The education evaluation efforts of the federal government are discussed, focusing on the question of their effectiveness in informing the policymaking process. Successful evaluation criteria are outlined. An evaluation must provide useful information to policymakers to be a success. (DWH)

Staff nurses' perceptions of the formation of hospital policy and their role in policy formation are examined, with the assumption that knowledge about and involvement in the policy-making process are indicative of staff nurse authority and influence. (Author/MLW)

The process of developing policy for the recent comprehensive retrenchment in the Dutch university system is analyzed from a theoretical perspective on decision making. Focus is on the rationalist view of collective decision making that links social communication and unanimous selection of optimal policy. (Author/MSE)

Italy's approach to political decision making, increasingly a process of trying to reach collective agreement without changing anything, has paralyzed higher education and is moving it out of the mainstream of European higher education. (MSE)

The director of Youth Training for Britain's Manpower Services Commission (MSC) traces the evolution in youth training policy during the last decade. MSC chair Bryan Nicholson explains the thinking behind the new scheme. (Author/CT)

An analysis of problems relating to university patents today is presented, and a policy for the institution which addresses the issues that these problems present is suggested. Patenting the results of university research would not delay the publication of research and would provide a needed source of funding. (Author/MLW)

Future studies can provide a variety of useful techniques for teachers of public administration. Three futures methods that relate to public administration are group exercises (e.g., brainstorming and a variation of the Delphi technique), classroom simulation (e.g., role playing and gaming simulation), and scenarios. (Author/CS)

Speculates on the contributions social science research can make to the field of domestic policy. Defines three approaches to applied social science: analysis, evaluation, and demonstrations. Recommends that present day social scientists give more attention to institutions and especially to the links between institutional and behavioral change.…

The chairman of the newly-formed Commission on College Retirement outlines the group's objectives, approaches, and anticipated projects and encourages and provides an address for correspondence. A list of commission members and their affiliations is also included. (MSE)

Summarizes the research on school effectiveness and identifies state policy implications followed by a discussion of current state education policies and their relationship to school effectiveness research. (MLF)

Effective inservice programs are necessary to ensure that current reforms in education are properly implemented. Inservice programs must meet the needs of both the educational system and educators. Six basic policy assumptions dealing with what is needed in inservice education are discussed. (DF)

While policy analysis is currently the most popular research strategy for educational administration, it is more effective when used in conjunction with program evaluation. The relationship between these methods is illustrated by examining alternative research designs for a hypothetical school drug abuse program. (BS)

World conditions make clarity of intent and substance essential in communications among governments. To avoid nuclear confrontation, strategy planners and policymakers should analyze their own communications as well as those of others with great care. Direct and fast communication among leaders can help to preserve peace. (Author/CS)

The recent development of Dutch research coordination agencies, the Science Shops, forms the context for a description of the relationship between university research and policy at Amsterdam University and the national trade union organization. Management tools such as project financing and other elements of this system are discussed. (MSE)

Argues that community college boards of trustees are in a unique position to offer substantive leadership in policy development for curriculum and instruction. Suggests an emphasis on outcome-oriented education and stresses that trustees' leadership must be followed by their sustained support. (DMM)