Recent trends in Finnish higher education are examined, from the formulation of national policy since the 1980s to recent experiments in financing and accountability, efforts at promoting efficiency, and the conflict between traditional academic collegiality and imposition of government decision making. (MSE)

Describes factors creating information gaps between different sectors of Nigerian society. These include illiteracy; ineffective government policy; inadequate funds, staff, and information resources; lack of coordination; and inefficient publishing. A National Commission on Information is proposed, and its function and organization are described.…

The International Federation for Information and Documentation (FID) is helping to establish an alliance of nongovernmental organizations representing librarians, archivists, information scientists, and the publishing and communications industries. Over 55 organizations are invited to sign a resolution (included in the article) that articulates a…

Describes the products and services available from the National Center to Improve Practice (NCIP), which exists to promote change within schools and local districts to increase the use of educational technology with students with disabilities. NCIP's awareness materials, telecommunications network, video conferences, technical assistance services…

Traces development and implementation of a 4-day school week at an Alberta junior high school that extended the school day 40 minutes, resulted in more classes taught in a shorter time period, and decreased student discipline problems. Describes parent and community reactions. Includes recommendations for planning educational change. (LP)

Challenging prevalent views of teachers as technicians, bureaucratic agents, and deskilled intellectuals, the article recommends restructuring teachers' roles by considering them public intellectuals, exploring pedagogical and curricular transformations and changes in workplace conditions that might empower individual teachers and emancipate…

Discusses events leading to the Texas legislation limiting professional education courses to 18 semester hours for initial certification and eliminating undergraduate education degrees. Noting implications for other states, the article suggests that teacher educators collaborate to develop a knowledge base, create coalitions, and provide national…

Increases in external services performed by faculty are integral to K-12 school, college, and department of education reform agendas, but there are limiting constraints, including the quest for prestige; tenure, promotion, and reward systems; and faculty recruitment, education, and role orientations. Changing these factors appropriately may help…

Describes one library's use of technological innovation to provide Associated Press updates over the library's 24-hour dial-up service during the Persian Gulf War. Suggests five rules for innovation: (1) develop a shared vision; (2) foster frequent, formal, and informal communication; (3) empower employees; (4) take limited risks; and (5) use, but…

Every young person should be obliged to engage in some program of systematic study until he/she can meet core learning standard for entry into adult society realizing that this will take different amounts of time for different individuals. Learning can take place in wide variety of settings and by many methods. Age-grade link also needs to be…

Describes preservice and inservice teacher education reform in the Asia-Pacific region. Reforms center on strengthening links between theory and practice, preservice and inservice education, teacher education and society, east and west, and countries of the Asia-Pacific region. Four recommendations for basic reform principles are presented. (SM)

Describes teacher training practices, problems, and reforms in the Turkish educational system. Because three different types of institutions, each with its own preparation policies and practices, contribute personnel to the educational system, Turkey faces problems in the training, recruitment, employment, and professional development of its…

This response to Maag and Howell (EC 602 677) stresses that the prevention and treatment of students' emotional and behavioral problems requires system restructuring, a change of values, and such coercive change techniques as a revised, more inclusive, federal definition of emotional and behavioral disorders. (DB)

College administrators in computing and institutional planning contend that using computers and other technology for instruction, communication, and distance education is becoming crucial for coping with demands for better undergraduate teaching, reductions in state support, pressures to hold down private college tuition, and growth in…

Discusses the difficulty of reflection in teaching given the norms of the profession and the context of the work. The article describes research on ways teachers adapt and tailor lessons to changing circumstances and class populations, and reports on teachers' reflective practices. (GLR)