Issues, such as admissions and tuition, that once were institutional prerogatives are seen now as having to be addressed more collectively. The need for states to have independent boards and staffs sensitive to educational values, but with the public-interested-oriented perspective is argued. (MLW)

Compares the operation and control of public schooling in Australia and the United States by exploring and contrasting the changing roles, concerns, and activities of school administrators, the federal government, the courts, elected officials, citizens, pressure groups, and "new breed" professionals. (Author/MP)

Provides advice on determining how much centralization is desirable and how to achieve it. Presents advantages of centralization. Suggests beginning centralization with a top executive mandate. Discusses the first meeting to define common objectives. (CSS)

Through a centralized continuing education structure the best of both worlds can most effectively contribute together to nurture and enhance the quality of human life, through lifelong education and public service, for the adult community beyond the campus. (HD)

Examines the relationship between two dimensions of organization--centralization and formalization--and two aspects of employee orientation--subordinate loyalty and esprit. Multiple regression analyses revealed that the relationships were somewhat more complicated than originally hypothesized. (Author)

Clarifies key propositions of the central-curriculum-control model and presents teachers' beliefs about effects of centralized policies on practice, based on interviews with teachers from three urban districts. Curriculum-control policies contribute to content standardization and standard setting. They control what is taught, rather than how it is…

Higher education quality control structures emerging in West European countries are examined, and the current trend toward definition of quality predominantly from one central power center is criticized. Methodological and substantive weaknesses in this system are discussed, and an approach taking into account other interests and perspectives is…

The recent history of the Israeli educational system, particularly its trend toward decentralization, is used to test some common assumptions about the need for centralization to achieve control in times of fiscal constraint, need for improvement, and non-implementation of central policies. (MSE)

Explores issues related to bibliographic database authority control, including the nature of standards, quality control, library cooperation, centralized and decentralized databases and authority control systems, and economic considerations. The implications of authority control for linking large scale databases are discussed. (18 references)…

Discusses computer networking and the cost effectiveness of decentralization, including local area networks. A planned experiment with a centralized approach to the operation and management of file servers at the University of South Carolina is described that hopes to realize cost savings and the avoidance of staffing problems. (Contains four…

Summarizes a 5-year study using an organization-learning perspective to analyze 72 teachers' and principals' attitudes toward restructuring policies in British Columbia. Describes processes used by teachers to pursue their collective and individual learning. Identifies conditions (related to school vision, culture, structure, strategies, and…

Examines the provision of child welfare services in Alberta over the course of the 20th century. Focuses on the trend toward centralization during most of this period and current efforts by a local citizens' organization to decentralize services and return control of child welfare to the community level. (MDM)

In many countries, education legislation embodies contradictory pressures for centralization and decentralization. In the United Kingdom, there is growing government control over policy and direction of schools; schools are also being given more responsibility for resource management. "Moving" schools within Improving the Quality of…

Presents five definitions of "systemic change," ranging from "working with school districts or education departments to effect change" (vertical approach) to "working with every school in a system" or "working with every aspect of the school system (horizontal approaches). "Systemic" can also mean…

Examines two ways of achieving social coordination: unilateral/hierarchical controls and multilateral controls. Discusses advantages of using mutual adjustment as an alternative to central coordination. Mutual adjustment occurs variously through language creation, moral codes, biological self-selection, market systems, and politics. Although…