To establish evaluation criteria for home multimedia products, this study examined 13 case studies of experienced users of CD-ROM encyclopedias aimed at the home consumer. Findings ranked seven features from most to least important: searching; textual content; browsing; multimedia; aesthetics; interactivity; and system performance. Results suggest…

Documents the impact of school-based management on educational leadership in Australia. Locates the emergence of new models of leadership within a corporate managerialist philosophy of a new-liberal state that devalues the pedagogical attributes of school leadership and reinforces a growing divide between teachers and administrators. (Contains 39…

Discusses the improvement of educational programs in developing countries. Highlights include systems analysis in education; education and national resources; instructional systems design (ISD) and improved efficiency; programed learning and teaching; and a development project to improve the efficiency of Korean elementary schools. (33 references)…

In "Edgewood Independent School District v. Kirby," the Texas Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the state's school financial system violated the "efficiency" provision of the Texas Constitution. The court gave the legislature until May 1, 1990, to come forward with a constitutional school finance plan. (MLF)

Critiques the notion of school district efficiency and applies 1 definition to the performance of all 178 Kentucky districts. Finds that achievement test performance of inefficient districts exceeded that of efficient districts by .20 standard deviation, and that efficiency was related to smallness but not ruralness. Contains 26 references.…

Recipients of Association of Physical Plant Administrators awards for excellence in facilities management in various institutional categories are noted. Specific areas of outstanding achievement include cooperation, energy conservation, attention to detail, use of customer feedback, emergency preparedness, individual employee recognition, utility…

Events and factors leading to the 1986 uprising among French university students are outlined and discussed. The protest and its tragic results occurred because of a sometimes misunderstood new plan to restrict admissions and impose higher fees in order to make the system more efficient. (MSE)

A review of vocational education trends in Western Europe and Japan covers the following: curriculum and program structure, alternatives, cooperative education, on-the-job training, enrollments, admission, curriculum content, skills other than strictly occupational, mechanisms for curriculum development, and efficiency of training. (MSE)

Using data from 28 mildly retarded high-school graduates, the economic costs and outcomes resulting from special education services were determined. Results indicated that with appropriately identified, measured, and valued costs and benefits, it is possible to employ a formal benefit-cost framework to assess the efficiency of special education…

This article argues that the capacity for innovation in American higher education is at risk. Colleges and universities are persistently slow in accepting advancing technology, increasingly labor-intensive, and resistant to evaluation by their customers or in terms of efficiency. A rethinking of the roles and tasks of faculty and staff is…

Information from quantum mechanics, chaos theory, fractal geometry, and the new biology can help educators rethink school-improvement approaches. Chaos and order exist simultaneously. Adaptability, the central operating principle of successful organizations, stems from five human energy fields: efficacy, flexibility, craftsmanship, consciousness,…

College programs winning the 1992 American Association of University Administrators awards for outstanding academic administration during times of fiscal constraint are described briefly. Awards were given for total quality management (Oregon State University), enrollment management (Indiana University), and financial management (Chaffey Community…

Advancement offices in higher education can ensure that they will get the most value from their computer purchases by becoming educated about issues and options, developing a plan and standards, tracking the technology, ignoring brand names, requesting discounts, considering used equipment and prepared software, consulting, using available…

To prepare for the significant professional, technological, and demographic changes ahead, allied dental education should develop teams of dental professionals that are cost effective, efficient, and highly productive. Team leaders must be educated to acknowledge each member's unique role and affirm the importance of mutuality and reciprocity in…

Explores whether scale economies in a single statewide, nonproperty-tax-supported district differ from studies in more traditional settings. The sample consisted of 179 randomly selected Hawaiian elementary and middle schools enrolling sixth-grade students. Stanford Achievement Test scores for grades three and six were used. Smaller schools had…