Reviews a system approach to change in order to focus on interesting developmental techniques for multi-university system improvement. The specific change discussed is translation of existing courses and curricula to a competency approach in order to bring about extended degree opportunities for non-traditional students. (Author/VT)

Phase one of a study of Virginia secondary vocational teachers examined variables in personal characteristics of 202 vocational teachers for proneness toward adoption of educational innovations. Phase two looked at a subsample of thirty-nine home economics teachers for group similarities. Results of cluster analysis and implications for the…

Suggests that educational reform should not be undertaken because of external pressures, out of anguish or expediency; it should, rather evolve out of a realization that answers are needed to meet essential societal needs. (Author/AM)

This article provides brief accounts of significant current innovation and research in Australia. (Editor/RK)

A detailed critical review is conducted of N. Bennetts "Teaching Styles and Pupil Progress," a British report investigating the implementation and effectiveness of informal, progressive educational theory in Great Britain. (MB)

Participation of adult volunteers in the classroom, and field trips exploring the community and its resources, help to broaden students' perception of their community and widen the scope of career opportunities available to them. (JD)

A mental health consultation program is described which was developed to supplement traditional educational psychology courses in making psychological theory relevant to classroom practice. (MJB)

Describes a project that attempts to evaluate the objectives of five differing preschool models in five schools in the Mount Druitt area of Sydney. Also examines senior student role conflict using an analysis of student perceptions of their actual and ideal behaviors along with the role expectations set by group members. (Author/RK)

Describes the Brookline Early Education Project, a program designed for parents of preschool children. Operating as part of the public school system, the program offers home and center-based school, health, parent education and parent support programs to parents from time of their child's birth until the child's entry into kindergarten. (BD)

Special instructional improvement grant programs have been created on many college and university campuses to provide faculty members with the resources for designing and carrying out educational innovations in their courses. (JD)

Describes the "Family College" program at Rockland Community College (New York). Established in 1971, it includes coursework as well as a weekend program of college credit, credit-free, and graduate education experiences styled to fit the needs and interests of a variety of age groups found within the typical family unit. (Author/RT)

Describes how school media specialists may function as change facilitators through indirect leadership, operating on the basis of expertise rather than organizational position, and illustrates four communication strategies used to accomplish this function. (CLB)

A few medical schools have introduced a significant innovation--the problem-based curriculum. Students meet in small tutorials and consider biomedical problems that they cannot solve without acquiring new information and skills. This experiment at Harvard gives "respectability" to the curriculum. (MLW)

Pharmaceutical education should focus on technological and socioeconomic developments, alert students to the need for lifelong learning, focus on what pharmacists can do better than anyone else, and encourage the view of pharmacy as a service profession. (MSE)

This review summarizes research findings on teacher receptivity to the implementation of changes in the educational system. Models of implementing change should include variables of teacher attitude and appraisal of change and perceived expectations and beliefs about educational issues. (SLD)