A contexual model is introduced to simplify planning, to provide an understanding of institutions as interpretive systems, to guide the implementation of better strategic planning, and to provide a research paradigm that may integrate research findings for a better understanding of how the strategic variables are related to one another.…

Presents authors' abstracts of nine unpublished papers presented at the British Educational Management and Administration Society's annual conference in 1984. The conference focused on the interrelationships between the individual and the system, with emphasis on the position of school administrators within the educational system. (PGD)

Discusses institutional biosafety committees (IBC) which provide quasi-independent reviews of recombinant DNA work done at an institution. Considers the nature of IBC operation, the National Institutes of Health "Guidelines for Recombinant DNA Research," the composition of IBCs, the intellectual content of IBC deliberations, and issues…

The chairman of the Advanced Education Council of Australia's Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission discusses the structure and functions of the council and commission at present and as will they change in the near future. (MSE)

The Education for All Handicapped Children Act (P.L. 94-142) is used to illustrate policy implementation analyses. Significant barriers to policy implementation for this law include power relationships between parents and schools, classroom teachers' feelings of uncertainty resulting from changed role expectations, and economic problems. (Author)

The decision-making process in treatment questions for seriously ill and handicapped neonates must focus on the best interests of the individual infant and maintain the responsibility for pursuing that interest within the parent-physician relationship. This goal is best served by mandating the development of policies for decision making and…

Introspective interviewing can often determine the magnitude of relations more meaningfully than statistical analysis. Deduction from empirically validated premises avoids many research design problems. Guesswork can be combined with sensitivity analysis to determine the effects of guesses and missing information on conclusions. (Author/DWH)

This article provides an analytical framework that not only explains the contradictions in the relationship between decentralization and development, but also facilitates constructive debate about decentralization's role in development. It also reviews the extent, form, and impact of recent decentralization policies and programs in less developed…

Discusses a 9-point program for research on student persistence. The program is designed to encourage effective policy development at the institutional level. (Author)

Describes application of a package of simulations, called MERGE, which simulates four different theoretical explanations of social welfare policy process in a scenario at the local level avoiding ethical and practical limitations of applied theoretical experiments. MERGE is based upon a general simulation system, called EXPER SIM, available from…

The issue of whether the First Amendments right to freedom of speech applies to commercial vendors on campuses as it does to nonprofit solicitation is addressed and guidelines provided. Banning commercial solicitation from residence halls, but allowing it on a limited basis in campus centers is recommended. (Author/ABB)

An emphasis on efficiency among public school superintendents did not emerge full-blown at the end of the nineteenth century, as Callahan argues, but was a basic tenet of earlier public school development and reform. This interest in providing economical and socially efficient institutions is crucial to understanding American education. (IS)

Churches have gained enormous economic advantages by their tax-exempt status. While one very wealthy church in California has lost its tax-exempt status, other churches continue to reap the benefits of this privilege. Churches should show enough courage to forswear their favored status and thus loosen the church-state relationship. (IS)

Reviews the contribution geographers have made to the gerontological literature. The literature review is classified into the spatial organization theme and the interrelationship between people and their environment theme. A separate review is also made of the geographical literature dealing directly with policy issues. (JAC)

Policymakers need to formulate policies that are responsive to the reforms called for in recent reports but must decide for their own school districts what changes would be sensible and what procedures will best bring them about. (MLF)