This article provides an analysis of the rise of 'scientific management' and 'social efficiency' theories in the early 1900s, traces their impact on the structure and administration of education systems, and critically analyses their contribution to the emergence of a new orthodoxy--outcomes-based education (OBE) approaches to school curriculum…

The authors examine the implications for educational policies, individual learners, and the community of the current accountability movement, which requires that all educational goals and achievements be quantified and measured. They find that this technocratic model promotes efficiency but is antithetic to such qualities as freedom of choice and…

Topics include: (1) global objectives for structuring and improving the educational climate, (2) a history of competency-based education, (3) objectives based instructional programs, (4) behavior modification, (5) physical education objectives, (5) objectives in the cognitive domain. (DAG)