This research report argues for viewing the complex, often messy process of school reform implementation as a "conditional matrix" coupled with qualitative research. As illustration, two studies (of six reform efforts in one county and of implementation of an untracking program in Kentucky) are reported. Preliminary analysis reveals that…

Issues pertinent to the coordination of educational policies with those in other fields for innovative policy formation are presented in this synthesis. The first section details objectives of the interdisciplinary approach, of which the development of common frameworks and methodological tools that are adaptable to specific countries or regions…

This paper considers, from a British perspective, organizational theory as it applies to colleges, and provides theoretical background for people involved in curriculum-led institutional development, as well as anyone concerned with college organization. Among the topics discussed are the following: (1) institutional resistance to change; (2) the…

Using the results of a literature search, a conceptual framework is developed for comparing the schools of philosophical thought with the aims, methods, curriculum, and teacher-learner relationships found in training and development programs in business and industry. From this analysis, a philosophy for the field of training and development can be…

This paper presents a brief survey of several contemporary macro-issues in human work organizations as context for--and part of the work of--scientists-practitioners in organizational communication. A special attempt has been made to identify concerns or issues--called "TransIssues" for the purposes of this paper--that appear to cut across two…

Findings of a study that explored problems in the development of two newly created metropolitan middle schools are presented in this paper. Based on a framework of organizational change, the main premise contends that as new organizations, schools are also inherently vulnerable to the generic problems that face all organizations undergoing change.…

Issues in understanding organizational change from an interpretive viewpoint are explored in this paper, which discusses two perspectives for viewing organizational responses to their environments: (1) "environment" as an open concept (i.e., how "environment" is defined by participants in a given organization); and (2)…

This paper examines the adjustment of Napier Polytechnic of Edinburgh (Scotland, United Kingdom) to educational change. Discussed are: the historical development of the school; Napier's role in today's higher education; the school's shift from external to internal quality control of Council for National Academic Awards courses; the school's…

A study compared the political action, attitudes, and behavior of union members and members of union households to those of individuals who are not affiliated with a union. National data from the 1950s through the 1980s on the political identification, beliefs, and behavior of union/union household members and nonmembers were analyzed along with…

The nature of employment in the United Kingdom has been changing significantly in recent years and a number of Government-led initiatives have been taken to help people to adapt to this. In particular, individuals are increasingly expected to take responsibility for their own training and development and employing organisations are being…

This book shows how educators can become more versatile managers and more artistic leaders. In part 1, chapter 1 shows why reframing--the use of multiple lenses--is vital to effective leadership and management. It introduces the four basic lenses for organizational analysis--the structural, human resource, political, and symbolic frames--and show…

This kit is based on a review of the organization charts of 71 member libraries of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) gathered in January 1991, compared with an earlier SPEC Kit published in 1986, and contains charts of 29 of the libraries. A summary of the chart analyses presents information about the titles of library directors,…

The school district decentralization process is described in this guidebook, which focuses on the administrator's role in implementation. Three chapters are organized around the three phases of decentralization--exploration, trial, and commitment. Each phase is examined in terms of the real-life experiences of administrators and other…

The report outlines how the University of Alaska (Fairbanks) could move toward institutionalizing a chief information officer and merge campus academic and administrative information systems. The chief information officer would have such responsibilities as strategic planning participation, information systems planning, development of…

Materials are provided from a 3-week workshop with 18 participants that was designed to prepare competent Pakistani trainers of trainers. The final report describes the Advanced Trainers Development Workshop (ATDW) design, development of participant and instructor manuals, participant selection and self-assessments, and participant presentations.…