Students studying office administration as a career at Lehman College (New York) participated in a case study reenactment in order to learn the processes involved in using an "Office Automation Committee" to ensure the successful planning and implementation of office automation. Based on the experience of the National Institute of…

The history of the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME) is discussed. The organization was founded in February 1938 when 45 college teachers and 12 persons from state departments of education or public schools adopted a constitution for the National Association of Teachers of Educational Measurement. The revised constitution of 1943…

Under the superintendent's guidance, the Riverside (California) Unified School District underwent decentralization between 1960 and 1978. The process involved seven stages: (1) conceptualizing and actualizing a "cooperative community" committed to educating every child, (2) communicating these concepts to key individuals, (3)…

This paper hypothesizes that both the structure and function of school systems are influenced by the following environmental factors: the institutional division of labor, the degree of homogeneity, the degree of stability, the degree of competition, and the amount and source of funding. Support for the hypotheses relies on open systems theory and…

Preliminary lessons emerging from five case studies contained in a larger study on improving urban high schools are explored in this report. An eclectic approach was taken to describe the contextual influences in and around the school improvement programs. Potential variables were selected from previous research to frame the investigation and site…

This paper presents a model for turning research findings into prescriptions for practical action. The model contains the following five interactive elements: (1) clear, understandable research knowledge; (2) relevant knowledge, which is seen as meaningful to normal life and concerns; (3) images of actions which exemplify the knowledge; (4) a will…

The concept of a functional "we" in a school setting and the idea that people who make up a school community relate school experiences and interpret school phenomena in the form of organizational "stories" provide the theoretical bases for a model to initiate strategies for school development and improvement. The functional "we" concept refers to…

The field of social innovation policy can presently be seen as divided into two opposing camps: pro-fidelity and pro-adaptation. The former conceptualizes innovations as consisting of a number of relatively well specified components, and argue that rigorously developed, evaluated programs should be implemented with close correspondence to…

Failure has frequently been the result of attempts to implement new educational technologies within a school organization that evolved in response to an older technology--the technology of the classroom, the blackboard, and the textbook. This failure may be due in part to specific causes in individual cases, but the pattern of failure suggests…

Maryland's Perryville High School Positive Disciplinary Project involves both actively disruptive students referred by the administration and students who have demonstrated the potential to be disruptive who are referred by teachers, guidance counselors, or parents. In either instance, the student becomes a part of the program for the entire…

The College of Education at Northern Arizona University was organized along traditional lines with a dean, department chairs for curriculum and instruction, educational administration, etc. In the past decade the College had begun to isolate itself from other colleges and departments within the University. Also, programs of teacher preparation had…

The Haaren High School Professional Services Center (PSC) in New York City was designed as a necessary support system for the reorganization of a large high school into a mini-school structure designed to increase the personal quality of school for each student without a change in the existing building or staff. PSC was designed to enable teachers…

Presenting congressional testimony regarding Senate Bill 1789 and Senate Bill 2046, these hearings include the texts of each bill and the statements of 12 witnesses. S. 1789 is described as a bill designed to amend the Act of August 27, 1935 (49 Statute 887) by extending the authority of the Secretary of the Interior to contract with the Middle…

"Self-Renewal" is the name for a seven stage process that allows those most directly involved in schools to take positive action to improve the functions of their own educational systems. The key component and most effective attribute of the process is the involvement and participation of those with the most intimate knowledge of the school, from…