The basic task for long-range planning activities is to help to establish, maintain, and strengthen a future-oriented frame of mind within the leadership of the institution involved. (Author)

In coming years school managers will be confronted by the expansion of access to benefits of schooling, greater involvement in school governance by all segments of society, and increased examination of alternative methods for measuring the teaching-learning environment. Suggested options available through futures thinking, research and planning…

Virginia Tech's microcomputer policy is examined and how that policy dictates university procedures and practices for successful microcomputer programs is discussed. Microcomputer policy, software, approval, support schedule for planning and implementing the program and program evaluation are discussed. (MLW)

The National Commission on Excellence in Teacher Education was appointed in 1983 to describe the present state of teacher education, identify problem issues, and make recommendations for the improvement of teacher education. The final report of the Commission, "A Call for Change in Teacher Education," was based on information gathered at…

An annotated bibliography on present and future educational needs and the relationship of those needs to teacher education programs is presented. References were selected from the ERIC indexes, Resources in Education and Current Index to Journals in Education. (JN)

The author's optimistic view of evaluation in the future includes increased utilization, especially in the private sector; more professionalization, with potential for conflict; more academic program development; more use in policy; increase in the use of complex methods; and more involvement in program development. (SLD)

The idea that national policy planning is enriched by wide public participation is taking hold. One example is the establishment of the Congressional Clearinghouse on the Future, which helps legislators assess the impact of proposed bills on the future and the probable impact of the future on current legislative programs. (LBH)

Views of five members of the evaluation community in Washington (D.C.) concerning the future of evaluation in the federal government are summarized. Evaluators include (1) E. Chelimsky; (2) M. F. Mangano; (3) J. S. Wholey; (4) R. C. Sonnichsen; and (5) C. Wye. (SLD)

The College Board's Future Directions for a Learning Society (FDLS) program has increasingly focused on improving access and transition for adult learners. The "learning society" is a name for what is happening and for an ideal. The challenge is to build bridges from what is to what could be. Although over seventeen million adult…

An essay encouraging and illustrating possibilities for faculty involvement in college planning and decision making is followed by commentaries by Harmon C. Dunathan and George Keller. Among the issues addressed are program review, personnel strategies, and situations of financial exigency. (MSE)

In 1985 a project was developed to strengthen policy guiding regionalization of occupational programs in New Jersey county community colleges. The project had three major goals: to establish a policy for the regionalization of selected occupational programs offered by the colleges; to describe ways that programs could be identified for regional…

Children comprise the largest group of poor Canadians. While childhood poverty is closely related to a number of factors pertaining to the structure and functioning of families, such as parental marital status and wage-earning patterns, the poverty of children is a consequence of the poverty of families. As such, childhood poverty can be reduced…

This paper is the result of an effort to compile general information that has been gathered during the last few years in connection with an ongoing cross-national study of preschool systems, and to add to this data other cross-national statistics. Sections of the paper concern: (1) family characteristics relating to preprimary children; (2)…

This policy guide is designed to assist governors and state leaders in analyzing the issue of adult literacy and in proposing specific policy strategies for dealing with this national problem. The book offers practical guidance in two areas critical to effective action: it clarifies definitions of "literacy" and "illiteracy" and provides a…

An appraisal was made of the policy implications of a commitment by the University of the West Indies (UWI) to develop distance education as an integral feature of its teaching responsibilities. Information was gathered through interviews with 163 educators and administrators at the 3 campuses of the University of the West Indies, its 8 member…