As researchers, decision-makers, and practitioners focus on continuous improvement in education, local-level change is gaining importance. Yet, many local school improvement efforts fail to be fully implemented. Even those that are fully implemented often fail to sustain improvements because the schools are embedded in systems that face multiple…

Recently, there has been growing interest in adapting Return-on-Investment thinking to education--sometimes called educational productivity, or academic-ROI. Education leaders do not seek a monetary return on their spending, rather greater student learning, or other outcomes like student citizenship, higher graduation rates, or increased lifetime…

Developing a clear idea of needs and objectives for any particular school system is the first step in planning for educational processes. (MB)

This is one of eight short monographs intended to aid practicing educators in planning and conducting accountability programs in schools. This booklet discusses the concept of educational accountability and examines the major facets of educational accountability programs. Short sections focus in turn on the nature of educational accountability,…

Examines the educational planning process. Discusses what planning is, how methodological planning can work in education, misunderstandings about planning, and difficulties in applying the planning methodology. (DN)

A needs assessment is a procedure or process that identifies the perceived or expressed needs of a school district. The process involves the use of various measurements and activities to obtain the data needed to define the gap between "what is" and "what should be." This handbook reviews four such processes or models for…

This paper sets forth a community family life education model within the structure-functional framework. Attention is first focused on societal and family needs, followed by the model, its goals, organization, and implementation. Finally, several recommendations and a challenge are given to family educators. (Author)

Ways in which the Open University can meet its stated objective in adult education of meeting the educational needs of the community are addressed, including planning by inspired guesswork, national surveys, and expert consultation. Helping learners assess their own needs and structuring the helping process to enable better recruitment and…

Presents a step-by-step systems approach model consisting of seven major components including: informing and involving key groups, defining problem/goals, needs assessment, formulating objectives, designing program, implementing program, and evaluation. Includes procedures, flow chart presentations, and guidelines for program planning. (RC)

Latin American countries have a long history in the application of educational technology to the improvement of teacher education. Even though past innovations, such as the Multinational Project on Educational Technology have been successful, there are still problems with the quality of teacher education. Apparently, processes have been improved…

This speech addresses the problem of higher education's response to the forces of change and argues for a reinventing of higher education rather than repeatedly amending core teaching and research activities to fit new social and economic situations. Three higher education organizational dynamics (recruitment, budgeting, and handling outside…

This first of two monographs dealing with comprehensive institutional planning is directed at executive officers and institutional planners of two-year colleges interested in initiating or improving their approach to planning. Chapter 1 discusses planning as an essential administration function for the 1980s; such planning must be sensitive to…

The future of educational design, development, and improvement lies in integrating "how" with "what" and "why." Critical strategic thinking factors include abandoning comfort zones; focusing on ends, not means; linking all three planning and result levels; starting with an ideal vision; preparing measurable…

This bibliography is intended primarily for managers and trainers but will also be of interest to employers, unions, and all parties interested in improving the competency of trade and nonprofessional workers through improved training. Materials represent the topics of needs assessment, identification of training objectives, monitoring and…

A project was undertaken for the promotion of unit/credit systems for language learning by adults. Project aims were to: (1) show that anaylsis or identification of language needs ought to be an intergral part of the unit/credit language learning processes; (2) show that all parts of the system are interdependent, including analysis of resources…