Evaluation is an act of persuasion directed to a specific audience concerning the solution of a problem. The process of evaluation is prescribed by the nature of knowledge--which is generally complex, always uncertain (in varying degrees), and not always propositional--and by the nature of logic, which is always selective. In the process of…

For more than twenty years controversy has existed in the Armed Forces over the kind of knowledge and training electronic maintenance technicians should have. The Navy and Air Force have conducted research projects in this area, and for the Army the Human Resources Research Organization (HumRRO) has developed several methods to improve the…

Merit system law, state personnel rules, and collective bargaining contracts require that Oregon state agencies appraise the performance of their employees. The heart of the Oregon performance appraisal system is work planning. Based on management by objectives and the concepts of employee involvement and participation, work planning is a process…

In the form of a diary, an educational consultant describes the highlights of three months of organizational development at an Australian high school. The intervention involved staff, administrators, teachers, students, and parents in the goal of improving the quality of life and learning at the school. Change strategies are described and the…

Numerous problems face the nation's schools. These problems differ widely in their content, in their scope, in the types of people to whom they are important, and in the intensity with which people complain about them. Many schools try to pinpoint the causes of these problems and to look for solutions before the problems themselves are well…

Under current societal conditions in which the environment and the economy are neither stable nor permissive, homeostatic organizations are in extreme danger of being modified, controlled, or extinguished by outside forces. It is no longer a question whether management change should take place in order to keep organization renewal processes at…

Alternatives to the standard lecture course in introductory economics are presented in this series exploring new teaching methods in college level economics. In this issue "elementary" or introductory economics taught at Vanderbilt University is described. It relies on two techniques: case method and self-paced instruction. Self-paced…

A series of modules was prepared by the School Personnel Utilization Project to assist personnel in building the necessary skills for the development of organizational change strategies and collaborative, collegial educational problem solving capabilities. This module focuses on the evaluation process in the context of elementary and secondary…

Males belonging to 4 low income ethnic groups contrasted with males of a middle income ethnic group were evaluated on problem-solving behaviors via Twenty Questions. Age was found to influence level of performance. The higher socioeconomic status (SES) males performed at a significantly greater level than the lower SES males. No differences among…

Discussed is an instructional approach, "concept-distillation," which involves experiences, games, and puzzles that have the "distilled essence" of the basic concepts of the physical sciences. This approach is designed to impart a vivid and dramatic meaning and structure of the sciences for transfer in scientific thinking. The…

The educational applications of computers for instruction, administration, and vocational guidance are herein reviewed. Reports on recent trends in computer-assisted instruction and computer-managed instruction toward forming behavioral objectives and reducing learning time and implementation costs provide an introduction for a description of the…

The study presents the results of testing an original obersvation instrument designed to identify a power elite in multiple sessions of two eight-member adult discussion groups. Two questions guided the development of the study: (1) Can a power elite be identified in participation training groups? (2) Can an effective observation instrument with…

This publication contains four conference addresses, responses to those addresses, and a synopsis of eight discussion group reports. The report begins with a paper on staff resources in secondary schools, then considers the problem of assessing the staffing needs of secondary schools and ensuring an adequate supply of qualified secondary teachers,…

The materials in this booklet simulate some of the problems that intermediate (junior high, middle, and senior elementary) school principals could face under actual working conditions. Taken from the real-life problems of some intermediate school principals, the exercises are presented in the form of in-basket items -- letters, memos, phone…

This social studies curriculum bulletin is intended as a resource for teachers in grades 7-12. Social studies units are provided to teach students to cope with conflict, resolve issues, and bring about orderly social change. Seven problems are developed in detail: 1) the nature of democracy and role of the individual; 2) the challenge of urban…