John Goodlad (1958) stated that "Nowhere in education is there greater need for a conceptual system to guide decision-making than the field of curriculum." This research attempts to explore ways in which systems thinking can provide a conceptual system, to illuminate the study of curriculum and guide the design of curricula. (Author/RK)

Examines the circumstances surrounding the demise of mass circulation magazines. System Dynamics methodology is applied to modeling a typical large magazine publishing company and the assumptions built into the model are tested by an empirical study of the old "Saturday Evening Post." (Author/IRT)

The fifth (of 14) volume of the Education and Training Consultant's (ETC) series on systems engineering of education is designed for readers who have completed others in the series. It reviews arithmetic and algebraic procedures and applies these to simple education and training systems. Flowchart models of example problems are developed and…

This paper describes a paradigm for tutorial systems capable of automatically providing feedback and hints in a game environment. The paradigm is illustrated by a tutoring system for the PLATO game "How the West Was Won." The system uses a computer-based "Expert" player to evaluate a student's moves and construct a "differential model" of the…

Three systems of appraisal of employees are described with reference to major characteristics and the most appropriate application context. The first system, the developmental action program, is designed to be utilized on a job allowing the employee considerable discretion in reaching the job's objectives, and perhaps some autonomy in establishing…

This report begins with a summary of the implications of the Systemic Evaluation project as a whole, and then provides a framework for the commonplaces of schooling, along with an extensive sampler of the ways they can be used for building an information system. The first chapter presents some common conceptions of schooling that have typically…

An examination of definition, causes, variables, and strategies of implementation suggests the kinds of data necessary for measuring school effectiveness. By focusing on students who first enter school below grade level standards and by understanding that student learning is embedded in a system of key elements or variables that, over time, are…

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the capabilities and limitations of systems analysis as applied to the development of a program evaluation plan. A brief review of selected concepts in evaluation theory (Lee J. Cronbach; Michael Scriven; Robert Stake; Daniel Stufflebeam), a description of general systems theory, the development of a…

The implementation in a school district of the Research Utilization and Problem Solving (RUPS) System is demonstrated. RUPS is an instructional system for an inservice program designed to provide the needed competencies for an entire staff to engage in systems analysis and systems synthesis procedures prior to assessing educational needs and…

THE MAJOR OBJECTIVES OF THIS FEASIBILITY STUDY WERE (1) TO IDENTIFY INFORMATION SOURCES WHICH FURNISH OCCUPATIONAL AND ECONOMIC DATA TO SECONDARY SCHOOLS, (2) TO SELECT THOSE SOURCES WHICH ARE BELIEVED TO HAVE A MEASURABLE INFLUENCE ON THE VOCATIONAL CURRICULUM, AND (3) TO CATEGORIZE, RELATE, AND COMBINE OR RESTRUCTURE THOSE SOURCES INTO A…

Every administrator bears primary responsibility for planning the accomplishment of those objectives and activities that fall in his area. When responsibility is relatively restricted, the informal and intuitive methods that constitute "sound judgment" suffice. However, as his area of responsibility widens to include increasingly complex…