One college administrator's experience in a professional development program with Polish university administrators is described. Aspects of Polish higher education (finance, professional development for administrator, the student-faculty relationship, relationship of the university with alumni and the community) were found to provide perspective…

Reports on the effect of external political pressure on the distribution of influence in school districts. Focuses specifically on the influence exercised by school-level administrators and teachers on school-level policy. Expounds on a theory of local variation across institutional organizations using the High School and Beyond study. (CFR)

Investigates role expectations of school board members making decisions about curriculum and social programs to gain insight. Results from a national sample of 293 school board members indicate that region and school size interact to affect perceptions of community involvement, superintendent recommendations, and responses on all variables. (SLD)

Examines the privatized management of the complete urban public school system of Chelsea (Massachusetts), the first example of school system privatization in the country. The role of Boston University and resistance of the Latino population are studied, and implications for educational reform and minority politics are examined. (SLD)

Describes a cyber-learning project for the World Wide Web developed by faculty and librarians at the University of Delaware that combined discovery learning with problem-based learning to develop critical thinking and quality management for information. Undergraduates were to find, evaluate, and use information to generate an Internet marketing…

Discusses the blurring of boundaries between state and private education system that has occurred since 1979 in Britain. Notes that the system has always maintained degrees of support for private and state-supported education. Investigates the social and political influences involved in the implementation of school vouchers and the 1988…

Arizona State University has created longitudinal student files capable of tracking each student's curricular and financial aid history from entry until graduation. The structure of the files, their creation and maintenance, and their evolution over the years are described. Uses of the files to conduct different kinds of studies to inform…

Develops a model of progressive school reform based on recent work in institutionalist theory. The authors present findings from preliminary empirical tests of the model, which provide strong support for an institutionalist account and considerably weaker support for political explanations of reform. (GR)

Pressure to make graduate study in Australia more responsive to individual learner needs and autonomy is discussed. It is proposed that in this context, three groups of individuals will have important roles: those involved in institutional administration; educational technologists and computer software designers; and teachers. Those evolving roles…

A study compared the effectiveness of two methods (medium-size class instruction and large lectures with tutorial sessions) for teaching mathematics and statistics to first-year business students. Students and teachers overwhelmingly preferred the medium-size class method, which produced higher exam scores but had no significant effect on…

Examines the state of early childhood policy in the United States and presents critical policy considerations and solutions. Discusses current trends of devolution of authority to the states, block grants, and budget control. Asserts that educators must work to effect positive change rather than despair over recent policy developments. (BGC)

Addresses the central issue of test biases in college entrance examinations. Utilizes differential item functioning analysis (DIF) to compare types of questions, fields of knowledge, and male and female responses in Turkish entrance examinations. Reveals intermittent biases and suggests the tests be used more for assessment than selection. (MJP)

A national survey of 31 college business officers at state and land-grant colleges and universities finds that, although several states have given greater management flexibility to colleges and universities, many campuses operate in a highly regulated mode, with layers of external, and frequently internal, rules. Most difficult business officers…

In management education the medium can be the message. Students can experience the concepts they are learning if the curriculum is organized and run according to the management and organization principles being taught. This article defines ideas and presents guidelines for the design-in-the-large of education in management and organization. These…

Lots of districts like to think they have close-knit leadership teams. But few school leaders can say they've ironed their clothes together, which became a morning ritual for a group from San Francisco that spent a week at the Harvard Business School in Boston. Joined by similar teams from seven other large districts, they camped out in dorm-like…