This booklet provides an introduction to the educational policy-making process for both experienced and new planners. Policy is defined as decisions designed to guide future decisions or to initiate and guide the implementation of previous decisions. Case studies of Burkina Faso, Jordan, Peru, and Thailand show how educational policy has played…

Matching national needs in the less commonly taught languages (LCTL) with a capacity to fill those needs through language instruction is discussed. The thesis proposed is that an ongoing strategic planning process must be initiated, aimed at insuring instructional capacity to deliver needed LCTL competencies. In particular, this planning process…

This organization manual of the Iowa Library Association chapter of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ILA/ACRL) responds to the need for specific information to implement the organization's strategic plan. The manual includes: (1) the bylaws; (2) strategic plan; (3) a history of the chapter and other introductory material; (4) a…

Total Quality Management (TQM) has become popular in many educational settings in recent years. TQM was initiated at Shiloh High School in the Gwinnett County (Georgia) Public Schools as a part of a strategic plan that guarantees individual student success. Shiloh Principal J. Patrick Mahon recognized TQM's usefulness in carrying out a strategic…

This study explored the utility of developing an alumni survey specifically designed for graduate alumni to increase response rates and provide specific information for planning. The previous year's survey of graduate alumni had seen a very low participation rate and those that had responded offered several negative comments on the survey design.…

This guide of the Bibliographic Instruction Section (BIS) of the Association of College and Resource Libraries (ACRL) serves as the organizational handbook and directory of BIS officers and committee members. The handbook opens with a description of the organizational structure of BIS. BIS is composed of an Executive Committee, an Advisory…

The Council of the Great City Schools, the nation's primary coalition of large urban public school systems, has prepared this report to summarize its recommendations to St. Louis about improving student achievement in its public schools. The project goals included: (1) Review the instructional program of the St. Louis schools, the unit's…

The South Dakota Opportunities Plan is being presented to the South Dakota Legislature in fulfillment of the Legislature's directive from the 2006 session (House Bill 1238). The plan is intended to provide insight into the critical issues confronting higher education in South Dakota, responses made by the Board of Regents to these situations, and…

In 1990, the National Science Foundation (NSF) created the Statewide Systemic Initiative Program. The solicitation issued by the Directorate for Science and Engineering Education sought proposals "for projects intended to broaden the impact, accelerate the pace, and increase the effectiveness of improvements in science, mathematics, and…

We see all around us how technology is changing teaching and learning--as it is changing all facets of our lives. We have data that shows technology, depending on how it is used, efficiently and effectively supports student learning and the instructional process. Yet technology is not the end goal--it is but one component in an educational…

Living in an information age, targeting the news media has become one of the most effective methods used by national service programs for transmitting information to the public. This report describes a strategic approach that can assist public relations departments to determine: (1) Who one's audience is and what their opinions, attitudes, and…

In this article, the author observes that while university officials believe that strategic planning will help them look past the day-to-day housekeeping and meet the challenges of a volatile environment, much of such planning appears mired in competitive self-replication and is vulnerable to distrust from the public and government. Too often, the…

Earlier this year, the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence released a report highlighting practices in Kentucky's high-performing, high-poverty schools. Researchers collected information using the same audit tool that the Kentucky Department of Education uses to diagnose problems in schools identified for improvement, then compared those…

The purpose of this study was to understand the nature of the relationship between organizational strategy and district performance among California's largest unified school districts. Organizational strategy was measured using planned and realized strategies (independent variables). Realized strategy is also referred to strategic orientation.…

The chapters of this collection describe a transformational period in higher education. The paradigm shift in higher education requires new organizational models, new strategies, new resources, and new tools, with new ways of thinking, especially about strategic enrollment management (SEM). The chapters of part 1, "The Contextual Framework for…