Concerns arising from the substantial changes in Australian higher education in recent years are discussed, including system centralization, elimination of the binary system, institutional stability, underfunding, and system size. A new fee-based funding system is proposed as a means of raising revenue, improving quality, promoting efficiency, and…

Discusses the status and prospects of the government's stated policy promoting institutional autonomy in Russian higher education. Institutional operations are currently fraught with serious problems. At least three areas are in jeopardy: institutional financial sustainability, decentralized government control, and internal balance of power. (22…

Challenges a central orthodoxy of school-effectiveness work-that schools should strive to become more consistent learning environments. Ironically, the effective-school model has become embedded in the educational politics of the UK and USA, where conditions do not favor successful implementation. Educators must first address rampant socioeconomic…

Discusses the changes that occurred in the English education system beginning with the Educational Reform Act of 1988 due to the policies of the Conservative government, such as market competition and the National Curriculum. Addresses the policies of the New Labour Party since the reign of the Conservatives has now ended. (CMK)

This paper examines the relationship between various quantitative measures of urban centralization and urban housing prices through the use of a 2000 data set from the 452 Census designated urbanized areas in the United States. An empirical study of this type is necessary because: (1) the theoretical influence of creating more centralized urban…

Public school principals encounter a sizable gap between the autonomy they believe they need to be effective and the autonomy that they actually have in practice, especially when it comes to hiring, firing, and transferring teachers. That is a key finding of this report from the Fordham Institute and the American Institutes for Research, which is…

The decade 1980-90 saw a spate of educational reconstruction occurring simultaneously in many countries. This book argues that the school restructuring of the past 10 years has been called the "education-reform movement," but that term is somewhat misleading. The current reform efforts seem to aim primarily at the control and governance of both…

This bulletin contains synopses of five works that consider the issue of school size from a variety of viewpoints. (1) "School Size' School Climate, and School Performance" (Kathleen Cotton) reviews the research evidence on school size, finding strong support for the advantages of small schools. (2) "Is Bigger Really Better?" (Kenneth Stevenson…

The establishment of a unified voice, the development of a learned society, and the democratization of the National Art Education Association's (NAEA) governance are the three most significant changes that have occurred in the development of the NAEA since its establishment in 1947. During NAEA's foundational years, 1947-1958, many important…

Four papers are compiled in the section on school libraries: (1) "Zentrale Dienstleistungen fur Schulbibliotheken in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland am Beispiel der Schulbibliothekarischen Arbeitsstelle der Stadtbucherei Frankfurt am Main = Centralized School Library Services in the Federal Republic of Germany, as Performed at the School Library…

This explorative essay considers some new developments in open-system theories of organizational interaction with relevant environments that might be useful for educational historians. The authors explore ways in which changes in the social meaning of the American high school may have led to structural and functional changes. Three dimensions of…

PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEMS IN THE UNITED STATES HAVE BEEN ORGANIZED IN DIFFERENT WAYS, BOTH WITHIN THE STATES AND FROM STATE TO STATE. IN SOME CASES SCHOOL DISTRICT STRUCTURE IS COTERMINOUS WITH LOCAL GOVERNMENTAL UNITS AND IS "DEPENDENT" ON THEM. HOWEVER, 78 PERCENT OF PUBLIC SCHOOL ENROLLMENTS ARE IN "INDEPENDENT" SCHOOL DISTRICTS…

Based on enrollment projections for the 14 southern states, this profile provides one possible picture of the future of higher education in the South. The report suggests that: (1) the growth of total enrollment will slow and then decline through 1985; (2) nondegree enrollment will increase and bachelor's degree-oriented enrollment will decrease…

A study was conducted for the public library systems of Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Montgomery and Prince Georges Counties to determine what aspects of their acquisitions, cataloging and processing operations, if any, might be carried on cooperatively for lower costs and improved services. Conclusions and recommendations were that: (1) the growth of…

Organization charts from the nine Arizona community college districts were analyzed in order to anticipate the effects of continued growth of the community college system on administrative organization, particularly in terms of the expansion of single campus districts to multi-campus districts and the addition of new campuses by multi-campus…