Systems concepts are useful in rethinking and reorganizing the structure of education. The author presents a popular interpretation of the systems approach to problem solving. He uses a general systems theory to compare the attributes of a school system and a computer system. He uses the idea of a critical subsystem to prepare a table of…

This study intoduces a strategy for analysing different kinds of phenomena by building "information structures" for analysing how parts make a whole in complex systems. The strategy introduced may be of use when there is a need to understand complex systems or situations; e.g., in various studies of adult education when education is seen as…

The State Planning System (SPS) is a flexible, policy-oriented management tool intended to help analyze possible impacts of various policy decisions. The SPS is able to address a wide range of issues because it depends on the user to provide the relationships and data to be used in the analysis. Such issues might include enrollment shifts among…

A systematic methodology is proposed for the evaluation of curriculum. Four domains are identified, including the evaluation of: (1) curriculum planning; (2) curriculum development; (3) curriculum implementation; and (4) curriculum effects. Evaluating curriculum planning must include determining the legality of the curriculum and must consider the…

Education is too complex, multidimensional, and poorly understood to lend itself to a single cost/effectiveness criterion. Rather, analysts in the educational field seek to rank alternatives by their effectiveness, report separately on the cost implications, and leave the tradeoffs to the decisionmaker's judgment. In this context, a program is any…

To assist the Delaware Department of Public Instruction in designing and implementing a modern strategy for coordinating educational planning in the State, this report reviews techniques employed by other State educational agencies and offers a proposal for developing a planning unit within the department. Some specific recommendations for…

This report brings together ideas and information about evaluation that until recently were available only to academic theorists. The four substantive chapters that follow the introduction contain (1) a general review of the "state of the art" of evaluation theory and methodology, (2) an examination of an approach to evaluation that focuses on…

An orientation to management information systems (MIS) is offered which presents information about MIS in the context of public education and suggests some considerations that should be taken into account in designing and operating such systems. MIS is defined as a set of operating procedures that act as a control system to automatically provide…

The least understood of complex systems is that which produces educated people. Superficially, many key elements of a manufacturing organization are part of the system: a product, product tolerance limits, methods for assessing product deviation, and a feed-back system for making compensatory adjustments. In layman's terms these elements are:…

The sector approach to analysis of nation-wide learning services is a means of viewing all aspects of national development from the perspective of human resources. Such an approach requires a descriptive national profile; an analysis in terms of dynamics, output, goals, and constraints; a strategy to achieve the goals; and a plan to actualize…

Approximately 2,700 books, pamphlets, and articles from all over the world published before October 1967, are listed in this annotated bibliography on public expenditure decision making. Emphasis is on the economic criteria of decision making derived through use of systematic and analytical methods. Entries are organized into 33 general…

The Design for Tennessee Assessment and Evaluation of Title III, Elementary and Secondary Education Act, was developed to provide a tool for educators to use in evaluating projects and programs in Tennessee schools. An intensive workshop on evaluation was held using the Tennessee Evaluation Design as the synthesizing structure. The presentations…