A study team researched impediments to the use of modern skill training methods in construction that have been caused by the U.S. Department of Labor. The problem that the study sought to define was whether the Labor Department impedes use of training innovations through the combined effect of the regulations promulgated by its Bureau of…

The Innovations Program, established by the Australian Schools Commission in 1974, was a small national program aimed at fostering local actions for change in Australian primary and secondary education. In this report, the author begins by examining different approaches to educational innovation and reviewing the literature on innovation. Part 2…

The concerns of Kansas educators about the implementation of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (P.L. 94-142) mandate are examined in this research report. Five different samples of public school educators, totaling 7,000 persons, were randomly selected and stratified according to district size. Each sample was sent either the Stages…

Concerns about the current educational technology movement are discussed in these four papers which were presented during a seminar of 20 representatives from 10 Council for Educational Development and Research (CEDaR) member institutions. The first by Marcella Pitts and E. Joseph Schneider provides an overview of the educational technology…

A method of teaching English as a second language (ESL) involving open sentence combining practice with group discussion was compared with a more traditional teaching method. Students were largely college-bound and attended the University of Arizona's ESL Center. Sentence combining was analyzed for a paragraph-length exercise on a low-level…

A review of the literature on instruction in English as a second language (ESL) looks at four areas of ESL instruction individually and then derives conclusions and recommendations from those areas. The first area, ESL instructional approaches, includes discussion of the educational benefits of current ESL instructional approaches (audiolingual…

This handbook is designed to aid school administrators, policy-makers, and teachers in bringing a "futures orientation" to their schools. The first part of the book describes a "futuring process" developed as a tool for examining alternative future probabilities. It consists of a series of diverging and converging techniques that alternately…

This publication provides an overview of the Vocational Education Act (VEA) of 1984 and guidelines for compliance and proposal development. Section I describes why the legislation was enacted and the five titles of which the Act consists. Funding is compared for fiscal years 1984-85 and 1985-86, and funding priorities and eligibility for VEA…

The importance of school organization and its impact on teachers' commitment to staff development has been highlighted in recent research. In schools that are favorably disposed toward staff development, the norms of "collegiality" and "experimentation" prevail. Staff practices fundamental to the creation and maintenance of the…

Universal Studies, a study program designed to help students develop emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually, is described. Development of the personality and character of the individual is emphasized, as are innovation, creativity, individualized instruction, independent learning, and realizing human potential. These goals are characterized…

In the Austin College (Texas) Teacher Program, a five-year program of study is required before students obtain a teaching certificate and a master's degree. A liberal arts program is emphasized, and students are provided with a public school classroom teaching assignment as an intern or student teacher, for at least 4 to 5 months, at the graduate…

Public education is one portion of a complex system of society that extends far beyond the walls of the schoolhouse. The administration of educational institutions is impacted and influenced by businesses, communities, governmental agencies, laws, special interest and not-for-profit groups, and the general citizenry. The demand of these groups to…

This paper provides a description of the present state of development in educational technology as it has been illuminated by the Sloan Foundation's Technology in Education program. Current developments are reviewed in relation to: (1) the computer, (2) television and video reproduction, (3) low technology, (4) self paced instruction, and (5) the…

Effective long-range planning by school districts is an imperative in dealing with declining enrollments. School districts should (1) evaluate present programs in light of current statutory regulations and educational trends and innovations; (2) appraise the structural qualities of existing school facilities; (3) conduct communitywide surveys to…

This study investigated the characteristics of an innovative cooperative high school-college program as perceived by principals of adopting and nonadopting schools. The data from survey questionnaires with 24 Likert-type items were reduced to six factors: observability, status, simplicity, cost, trialability, and relative…