An often-quoted Nigerian proverb holds that it is the responsibility of the whole village to teach a child. This paper argues that this goal might not even be possible, given the complex educational system of the 1990s. The paper provides a framework for effective change based on an understanding of the complexity of the educational system. It…

Three stages of teacher education are examined: preservice; the induction phase, defined as the first few years prior to the tenure decision; and inservice training. It is noted that there is often an incongruity between the real purpose of preservice students and that of their teachers in a teacher education system. Preservice students going…

The major thesis of this paper is that black colleges and universities are fundamental parts of the overall American society, which is fraught with change, oppression, chaos, and post-industrial problems; therefore, it contends, the survival of these minority institutions depends upon their keeping pace with today's technological trends. Based on…

Canada's national educational system elicits diverse curricular demands and requires discreet, sensitive responses. In spite of perennial funding shortfalls, Canada's schools have been remarkably successful in meeting those demands. During and after the 1960s, educational change came as a result of two very strong sets of expectations. One broad…

The drive for systemic reform in education reflects a widespread hunger in all sectors of society to make sense of the whole, as is shown in the increasing recognition of people in organizations of the interrelatedness of the organizations' parts. However, many attempts at systemic reform are hampered by the lack of a common view of what an…

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…

An increasing number of elementary school sites have begun to implement nongraded, multiage, primary developmental learning environments. Nongraded primaries are more than just a loosening of the age limits and a changing of the promotion strategies. This broad educational restructuring strategy provides a unique opportunity for creating new…

The Western Policy Exchange Project is designed to help states assess the implications of environmental changes on their own higher education system. In roundtables and policy workshops, six Western states--Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, South Dakota, Arizona, and Washington--looked for evidence of systemic change and proposed the following five…

This document presents information on how the Western states are responding to some of the major policy issues facing U.S. higher education today and on the strategies they have used to implement change. The study, prepared by the Western Policy Exchange Project, defines today's higher education environment as characterized by dynamic global,…