Five basic definitions of evaluation are identified: (1) evaluation as measurement; (2) evaluation as professional judgment; (3) evaluation as the assessment of congruence between performance and objectives (or standards of performance); (4) decision-oriented evaluation; and (5) goal-free/responsive evaluation. (Editor/LBH)

Discusses the legal structure of policy boards relative to Teacher Centers and the normative processes that become institutionalized as Teacher Centers are formed and become operational, i.e., the communication patterns, linkages, ways of working. (Author/RK)

Using the Gini Coefficient measured at three points in time, a 20-year trend in income inequality is presented for 300 U.S. counties. (Author/JC)

"Minimum" and "maximum" models of social control theory derived from the work of Travis Hirschi are formally stated in the language of Goodman's log linear system. (Author/JC)

This essay outlines the theoretical framework surrounding the debate on school desegregation and offers a reanalysis of the role of research in school desegregation. (Author/AM)

An analysis of the institutional context of law suggests that, if legislation is to be both stable and flexible, institutional communicative strategies are required to organize linguistic means to these sociolinguistic ends. The nature of an Act of Parliament is used to illustrate the institutional context of law. (Author/CB)

Understanding both process and context is essential to resolving problems. This paper articulates the decision seminar model, a rational problem-solving technique, and uses a hypothetical policy problem to show how various stages of the model might be applied to school issues. Process facilitates problem definition, inhibits fragmentation, and…

Describes two types of online vendor gateways--front-end buffers and host-to-host links. The potential threats and opportunities of gateways to database owners, online vendors, and users are identified, and a code of practice developed by the National Federation of Abstracting and Information Services is presented. (CLB)

The author argues that three key areas in the planning of educational finances need reconsideration: (1) room to maneuver, (2) resource allocation, and (3) sensitivity analysis. The importance of regular, systematic data for policy analysis, evaluations, and monitoring is stressed. (Author/CH)

In contrast with experiences of all other industrialized nations, the size of the labor force of the United States is growing rapidly while, simultaneously, its age, gender, and ethnic composition are changing markedly. Consequently, human resource issues present an unprecedented challenge in nation's quest to achieve fully employed and equitable…

Argues against the current trends in giving importance to subjective values in educational administration, particularly the argument that attention to subjective values can overcome the perceived irrelevance of scientific administration and organization theory and help administrators make better decisions. (MD)

The author traces the progress of a group of teachers who meet regularly to discuss and explore the insights, uncertainties, and paradoxes that arise from teaching. He finds that the group evolved through three phases: (1) collegiality, (2) efforts to gain policy power, and (3) increasing confidence through knowledge. (Author/CH)

The purpose of this evaluation of DEMOS, a system for decision modeling and uncertainty analysis, was to identify some generic issues of interest in the design of such information systems, obtain insights about the causes of problems in their use, and to suggest hypotheses about how to deal with them. (EM)

This article argues that with the growth of flexible labor arrangements, older workers' long-term position in the labor force is being seriously eroded. The author considers the factors behind this trend and then examines possible remedial policies. He concludes by considering one long-term policy that might work. (CT)

Information on National Board of Medical Examiners examination policies from all U.S. medical schools that require students to pass the examination is reported. Most of these schools have similar policies on use of a 380 score as the passing level, allowing three attempts to pass, etc. (MLW)