Deciding how to spend the nation's education dollars is a tremendous responsibility. It's easy to forget that this responsibility falls primarily to district leaders (sometimes with input from principals). Sometimes those decisions go well and schools beat the odds on student outcomes. Other times, they do not, and student outcomes lag. Sometimes…

Objective of the Case--There is a large volume of theoretical and "how to" literature on professional learning communities (PLCs), but little documenting the challenges of implementation and even less on the challenges of system-wide implementation of PLCs. This case is about the role of the central office in initiating and supporting…

This report provides campus and system leaders with a scan of the current state of reform within the California State University (CSU), together with contextual insight into the obstacles and possibilities for broader scale adoption of coordinated, systemic change. Researchers: (1) Reviewed information on evidence-based student success strategies…

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a difference in how high and low performing elementary school districts use and analyze data to differentiate instruction, make changes to district/grade level curriculum, determine professional development needs, determine teacher effectiveness, and determine the use of school district…

In this article, I argue that emancipatory possibilities for Maori, the Indigenous people of New Zealand, rely on structural changes that enable them to have control over resources, decision making, and meaning, and that emancipation is a journey traveled by oppressed groups as they exercise their collective agency. The 1990s development of…

Quadrant analysis, a widely-used research technique, is suggested as useful in college or university strategic planning. The technique uses consumer preference data and produces information suitable for a wide variety of curriculum and marketing decisions. Basic quadrant analysis design is described, and advanced variations are discussed, with…

The purpose of this manual is to provide guidelines and assistance to local education agency planners in the needs-assessment process. In the first section, the needs-assessment process is discussed within the overall framework of the program development cycle. Subsequent sections treat each step in the process, providing a model. Issues are…

This paper discusses a qualitative case study that examined faculty attempts to establish and maintain a faculty council as a means of furthering shared governance between administrators and education faculty at a college of education over a 4-year period (1996-2000). Initial experience in shared governance--faculty members participating in…

Institutions increasingly use alumni feedback in such areas as program review, curricular planning, budget allocation, student assessment, services, and recruitment. The Ohio University alumni research program is described. (MLW)

A study was made of the specific cyclical sequence and detailed events needed to allocate available teacher resources to evening division courses at a California public junior college. Using data from interviews with participants and from other sources, a flow chart model was made of the allocation procedure. Sequential activities were described…

A planning cycle for any autonomous university entity contains five basic processes: information storage and retrieval forecasting, resource allocation, scheduling, and a term of study with a feedback loop. The resource allocation process is investigated for the development of shortrange planning models. Dynamic models wth linear and quadratic…

Viable reading education programs require faculty who not only know the field but also remain sensitive to the many forces controlling program survival. A program will function well only if the administration clearly articulates the management process, responds intelligently to market trends, and includes faculty input in decision making. Among…

Two aspects of knowledge use in schools are analyzed in this report. The first considers the "reception" of knowledge that results from professional social inquiry (PSI), and the second explores some factors that affect the internal school dissemination of such knowledge. Data were collected from 207 secondary school teachers in 45…

The time has come to reexamine the role of industrial arts in the high schools. Our society is no longer in the industrial era but rather in the post-industrial era which is characterized by pressing social problems. Solutions must be found for the problems of pollution, power generation, housing, transportation, communication, conservation, more…

The authors believe that the problems of our school systems are essentially problems of involvement and curriculum development. In this book, written for students in curriculum classes and for teachers and administrators involved in curriculum development, the authors set forth and substantiate their belief in a humanistic approach to curriculum…