Staff interviews addressed the changing roles and relationships between principals of one-teacher schools and administrators of the North West Region of the New South Wales Department of School Education. Over a five-year period, the approaches employed by administrators to implement departmental policy changes altered significantly and resulted…

Ethnographic methods were used to assess three learning-disabled and three normal tenth and eleventh grade boys at a school with an unusually low dropout rate. Institutional, classroom, and interpersonal factors behind the schools' student retention ability are described. (TJH)

As students progress through the educational system they make frequent transitions, such as from grade to grade or middle to high school. The purpose of this study is to explore how institutional discontinuities between schools affect student achievement in mathematics and science and for which types of students. This paper seeks to identify…

This study examined 10 institutions of higher education with widely different characteristics to determine whether, in the process of implementing quality improvements, they had become "learning organizations." Data were gathered through questionnaires and interviews with more than 20 individuals at nine of the campuses, and were then…

This report summarizes the results and presents statistical data (two-thirds of the report) of a 1988 followup national survey concerning the impact of different types of college environments on development of 1984 and 1986 freshmen. The survey involved the following general categories: satisfaction with college, talent development during college,…

This document is intended for people in education and training, health services, social services, and volunteer organizations who are committed to empowering people with disabilities and learning difficulties. It sets self-advocacy within the context of achieving adult status in the United Kingdom, offers a theoretical framework for professionals…

The Trouble-Shooting Checklist (TSC) is an empirically-developed, descriptive instrument which is based on the responses of six educational change agents. It enables an agent to predict a given institution's success in adopting innovations by ordering its levels of concerns and innovation usage. It focuses on two types of innovation:…

The first section of this manual contains a selective review of organizational change literature which focuses on predictive institutional variables as they affect the adoption-diffusion process. The second section describes the development of the Trouble Shooting Checklist (TSC). The third section presents two Trouble Shooting Checklists (TSC-A…

This report builds a case for survey feedback as a useful method of assisting schools to respond actively, rather than passively, to uncertainty and complexity in the school environment. The main argument is that passive responses, such as defensiveness and buffering, reduce educational effectiveness. Planning, an active response, creates…

An introduction by Dr. David D. Komisar provides background and objectives for a study which eventually involved observations in six residential institutions. Two institutions were judged to be ineffective as residents appeared to be not happy or self-sufficient, showed little intellectual growth (or were rarely, if ever, retested), had many…

Research shows that small schools and schools within schools can yield positive outcomes for students and improved satisfaction and effectiveness among school staff. Small schools can be less costly than larger ones if judged by expenditure per graduate instead of cost per pupil enrolled. Examination of the policy environments of urban schools in…

This paper explored the attitudes of college faculty toward diversity and multiculturalism at the University of Guam, which is characterized by the Department of Education as a minority institution; the faculty, on the other hand, is less diverse (60 percent Caucasian). The research explored the dynamic between the ethnic composition of the…

Describes and illustrates the interaction between personal, policy, and organizational factors that influence teachers' decisions regarding content and teaching methods. Specifically questions how this information might be used in determining the efficacy of educational reforms. Includes verbatim comments from teachers and a sample of interview…

The director of the Public Library of Nashville & Davidson County (Tennessee) discusses the library's development since 1995. Highlights include Nashville's growth potential and political climate; improving the efficiency of internal operations; staff involvement in problem-solving (technology training and systemwide programming);…

This study examined the influence of racial/ethnic dynamics on the process of social and academic integration. Students of diverse racial/ethnic and academic backgrounds were interviewed throughout their first-year and again at the beginning of their sophomore year about their pre-college and in-college experiences. Results yielded a qualitative…