To compete effectively, information brokers need to adopt management and marketing tools; Total Quality Management can upgrade an organization's performance by using customer feedback of its services. SERVQUAL identifies gaps in service by assessing quality expectations versus quality experiences. (AEF)

Examined conversations among a group of kindergarten girls who used the school-defined task of writing to maintain social cohesion in their peer social interactions. Because of the genres and form of their writing, they were able to use the writing to further individual status aspirations, which created tensions within the group. (42 references)…

A Texas elementary school is testing Edison's claim that a private company can manage a public school better and more profitably than a public school district working alone. Educators and parents already see improvements, but overenrollment has caused class size, scheduling, and computer shortage problems. Competition and payment problems could…

School choice is a strategy to avoid the problems facing schools. Crime and discipline must be confronted head-on. Using public money to supplement private education dollars is useless. Living under majority rule while running a public school is not easy. "Choice" is a quick-fix that undermines the democratic value system it celebrates. (25…

Discusses computer software and system design in the information industry and provides an annotated bibliography of 31 resources that address the issue of design. Highlights include competition, color use, hardware and presentation design, content and packaging, screen design, graphics, and interactive multimedia. A sidebar reviews and rates seven…

Discusses a parental choice case involving a rural (British) school with a 13+ transfer age to determine parents' use of the open enrollment system, effects of transport policy on exercising parental choice, quality of information provided, and factors influencing choice. Transportation was problematic. Four choice factors stood out: teacher…

Discusses some ways in which immigration has affected race and ethnic relations in New York City (New York), particularly new immigrants and their interrelationships with the older established immigrant populations. The author examines the tensions and competition that have been created between these groups and the encouraging instances of…

The Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) endeavored to achieve a balance between student learning of school science in a competitive sense and the variety of science learnings that contemporary curricula for science expect. The impact of science-technology-society (STS) on science curricula is used to explore these tensions in…

With competition for managerial jobs increasing, new college graduates entering the white-collar work force will need to be very visible, have many professional contacts, be well-trained and self-reliant, show fiscal prudence in their personal lives, take risks, and develop transferable skills for a fluid, uncertain workplace environment. (MSE)

Presents 13 commentaries on a previously published case study about the value of a Master's of Business Administration to employers today. Critiques center on the case study method, theory-practice gap, and value of practical experience and include international perspectives. (SK)

Recommends that economics instruction begin a synthesizing process early by connecting discussion of the production possibilities curve and the supply curve. Suggests that linking the two is logical for conveying integrated economic thinking to beginning students. Argues that such a link makes it easier to discuss the competitive norm. (DK)

An independent bookseller is suing two branches of the State University of New York to obtain copies of professors' required reading lists, claiming a right to them under state public records law. The institutions say any such lists are property of legally separate college bookstores, managed by a large publisher. (MSE)

The debate over financing private education with public funds in France is chronicled, beginning with a review of the issues's history since 1848 and examining events leading to and following a demonstration on January 14, 1994. Legislative testimony of Victor Hugo, modern political cartoons, and data from a recent newspaper are included. (MSE)

Suggests new methods of teaching instructional design based on literature reviews of other design fields including engineering, architecture, interior design, media design, and medicine. Methods discussed include public presentations, visiting experts, competitions, artifacts, case studies, design studios, and internships and apprenticeships.…

Discussion of challenges faced by corporate information services (IS) departments focuses on the role of information in value-creation within a company and the necessity for organizing information to meet the needs of business managers. A basically new method of working--information counseling--is advocated as a way for the IS department to…