Educational excellence can be defined, sought, and evaluated only if the purposes of education and the means of attaining them have a broad consensus among both educators and the public. The purposes of education need to be clarified as a requisite for setting standards against which performance can be measured. (MLW)

A computer game involving macroeconomic stabilization policy for use with college level students is described. Students are asked to take the part of government in manipulating tax rates, expenditures, and monetary policy in an attempt to influence employment and inflation in an open economy. (Author/RM)

The federal government's role in educational policy is examined. Discussed are changes in the public's problems, needs, and attitudes, and changes in state and local government roles in school governance. The impact of the federal government on state educational policy is analyzed, and predictions are made for future federal educational policy.…

Some institutions of higher education have adopted policies prohibiting sexual harassment and set out procedures for resolving complaints and grievances. Until it is eliminated and becomes a taboo practice, there must exist some legal protection for both victims and unintended accomplices. (MLW)

There is inadequate utilization of social science research in policymaking in India. This is due to the time gap between research and publication, mismatch between need and supply, and the inadequacies of the research. Better performance within the academic system, as well as better communication, can ensure better utilization. (CS)

Three kinds of federal involvement in higher education are discussed: to use federal aid to promote policies not directly related to higher education; to influence academic choices and policies; and to obtain research and other services. Issues of ethics and access related to federal regulation are examined. (MSE)

Described is a six-step school improvement process that evolved during attempts to assess needs, plan improvements, implement changes, and evaluate success at a Michigan school district's elementary schools with disadvantaged pupils. The process involves parents and school staff identifying needs and setting priorities for staff development. (PP)

Lack of overall planning has caused a malaise in Australian higher education. National policy-making has evolved through changes in the power structure and governments' interrelationships. Results include erosion of university autonomy, trends toward standardization within the system, and budgeting that does not consider individual institutional…

The Australian Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) report, which describes a politically preferred version of the higher education system, is put into historical, economic, and political perspective and criticized for its style and content. The workings of the public agencies concerned with higher education are outlined. (MSE)

Current presumptions about adolescents' incompetence as decision makers are largely unsupported by psychological research. There are psychological and social benefits in recognizing adolescents as autonomous persons with independent interests in liberty and privacy. Policymakers should consider adolescents' rights in decisions concerning…

H. S. Bhola's models for planned change can help those offering technical assistance to developing countries by: (1) helping structure the realities of the world they seek to change; (2) uncovering linkages; (3) anticipating problems; and (4) putting program actions into perspective. Activities of the German Foundation for International…

An understanding of the impact of financial aid policies must be an integral part of institutional planning, since aid policies and availability will have a growing effect on student body composition. Current data are incomplete, but priorities implicit in policy will have to be reexamined in the early 1980s. (Author/MSE)

The decisions an institution makes about tuition and student aid constitute its pricing policy and locate its market position. An analytical device called the "aid eligibility frontier" is used to analyze the current pricing system; potential problems are discussed. (Author/MSE)

The effects of budgetary constraints on British higher education are examined, especially as they affect institutional autonomy in resource allocation and staffing. The extent to which other European governments have similar problems and policies is discussed. (Author/MSE)

An attitudinal survey of 28 Minnesota legislative and interest-group policy makers in education examined educational groups' fragmentation, linkages, lobbying power, legislators' information resources, and initiation and accommodation between legislators and interest groups. Among the conclusions is that educational lobbyists' power in the…