The University of California at Los Angeles, in attempting to respond to state legislators' demands to redirect teaching and research to match society's needs, has faced substantial administrative challenges. A Responsibility Center Management model for strategic institutional planning has failed to produce desired changes and has tended to…

Miami-Dade Community College (Florida), faced with rapidly changing community and student needs, became known for strategic, swift, student-oriented planning and adaptation to ethnic diversity. Ironically, the president who undertook this challenge, handing over more policy setting and control to faculty and staff, was criticized for moving too…

Describes the March 1997 meeting of the Forum on the Future of Academic Medicine, devoted to two issues: how academic medical centers (AMCs) fund their complex activities and manage their resources; and the multiple missions, values, and cultures of AMCs. (MSE)

Argues that, in many countries, national governments are less able to fund higher education, and higher education may be becoming a lower priority, which increases competition among institutions. Universities will need to become more responsive to local and regional communities' needs, increase their utility to society to maintain public support,…

Recent proposals for including service-learning in teacher education focus on challenging teachers' assumptions about traditional modes of schooling. Also seen is the need to involve preservice teachers in projects centered on needs of children and youth; sensitize them to changes in demographic and social contexts of schooling consistent with…

Solutions to some enduring problems in elementary and secondary education may be found in the intersection of educational reform, teacher education, and service-learning. Service-learning in both K-12 and teacher education can help educators understand intelligence as multiple and dynamic, understand the learning context as both school- and…

Examines ways to increase the effectiveness of partnerships between schools, families, and communities. Recommends using smarter communication, making the school more welcoming to families and communities, reaching out to reluctant families, enlisting parents and community agencies to help educate children, and helping families obtain support for…

The "Essentials of Best Practice in Professional Development for Sustained Change Model" is based on recent research in professional development, adult learning theory, shared leadership, effective schools, and the change process. The model views increased student learning as the goal; schools as the unit of change; professional…

This article presents two case examples of secondary level schools that have successfully included students with mild disabilities throughout the general education program. Both examples indicate that the building of an environment conducive to inclusion takes considerable time and a broad base of faculty and administrative support and commitment.…

The importance of multilevel planning in the increasing use of coteaching models as one means of providing special education services in general education classrooms is addressed. Guidelines for planning for effective coteaching are offered at the district level, the building level, and the classroom level. (DB)

Directions for dental education are examined, with reference made to a number of recent background papers and an Institute of Medicine report on dental education in the United States. Greater integration with other health sciences, development of dental faculty teaching skills, and greater use of apprenticeships and continuing education are…

The reservations of many young faculty members about the tenure system are gaining increasing attention among older scholars, in part because they feel it must be discussed. Some call for a complete overhaul of the system. Even many tenure supporters feel more options are needed in the current environment of higher education. (MSE)

The University of North Carolina at Charlotte's innovative approach to campus planning was to designate an internal task force to provide the vision, values, planning assumptions, and operational rules guiding the master plan, only later to involve architect-planners for implementation. This keeps control of the plan within the campus community…

Strategies for researching policy change in higher education from a political point of view are discussed, based on three assumptions: politics is not only power but also research for solutions to collective problems; explanation of policy change calls for configurative models to enlighten relationships between structural and individual factors;…

Using the Kite (a framework for school development) as a diagnostic tool can help schools identify barriers to reform efforts by constructing an authentic picture of the school which can be measured against the qualities and practices of a learner centered environment. The paper describes organizational theories supporting the model. (SM)