This review examines the major evidence a s to the extent and effectiveness of public affairs education provided by, or in conjunction with, the mass media. It assembles relevant findings on participation patterns and trends, participant characteristics, educational television and other study methods, the broadcast media, newspapers, and books as…

The purpose of this study was to determine for a sample of Montana families if a positive relationship existed between the family's socioeconomic status and its medical initiation behavior, and then, controlling for socioeconomic status, to determine if a relationship existed between initiation of professional medical care and a number of…

Purposes of the study were (1) to present some of the problems of the organizational structure of Chilean agriculture, and (2) to explore some of the factors related to diffusion and adoption of agricultural practices as aspects of social and technological change and development. Two central factors considered in the research problem were (1)…

This paper describes the Model for Education Improvement and reports on an informal test of the hypothesis that the model is a valid description of the educational change process within a school system. The model combines well known elements of the change process--notions of external and internal inputs, the adoption process, and relating the…

The study proposed to answer, for Egypt as an example of contemporary developing nations, the major question of "how to facilitate a rational, diversified, and effective multi-source cultural borrowing by a developing country." Planned cultural borrowing was defended on the basis of four factors: the reduction of probability of initial…

This two-volume report describes three 8-hour training packages designed to provide trainees with some of the knowledge and skills necessary to function effectively as educational change agents. These modules, described in volume 1, can be adapted to include information from the client system's change activities for use in several of the training…

An analysis of the findings of three studies that were the bases of doctoral dissertations completed under the direction of the author are presented. The basic source of data was a questionnaire sent to all school superintendents in Mississippi and to a sample of superintendents in Arkansas. Some of the findings included in the synthesis are: (1)…

The study examines selected characteristics of the innovator, the innovation, and the school system as related to attempts at educational innovation through ESEA Title III proposals in 1966 in Massachusetts. An attempt is made to identify those characteristics, associated with successful institutionalization, in the hope of indicating implications…

This unit is concerned with problems and strategies involved in achieving systemwide improvements within a school district rather than having such improvements occur only in a fraction of classrooms or schools. A person who completes this unit should be able to accomplish the following objectives: define diffusion within a school system and…

Adult adoptees are increasingly challenging the practice of sealing their birth records. The authors examine the historical roots of adoptive practices in this country and suggest that the time has come for open adoption to gain acceptance as an alternative. (Author)

The results of a questionnaire survey of science teachers in Great Britain are reported. For three curriculum projects, comparisons are made of questionnaire responses between teachers who accepted the project and those who rejected it. (CTM)

PARADIGM is a large-scale stochastic computer simulation of the flow of competing ideas through evolving groups. It is used to examine how different message characteristics influence the speed with which one idea overtakes another in popularity. PARADIGM is discussed in the context of changing ideas in an academic department. (CMV)

Considerations for involving adolescents in the planning of sex education include (1) improved awareness of student needs, (2) correct "tailoring" of the program to fit the target population, and (3) aiding in the maturation and development of adolescents as health consumers and practitioners. (MB)

A conference on bonding and attachment attended by professionals and foster and adoptive parents was followed by a questionnaire survey of participants which was designed to measure effectiveness. A follow-up survey was conducted six months later. Professionals and parents benefited from combined training sessions. (BB)

Examines the structure of Indian teacher education, current criticisms of it, and the themes of research and innovation. Identifies many parallels between North American and Indian practices and asserts that, like the American system, the structure of Indian teacher education lacks mechanisms to promote experimentation and research. (KH)