) anticipate sources of support and opposition; (3) determine power relationships; and (4) know to whom they are responsible. (SK)

Discusses a study that was part of a larger project commissioned by the Scottish Office Education Department in 1994 (the Improving School Effectiveness Project) that gathered extensive qualitative data on a subset of 24 schools. The study showed a correlation between school development planning processes and school effectiveness. (Contains 20…

A university career center's conference brought together community, university staff, administrators, faculty, and students to identify future directions for career development services and leverage resources to support a shared vision. Critical needs identified include strengthening of internal links, outreach to new audiences, experiential…

E-Learning has been frequently heralded as a transforming influence on global education and corporate training. Despite such rhetoric, the adoption, diffusion and exploitation of e-Learning by educational institutions and organizations have been slower than anticipated. In this paper we attempt to examine the future of e-learning by adopting a…

Until recently, higher education institutions (HEIs) had been relatively free to pursue their own individual strategies, on the assumption that their combined effect would add up to a national strategy for higher education. As long as demand outstripped supply, market failures were not an issue. With supply and demand more in balance, the number…

Cuba has concentrated more than most developing countries on building a sound educational system, and as a result, it has been able to collaborate with other countries in their efforts to improve educational planning and practice. Based on recent research in the field, this paper examines the work of Cuban teachers in schools and sports programmes…

There seems to be a tension between the standards movement and the multicultural education movement in today's academic discourse. The fact, however, is that it is possible for teachers to develop standards-based lessons across various disciplines and effectively weave multicultural education into them. This approach is less time consuming than…

In a fast-changing world, looking at tomorrow and seeing it only as a little bit more or a little bit less of today won't cut it as we move into the future. As educators and community leaders, we need to use powerful trends data, coupled with imagination, as we plan ahead. A challenge will be to not only develop a plan but to turn it into a living…

This article deals with a college instructor's opinion in the reform of higher education in Russia. The author discusses failures in the functioning of the system of higher education. First, the system fell into an "institutional trap," as characterized by Russian Academy of Sciences Academician V.M. Polterovich. Another was the new…

This contribution deals with the development of entrepreneurship education at university level in Germany. Starting with a definition of the concept, the article focuses on relevant issues of entrepreneurship education, such as target groups and teaching formats. With particular emphasis on empirical studies carried out by the German Association…

In response to long-standing problems with student academic performance, the condition of school facilities, and the overall management of the D.C. public school system, the D.C. Council approved the Public Education Reform Amendment Act of 2007 (Reform Act). The Reform Act made major changes to the operations and governance of the D.C. public…

The American Association of School Administrators (AASA) invited the 2007 state winners to gather in Denver, Colorado, for three days of intensive dialogue about the challenges facing today's superintendents. As a result of the panels and small group discussions that followed, superintendents identified and detailed in this paper five avenues for…