As teacher educators, we want our research to be influential in contributing to educational policy and practice, but there remains little understanding about ways in which teacher educators might more productively engage with each other and policy-makers so as to maximise their research impact. Drawing on an empirical study and policy document…

Paper presented at the meetings of the Midwest Conference of Political Scientists (Ann Arbor, Mich., April 24-26, 1969)

Believes educational research needs to move much closer to where national policy decisions are being made. (Editor)

Between 1971 and 1975, fourteen towns, under the auspices of the Council of Europe, engaged in a systematic study of their cultural and recreational policies. Article provided some fresh thought about strategies in this important area of public policy. (Author/RK)

This paper is based on the assumption that the educational administrator is the mediator in policy development. The author sees the administrator as caught between two conflicting approaches to policy-making--one characterized as "rational" and the other as "political." In attempting to deal with this dilemma and with the dilemma of shrinking…

The educator today often makes decisions in the face of uncertainty. Although many of these decisions have widespread implications, all too often these determinations are made without benefit of an appropriate decisionmaking procedure. The educator should identify those variables important to arriving at decisions about students' grades, student…

Defines educational overload as the inability of an individual or organization to respond to a problem or situation in an appropriate period of time resulting in distress for the people involved. Recommends strategies for dealing with overload. (FL)

Prediction is made of a change in the role of the teacher from dispenser of knowledge to a learning facilitator and an "anticipatory design science" specialist. A description is given of a workshop seminar focusing on the process of designing educational futures so that teachers can gain direct experience with policy study and formation. This…

This paper examines three recent studies of patterns of public participation in educational decision-making conducted by Peshkin, Schaffarzick, and Zeigler, briefly analyzing each study in terms of three models of public policy formation: (1) the traditional democratic or formal bureaucratic model, (2) the technological or empirical bureaucratic…

Decisionmaking in organizations is examined from the perspective of open systems organization theory. Employing this perspective, this paper represents a critique of the views held by planners and systems analysts and the conflicting assumptions of their critics. The conclusion reached is that neither the assumptions held by planners, nor those of…

Examines reasons why educational research has failed to solve educational dilemmas. Explanations include that research cannot solve problems which are political and that research should not be undertaken as a propaganda activity by educational policymakers. (Author/DB)

An overview of current educational issues is offered as a background for an analysis of the status of educational research, guidelines for future research, and a general assessment of the National Institute of Education (NIE). Also included are discussions of the National Council on Educational Research's activities and NIE's study of its…

This report builds a case for survey feedback as a useful method of assisting schools to respond actively, rather than passively, to uncertainty and complexity in the school environment. The main argument is that passive responses, such as defensiveness and buffering, reduce educational effectiveness. Planning, an active response, creates…

Experiences of the author support the contention that professors and practitioners in education face common dilemmas, and share the practice of teaching, but are not bound by any professional community. Professional communities based on commonalities in teaching can be constructed for those in higher education and the public schools. (SLD)