This paper summarizes a preferred design of organizational effectiveness studies of small rural school districts. The preferred design consists of five major and mostly sequential steps: (1) considering a large number of complex policy questions associated with the issue of organizational effectiveness efforts; (2) deciding on the technical issue…

This sociotechnical analysis assesses the effects on the educational environment of migrating from the currently fragmented analog system to an environment dominated by integrated digital telecommunications systems. An integrated telecommunications channel is at the heart of the design for an ISDN (integrated services digital network). ISDN is a…

Arguing that the production system for computer courseware has a strong impact on quality courseware development, this report offers an introduction into the relationships between instructional system design and software engineering, and investigates courseware quality as a means of identifying quality enhancement factors that can make the…

The Certificate in Computer Programming (CCP) Examination is conducted by the Institute for Certification of Computer Professionals (ICCP) to identify qualified computer professionals in various spheres of computer technology. The CCP Examinations are focused on programming skills and are designed for recognition of competent senior-level…

To address the question of why newspapers tend to become more and more fragmented internally and to propose a model of the interrelationships between the newspaper and its "operating environment," this paper draws on recent work by organizational theorists. Beginning by examining the central goal of newspapers, the first section suggests that the…

This study focuses on factors contributing to the low level of effectiveness of library and information services to the Spanish speaking community as reported in the literature. It analyzes, using an open system approach, models developed by public and academic libraries to serve the Spanish speaking population. Problems contributing to the…

In this paper, discussion is restricted to indicators of educational system performance. By "educational system" is meant that system that is formally established within a country for the purpose of providing education according to the UNESCO definition of the term. What is said generally applies to indicators in other fields of the social…

After defining technology and technology transfer, the author discusses product-embodied, process-embodied and person-embodied technologies. The five major antagonisms at play in international technology transfers are related and the manner by which a country may select, choose, and adopt the appropriate technology is investigated. (BT)

A pilot project tested the feasibility of developing computer simulation models as aids to the operation and design of library systems. (Author/PF)

Educational change is a process occurring through time, a systemic and dynamic phenomenon in which every action leads to reactions in related areas of the system, and a multidimensional phenomenon requiring examination from the perspective of several disciplines. The success of an innovation depends on how the change process is managed, how the…

This four-chapter report explores the possible contributions of a systems approach to institutional planning. After introductory comments, Chapter I reviews the management theory of Henry Fayol, which emphasizes management tasks, such as planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating, and controlling, which are "universal" regardless of the level…

This publication brings together seven papers exemplifying the systems approach to educational decision making. The first discusses the need for inclusion of constituent values in educational decision making strategies to properly apply systems theory concepts. In the second, which addresses systems design for problem solving in schools,…

THIS REPORT IS PART 1 OF A FEASIBILITY STUDY TO SAMPLE APPROPRIATE ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION FACTORS IN NEW YORK STATE. THE STUDY IS TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT PROCESS IS APPLICABLE TO SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION IN THE MID-HUDSON VALLEY. THE STUDY ALSO EXPLORES POSSIBLE MEANS BY WHICH SUCH SCHOOL BUILDINGS…