This literature review is intended to help inform the development and implementation of innovative, educationally sound high school redesigns in Alberta. It is provided as a support resource for school administrators involved in Alberta Education's High School Flexibility Enhancement Project. Support is provided in the following ways: (1) a brief…

Focusing on the school district's written expectations for students, this document examines curriculum improvement in four sections, each accompanied by a list of related references. The first section explores the organizational and substantive planning needed to structure any curriculum improvement project effectively and includes information on…

Strategic planning is a process by which the guiding members of an organization envision its future and develop tactics to achieve that future. This paper discusses the nature and purposes of strategic planning in educational organizations, and presents a 10-step generic model to illustrate the basic components of strategic planning. These 10…

Value chain analysis can gauge, analyze, and predict organization effects to control cost in light of achieving strategic organization objectives of distance education. Value chain analysis enables organizations to accomplish their goal or mission through cost effectiveness or differentiation. The value chain activity structure in a distance…

Describes one department's experience with curriculum development through the formulation of a departmental mission statement reflecting the shared sociological goals of faculty and students. Discusses the process of achieving consensus, the actual mission statement, and the curricular and program implications of such a process. (KO)

The first section of this monograph describes research trends and major issues in the arts education field, such as: (1) some of the major arts education advocacy pieces; (2) current policy and practices in arts education; (3) current trends in arts education research; and (4) building a case statement for arts education based on research. The…

There is cause for concern about the future of public higher education. The unease is driven in part by the recent cuts in state funding of most public universities and by the harsh reality that today's strains are merely a continuation of a three-decade-long trend driven by systemic tensions in state budgets. Arguably of greater moment is the…

After 10 years of academic education, students not going to college should enter 2-year programs of cooperative education. In these programs students would spend half their time in real-world employment and the other half studying subjects relevant to the world of living and working outside of school. (PGD)

Arts education is a fundamental obligation of the public schools. Students grow in unique and critical ways by experiencing the arts through practice. The study of the heritage of the arts in their intellectual, critical, and aesthetic dimensions enhances student perspectives. Mankind's artistic achievements are the heritage of every child and an…

Outlines the foundations of the qualitative and quantitative approaches to research and discusses the implications of these two completely different approaches in educational research. Points out they are not complementary as they are separate scientific paradigms.(MD)

A plan for studying management procedures that structure the relationships between federal agencies and federally-created research and development (R&D) organizations is discussed. The objective is to identify the types of federal management approaches, examine these approaches from the perspective of their relative emphasis on accountability…

These proceedings contain all of the formal presentations made at a conference focusing on policy issues affecting the Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology of Ontario. Introductory remarks by Harry Fisher are followed by an outline by Blair Tully of the Ontario government's focus on high technology and the projects of the Board of Industrial…

This paper describes the "District Level Indicators Supporting Quality Schools" and gives suggestions on the use of the instrument. The indicators were developed from research on effective schools and focus on activities and policies supporting quality schools. The instrument is a series of statements of goals, practices, policies, and…

This book offers suggestions to primary schools about how they can improve their work in preparing children for a rapidly changing world. Chapter 1 sets the stage by considering various definitions of educational improvement, efficacy, and goals. Chapter 2 assesses research on school effectiveness and critically considers components of school…

This proceedings provides summaries of the group discussions and presentations of a conference/workshop convened in March 1992 to share information concerning the future planning of educational partnerships between developing countries and Canada's small universities. The approaches examined at the conference are characterized by more sensitivity…