Policy initiatives from Kentucky to California are espousing curriculum based on NCTM-backed core concepts that students understand through induction rather than memorization, teaching based on guided mastery rather than didactic instruction, and assessment that is open-ended rather than machine-scorable. This article highlights obstacles to…

Eugene (Oregon) Public Schools want to replace the traditional content-driven curriculum with a general concepts-based curriculum stressing the relationships among ideas. To help district educators understand the new model, a coin metaphor describing the two interlocking areas of curriculum (learning core conceptual knowledge and strategic…

Discussion of college planning compares planning as a cultural/social process and as a rational tool for identifying and achieving institutional goals. Factors to be considered in planning as a cultural process are examined. It is concluded that leaders should examine both substantive and cultural effects of change. (MSE)

Four school districts adopted a school restructuring project using Deming's business management method. Deming offered alternative views of organizations based on psychology, systems, perceptual framework, and causes of variance. He listed 14 points for quality improvement. Evaluation indicated that key staff members willingly engaged in…

Describes the goals and framework of California State University's Project DELTA (Direct Electronic Learning Teaching Alternative), an approach to making information technology and distance learning integral parts of the instructional program. The context of the project, project planning steps, and lessons learned during the planning process are…

Because resistance is inevitable, the primary task of managing change is motivational, not technical. Implementation depends on five change dimensions: reform content, faculty willingness and capacity for change, the school's organizational strength, support and training, and leadership. Innovation is fostered by clarity and focus, participation,…

The Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics has called for reform of college sports. Assistance from alumni in shaping that reform is appropriate and important. Associations can help by opening up discussion, taking a stand, involving alumni, and giving increased attention to sports in publications. (MSE)

This collaborative six-step process to assess school climate involves consulting the district to determine problematic aspects; developing measurement instruments for the district; analyzing surveys distributed, administered, and returned by the district; reviewing results with school members; forming small groups to pursue findings; and…

This article explores implications of the call for reforming curricula according to sameness analysis for teaching children with learning disabilities. Replacement and modification of existing curricula are reviewed as alternate reform options. Modification is divided into good teaching approaches, supplementary activity approaches, and major…

Investigated the dimensions of university students' (n=96) attitudes toward date and acquaintance rape. Examined the effects of a program designed to change those attitudes. Found college men had substantially greater tendencies to blame the victim for date and acquaintance rape than did women. (Author/ABL)

Institutionally empowered principals provide teachers with decision-making possibilities and use this empowerment to benefit the exchange between teacher and principal. Cultural empowerment requires even more effort. Teachers and principals must work together on the school's institutional and cultural climate by using dialogue and critique.…

Often necessary to meet enrollment goals in a competitive age, student recruitment from new sources requires a sound knowledge of marketing, solid research, effective organization, and institutional activities that will attract the desired populations. Experience at Westminster College (Utah) illustrates that the process is not particularly…

Resistance is not simply a function of individual psychology or pathology but is influenced by organizational variables such as norms, legalities, degree of teacher participation, and available resources. Change facilitators should refrain from imposing solutions, concentrate on beliefs and perceptions, emphasize processes, and encourage…

John Henry Newman's conception of the university as a teaching institution in which the guiding concept is transmission of liberal knowledge is examined as it applies to the Australian context. The theory is seen as a useful starting point for developing a theory of the modern Australian university. (MSE)

Social workers (n=271) completed research instrument containing 4 case vignettes with 60 possible outcome objectives from which to select. Social workers' choice of personal and environmental outcomes (attempts to change either aspects of client or aspects of environment) could be quantified and categorized. Conceptual framework used in research…