This paper presents a critical qualitative account and analysis of resistance and contestation over the decision-making process in a special education program. The parties involved were four parent advocates, who formed an advocacy organization, and the school administration in a rural school district in the Midwest. A subtle but powerful bias…

This resource packet is designed to help teachers incorporate the study of ancient Greek and Roman art into junior and senior high school classrooms. The packet consists of four curriculum units based upon aspects of classical life or culture. These units are: "Daily Life; Mythology"; "Images of Power"; and "Echoes of…

This case study of a higher education policy-making process tested a conceptual model based on a combination of political systems, behavioral power, and influence theories. The study, which followed the course and outcomes of a branch campus policy formulated in Washington state over a four-year period (1985-89), sought to show that the ability of…

A 3-year research project was conducted to compare the conflict management behavior of school superintendents and city managers, both of whom are professionally trained experts held accountable to lay legislatures. Chapter 1, "Professionalism and Responsiveness," addresses the inherent tension, in a democracy, between elected officials'…

Educational research has thus far failed to greatly improve education because it is based on a model of reality that emphasizes unilateral control in both research and practice. Efforts to gain unilateral control presume that researchers or practitioners know what is significant from the outset, that they are essentially outside the situation they…

School administrators' uses of subjective understandings and common language to gain and maintain power and predictability in their environments are described. Micropolitical theory, with a focus on language, is utilized to understand administrators' knowledge of the assumptive worlds of their subculture, and how these assumptive worlds constrain…

One teacher's experiences in incorporating non-hierarchic learning assumptions and values in the second language classroom, especially through the use of dialogue journals, are reported. In the first part, observations of accuracy-based classroom language teaching are contrasted with the meaning-based acquisition model. Six salient characteristics…

The volume contains two studies from India and Thailand on the education of women, and rural women especially, who are deprived or disadvantaged. The Indian study, "Education of Girls and Women in Deprived Groups," presents a viewpoint on deprivation in society in general, and India specifically. The concomitant of deprivation is defined…

The past and current status of the student activity fee is reviewed from the perspectives of the legislature, state agency or state board of control, case law, and institutional trends. The analysis is based upon four national studies, a review of case law, and a campus model for the administration of student activity fees. Various states have…

A case study of the Colleges of the State University of New York at Buffalo is presented to analyze the problem of change in higher education and the role played by a theory of change. A brief sketch of the history of the Colleges from the beginning to the end of the 1970s is presented to provide a context for a discussion of strategy of change.…

The extent to which the academic staff in the five oldest Nigerian universities expressed job satisfaction and motivation, in view of the seeming powerlessness of their Governing Councils, was studied. These universities are the University of Nigeria, Ibadan, Ahmadu Bello, Nsukka, and Ife and Lagos. A total of 157 teachers returned usable…

The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, a former state teachers college, undertook a major organizational change during the period 1974-1977. The chancellor, new to the position at that time, was faced with two mandates: (1) to "turn around" the institution, then facing retrenchment, and (2) to involve faculty in institutional…

Intended for agency field personnel who assist in local community development (CD) efforts, this publication is the second of three making up an intensive training manual for community development. Using an inservice training approach, this part of the manual contains four instructional units: rationale for CD training, what CD is (CD as process,…

A PROFESSIONAL STUDY WAS CONTRACTED BY THE BOARD OF EDUCATION AND SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS TO ASSESS THE LITTLE ROCK SCHOOL DISTRICT'S PROGRESS IN MOVING FROM A DUAL TO AN INTEGRATED SCHOOL SYSTEM. AN EVALUATION OF COMMUNITY ATTITUDES AND THE EXTENT OF INFLUENCE GIVEN BY CIVIC LEADERS INDICATED GENERALLY FAVORABLE SUPPORT FOR IMPROVEMENTS ALREADY…

This paper examines the policy-making function of the board of education as it is viewed in the educational literature. It begins by looking at several definitions of policy and suggests that policy is a statement of expressed philosophy, value orientation, and general direction. It examines the question of why written policies are necessary and…