Focuses on Australian educational policy-making, arguing that economic and employment considerations have dominated traditional education concerns. Examines reasons why Australian cultural borrowing has been unsuccessful. Suggests cultural successes in Sweden might be better models for education reform than those from economically successful…

Explores reasons for the tenuous relationship between educational research and educational practice. Suggests changes in research and policy to bring educational research directly to bear on educational problems. The major problem is that researchers are searching for variables that relate to improved outcomes, whereas educational innovators are…

Describes study that was designed to measure the social and spatial television viewing behavior of selected families in Kwara State, Nigeria. Topics discussed include values attached to television viewing, and the social effects of television on educational planning, moral reformation, policy making, and the adoption of innovations in society.…

The implications of Australia's 1988 policy paper on higher education, which proposes far-reaching organizational, funding, and policy changes, are examined. The discussion focuses on the reasons for change, their scope and costs, accountability, research, and management issues. (MSE)

Describes the policy of shared governance with universities, in which faculty and administration participate in institutional decision making, and discusses the need for librarian participation in this process. Strategies to encourage librarian participation are outlined, including delineation of appropriate service activities and the provision of…

Studies economic problems threatening prospects for development in rural communities. Examines "key foundations" required for economic growth, job creation, and issues of human resource development. Concludes global and technological factors forcing traditional rural economies into decline. Suggests nonmetropolitan communities invest in…

An experimental first-year course introducing law students to the law firm addressed: a single issue in contract law from both sides, writing as an advocate, the lawyer's role, legal research methods, the legislative process, the counseling function, the appellate process, and traditional legal writing. An interdisciplinary approach was used. (MSE)

The history and strategy behind the Muskingum College (Ohio) decision to reduce tuition by one-third are explained. The policy was adopted as part of a strategic plan to increase enrollment, improve entering students' test scores, boost student diversity, and slow the increase in the percentage of institutional budget earmarked for student…

A discussion of U.S. language policy formation and planning covers the following: the literacy crisis, education of language minority populations, "official" English movement, gender neutrality, federal legislation, and emerging issues such as the status of Puerto Rico, American Indian languages, foreign language education, and the…

Discusses results of a Delphi study of secondary school library media specialists that identified difficulties of students in using online and CD-ROM databases, suggested design elements and curricular and instructional strategies to make them more valuable as learning resources, and determined policy issues relating to electronic information…

This article compares Austrian higher education and employment issues to those in other nations and concludes that Austria's situation is idiosyncratic. It specifically addresses university role and structure, open access, unregulated student-institution matching, individualized study structure, low proportion of graduates in the labor force,…

A model of public opinion on government spending for child care was developed and examined. Respondents' views were depicted as a function of symbolic politics, self-interest, and demographic and control variables. Results suggest that symbolic politics were more revealing than self-interest factors in divining public opinion. (RJM)

Four themes appear consistently in discussions of college and university institutional research in the twenty-first century: accelerating change, need for information access, need for better comparative data, and the dilemma that occurs when institutional research offices are required to provide both policy analysis and technological competence.…

Overviews the role of school councils in each of the 12 Canadian provinces as part of a trend toward site-based management that empowers local communities with decision making and encourages significant input from those responsible for implementing decisions. Suggests that school councils allow parents decision-making power in the policy areas of…

The six chapters of this special issue focus on how and why educational research is, or is not, used by its intended audiences of policymakers, practitioners, and other educational researchers. Texts that accept the more traditional notions of research knowledge precede the more radical visions in this collection. (SLD)