The author develops the basic idea of evaluation policy, describes a practical model for development and revision of evaluation policies (including a taxonomy, structure, and set of principles), and suggests critical challenges and opportunities for the future of evaluation policy. An evaluation policy is any rule or principle that a group or…

Innovation and change in higher education are examined, focusing on the organizational level. Frameworks for analysis employed in the literature are presented and applications are illustrated. Four distinct frameworks for studying change in higher education as conceived by Gamson are: complex organization, conflict, diffusion, and planned change.…

This report presents the content of the AERA colloquium, held in November 1968, to enable the educational research community to assess and deploy its resources, coordinate research efforts, and obtain more effective communication within the field and beyond it. Several outstanding scholars were invited to present papers on their studies of the…

Research on school reform efforts and reform evaluation and the recognition that individual students are in constant transition and are members of multiple groups whose dynamics differ over the duration of schooling were examined. A conceptual framework for developing design and analysis strategies for investigating educational reform efforts is…

A general frame of reference for a comprehensive model of socialization is presented. This model considers different levels of theoretical analysis and a methodological combination of investigations of the "objective" social reality with "subjective" interpretations of reality as it is in the Federal Republic of Germany. The…

Broadly conceived, social impacts refer to all changes in the structure and functioning of patterned social ordering that occur in conjunction with an environmental, technological, or social innovation or alteration. Departing from the usual cost-benefit analysis approach, a new methodology proposes conducting social impact assessment grounded in…

A method for modeling the structure of large social systems has been developed which is based on the interpersonal communication networks present in the functioning system. Recent developments in techniques and computer software have made possible the analysis of networks of several thousand persons. The new technique provides a method for…

This book is devoted to a systems analysis of the teaching process in a single slum school classroom in which the teacher was a participant-observer researcher. The research approach used in the study is termed the "microethnography of the classroom" and is derived from social and behavioral theory. Chapters are devoted to the methodology of this…

A paradigm for the study of the diffusion of complex innovations through a society is presented in this paper; the paradigm is useful for studying sociocultural change as innovations diffuse. The model is designed to account for change within social systems rather than in individuals, although it would also be consistent with information…

The applications of biographical concepts in educational settings were examined through a case study of one researcher's use of the biographical narrative interview to examine the connection between subjective and structural conditions and coping strategies in individual lives and to inform adult education practitioners. The biographical approach…

Research on economic and employment opportunities for men and women has not focused enough on structural features of the labor market. Structural features, which influence worker's capacities to translate their human resources into labor market achievements, include profitability of industries, strength of worker organizations, skill requirements,…