Illinois demonstration centers were established as change agents for the improvement of district programs for gifted children. The purpose of this study is to ascertain what factors operate within a demonstration process to influence visiting school personnel to initiate innovations in their schools. Three instruments were administered and…

This educational research and development program was designed to improve education and to provide instruments for making significant educational decisions related to the efficiency and effectiveness of programs. The first year was used to plan and identify tasks and goals. Individualized instruction was considered a vital component. It was agreed…

A key assignment for a person with a specialty in local educational improvement is that of providing a school district with leadership in choosing a program that will meet needs for improvement in some area of concern. This unit presents a problem-solving model as one way of identifying problems and their causes, surveying a range of potential…

Data from 115 colleges and universities are used to analyze the organizational conditions associated with the institutionalization of new academic programs. (Author)

Promoting innovations accounts for approximately 10 percent of the federal aid to public schools which currently exceeds $3.5 billion annually. However, serious questions about the usefulness of federal efforts to promote innovation and the prospects for educational reform have been raised. Those questions were examined here by the Rand…

A look at behavioral objectives in a general setting combined with a discussion of some of the aspects of behavioral objectives as interpreted in mathematics and some practical lessons on objective writing were the focus of this paper. (Author/RK)

Offers educational practitioners direction for the development of a master plan for the implementation and application of computer-based educational technology by briefly examining computers in education, discussing organizational change from a theoretical perspective, and presenting an overview of the planning strategy known as the planning and…

Considered a number of factors which operate across any type of change endeavor at any level which ultimately influence the success of an innovative effort. In this case these factors are the level of public and student sentiment. (Author/RK)

Is career education the best way to achieve educational reform? (Editor)

As a means of avoiding the problem of course overlap, this article suggests the talent in several business classes be coordinated and utilized on one project. (JS)

Suggests guidelines for establishing a secondary school experiential program in the areas of assessing school and student needs, setting goals and devising plans to meet the goals, planning for necessary resources (time, energy, finances, supplies), and selling the program to administrators and teachers. (NEC)

Educational innovations from the mid-1800s are briefly reviewed and a framework for projected change strategies in the next decade is given. (JD)

Until 1985, higher education was a growth industry, and new programs were a by-product of that growth. Now, new programs must be justified by extensive data analysis. This trend and others indicate governing boards are taking the new-program approval process seriously. (MLW)

The Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, as a member of the National Consortium for Specialized Secondary Schools of Mathematics, Science, and Technology, engages in educational innovation in secondary school programs for the gifted. The academy is described, focusing on strategic planning, student admissions, academic programs, student…