Conceptual dimensions of child abuse are discussed from an international perspective, including intentionality, societal versus individual causation, and personhood of the child. The article enumerates specific types of child abuse and neglect, suggests categories of children at risk for maltreatment, and proposes an international strategy for…

The ways in which state higher education coordinating boards diffuse information about academic innovations is examined, and it is concluded that both the types of change they favor and their dissemination strategies are linked to their political position and the broad political and policy perspective it requires. (Author/MSE)

Proposals for a university of Western Sydney (Australia) are examined as examples of policy-making in postsecondary education. The state and federal framework of postsecondary education is sketched, some features of Western Sydney's society are noted, and the university movement and options are discussed. (MSE)

A discussion of recent changes in Norwegian graduate study and the role and attitudes of students within the system finds problems similar to other countries' in: program length and student financing, industry-academic salary differences, estimating demand for graduate degrees, the objectives of the training, and increasing women's participation.…

Develops a conceptual and analytic framework for rural sociologists to document program results and consequences and to aid policy and program decisions. Addresses program/policy evaluation from perspectives of structural analysis, control programming, and simulation. Emphasizes dynamic, nonrecursive nature of evaluation processes. (LFL)

A meta analysis of preschool intervention programs is performed to arrive at an overall effect size of such programs. Results indicate that despite the diversities in intervention sites, ages of subjects, lengths of intervention, and curricula models, there is a positive homogeneous effect on the variables. (Author/LMO)

Many of the educational reforms being implemented become union issues when they reach the local school district levels. Presents a study of four school districts with such reforms under negotiation. Although administrators proposed the changes, the teachers and their local unions often proved to be constructive participants in those changes.…

Discussions during a seminar, whose participants came from North America and Europe, on trends and problems in the role of women in higher education are summarized. (MSE)

Eighty-six teachers' perspectives on mandatory/other mandatory, voluntary, and non-formal inservice education were studied. Findings indicated that formal inservice education that did not accompany mandatory program changes were not effective in changing classroom behavior of teachers. The study resulted in recommendations for school…

Examines the problems and issues associated with programs which care for sick children. (HOD)

Policies governing education of ethnic groups in Malaysia favor the Malays, in part to compensate them for disadvantages suffered under British rule. Strong sanctions are used to discourage protest by other ethnic groups. (Author)

Discusses Canada's problems in searching for a national identity and the controversy of the Federal policy of multiculturalism. Presents its objectives within a bilingual framework and the contradictions involved. Suggests a workable model involving assimilation conditioned by regional or local circumstances, useful also as a development strategy.…

The nature and functions of one element of the public postsecondary education system in England and Wales, the regional management centers that act as coordinating and advisory agencies, are described in the context of their establishment and history within the larger educational system. (MSE)

This paper identifies and tracks the strategies pursued by a single-project organization, the National Film Board, across almost four decades of its history. Findings focus on three themes: the emergent nature of the organization's strategies, its cycles of behavior, and the organization's quest for "adhocracy." (TE)

Describes the debate in Illinois over proposed bilingual education policy changes. Analyzes these issues: the effectiveness of transitional bilingual education, the inclusion of a cultural component, language assessment, the overprescriptiveness of current Illinois law, the impact of extending services to all limited-English proficient students,…