International Literacy Year (1990), sponsored by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), is a time of great hope and unique opportunity. It is intended to convey two essential messages: (1) education matters and will be decisive in shaping the future of individuals and societies; and (2) there is an urgent…

There is a close connection between illiteracy and poverty at all levels--global, national, and subnational; the countries with the lowest levels of literacy are also the poorest economically. Poverty breeds illiteracy by forcing children to drop out of school to work, and these illiterate people are forced to stay on the lowest levels of the work…

The factors for an effective administrative task force are examined in this report on the Syracuse school superintendent's Issue Analysis Team. The team, composed of voluntary potential administrators, acts as a special task force to facilitate informed decision making by the school superintendent. Topics discussed are member selection, role…

Seven papers making up Track IV of the 1989 conference of the Professional Association for the Management of Information Technology in Higher Education (known as CAUSE; an acronym of the association's former name) are presented in this document. The focus of Track IV is on policy and standards issues and the papers include: "Developing…

This paper examines the connection between educational policymaking and the organization and functioning of the public schools. First, the authors describe hierarchical levels of educational organization (districts, schools, classrooms, instructional groups, and individual students); consider the linkages between levels; and discuss the…

The politics of program evaluation are discussed from the personal perspective of the Director of the General Accounting Office's Program Evaluation and Methodology Division, which has produced reports for committees of the United States Congress. It is concluded that successful evaluations must be useful to others and must understand the…

In 1985, Edward Koch, Mayor of New York City, established an Early Childhood Education Commission and gave it the task of recommending how best to begin to provide public education for all of the city's 4-year-olds, beginning in September, 1986. After introductory remarks indicating the confluence and interplay of social elements underpinning the…

Designed to help those who plan and allocate resources for California's community colleges in evaluating future trends and identifying responsible policy directions, this report seeks to: (1) describe present and future trends and their variations within California; (2) determine the applications of those trends for community colleges; (3)…

This document contains five papers presented at a symposium designed to identify and discuss implications of nationwide perspectives and research studies on vocational education. Following an introduction that explains the context of the presentations, the following papers are included: "Improving Secondary Vocational Education" (Harry F.…

In light of issues surrounding control of local school boards in Ontario, Canada, this opinion survey of 197 board trustees was conducted to determine support for full-time trustee representation. Questionnaires--sent by stratified random sampling--solicited demographic, geographic, and personal information and sought trustees' opinions on whether…

Although supervision has become an innovative area in which ideas can easily be introduced to teachers, conservative attitudes in Turkey's ministry of education prevent implementation of changes desired by teachers, supervisors, and educational directors. Because the Turkish education system is centralized, government makes major policy and…

This hearing examined the history, current status and trends, and strengths of American families. Testimony (1) described the complex and intense daily life of members of blended families and pointed out that social, financial, and other supports needed by stepfamilies are often not available; (2) provided accounts of personal experiences with…

A summation of the successful Sunset Review process and a legislative package addressing issues raised during the Review highlight the Arizona Commission of Indian Affairs' 1986 annual report. The summation identifies changes in Commission organization and programs and clarifies Commission powers and duties. The legislative package includes a…

This paper examines developments at 26 universities to identify patterns and models of telecommunications information planning and decision-making. The study was designed to determine how telecommunications information (TI) policy questions are resolved on university campuses, and by whom. An important aspect of the study was to determine the role…

Prepared under contract with the International Council on Archives (ICA), this study is intended to assist information policy and planning specialists; those involved in proposing, drafting and reviewing legislation and administrative regulations; and especially archivists and records managers, in creating, developing, and evaluating modern…