In 1977, the Bernard van Leer Foundation began supporting a project in Colombia that had the objective of improving the quality of early childhood care and education in a small village. The Costa Atlantica project offered an approach to development that was based on community organization, social management, participation, cooperation, popular…

A rural Vermont school district instituted needed and desired changes during a 3-year improvement effort. A 1982 needs assessment evaluated school performance in seven areas found to exist in effective schools. Change efforts followed three principles: all curriculum and policy changes were done on a district-wide and K-12 basis, teachers were not…

Using the 1981 Education Act of England and Wales as a case study, this paper develops a conceptual framework of education legislation as a significant reference point in the process of negotiation and bargaining that initiates legislation and continues throughout the period of policy implementation. A model of the policy process and the…

The notion of applied history is used to complicate present-minded conceptions of higher education by examining both the continuities and changes in colleges and universities. The collection of essays aims to leave the reader with two habits: (1) the active use of the methods and strategies of historical research in approaching professional…

This project involved a broad multi-faceted national program to increase participation and recognition of women, including minority women, in medical education. It included a grass roots change agency to initiate, coordinate, sustain, measure, and disseminate carefully planned educational reform. Activities carried out during the 7-year project…

Issues and problems associated with university involvement in public sector activities and the knowledge transfer process are examined. After a brief statement of the state-of-the-art in knowledge transfer, attention is directed to one of the basic issues presented in the literature: the appropriateness and inappropriateness of university…

The history of teacher education and the evolution of student or practice teaching in the United States during the last two centuries can be traced through three periods: (1) Normal School Period (1825-1900); (2) Teacher College Pariod (1900-1948); and (3) Field-Based Period (post World War II). Normal schools emerged as a more formalized system…

Data from the public health field indicate a shift in emphasis from treatment models to wellness models which focus on individuals' health and how to maintain it. Similarly, school psychologists can enhance and maintain students' competence, thereby reducing the need for remediation. This would create a new role for psychologists in the schools, a…

The Response to Educational Needs Project (RENP, formerly the Anacostia Community School Project) provides an opportunity to study the adoption, implementation, and institutionalization of plans for improvement of a group of schools in the District of Columbia. The related theory and research on the implementation of change in organizations is…

In this history and analysis of Federal educational projects in the Anacostia area of the District of Columbia from 1967 to 1977 the origins and development of the Anacostia Community School Project (1967-72) and its successor, the Response to Educational Needs Project (1972-77) are described. The requirements of implementation studies are…

The University of Guelph Rural Development Outreach Project (RDOP) as it was conceived, organized and utilized in rural communities in Ontario is the major focus of this document; the concluding sections describe some of the problems of Outreach implementation and suggest some possible courses for continuing and expanding the project. There is…

Focusing on educational development in lesser developed countries, this paper examines knowledge about ways to improve the linking of the producers of educational planning (such as universities, institutes, and other agencies) to the potential users of such knowledge (such as technical assistance agencies, sponsors, client groups consisting of…

Universities around the world have changed dramatically in the period since World War II. Although the basic concerns of higher education (teaching, research, and service) have remained unchanged, the reality of expanded numbers and increased responsibility in a number of areas has placed immense pressure on universities. Seven goals essential to…

Human service agencies, including public schools and institutions of higher education, are playing an increasingly dominant role in the lives of all citizens, especially the poor. The increasingly bureaucratic nature of these agencies has been contributing to the continued powerlessness and dependence of their growing clientele. The perception by…

A historical overview of cultural attitudes in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States reveals that anthropologists greatly influenced the interaction between the Western "modern" culture and the primitive native culture in those countries. Historical analysis of attitudes toward Aborigines, Maoris, and American Indians provides…