This study outlines a descriptive theory that seeks to grasp the complexity of the school as a state and societal institution as well as single schools as organizations. A significant characteristic of this complexity is the ambiguity of the missions and goals--the outer boundaries--of the school-institution. The more institutional ambiguity that…

The authors compared business journal ranking systems from 6 countries. Results revealed a low degree of agreement among the systems, and a low to moderate relationship between pairs of systems. In addition, the French and United Kingdom ranking systems were different from each other and from the systems in Australia, Germany, Hong Kong, and the…

Status quo approaches to teacher evaluation have recently come under increasing criticism. They typically assign most teachers the highest available score, provide minimal feedback for improvement, and have little connection with student achievement growth and the quality of instruction that leads to higher student growth. A more comprehensive…

With the expansion in publicly funded prekindergarten programs across the country, a number of policy initiatives are aiming to bring these various providers of preschool services together to create coordinated systems of early care and education. This article reports the findings of a focus group study with stakeholders at all levels of the…

Efforts to make substantial and substantive improvements related to mental health in schools and student/learning supports requires much more than implementing a few demonstrations. Improved approaches are only as good as a school district's ability to develop and institutionalize them equitably in all its schools. This process often is called…

After almost three decades of school reform, student achievement nationally is about where it was when it started, and student behavior has declined dramatically. Numbers of dropouts, especially in cities and among the poor and minorities, have gotten much higher. Yet many billions of dollars have been spent; countless professionals have carried…

It is important for students to develop critical thinking and other higher-order thinking skills during their tertiary studies. Along with the ability to think critically comes the need to develop students' meta-cognitive skills. These abilities work together to enable students to control, monitor, and regulate their own cognitive processes and…

Findings were that during normal operations newsmen were the controllers of news flow and during natural disasters the public determined news flow. (RB)

REQUIREMENTS OF A PILOT INFORMATION SERVICE FOR EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH WERE INVESTIGATED BY ISOLATING THE CHARACTERISTICS OF DOCUMENTS JUDGED RELEVANT BY QUESTIONERS (USERS). IN ADDITION, RETRIEVAL STRATEGIES WERE COMPARED ON THE BASIS OF THE RELEVANCE AND RECALL FACTORS FOR EACH STRATEGY. THE FOLLOWING CONCLUSIONS WERE REACHED--(1) IN PROGRAMING…

INS, the Integrated Network Simulation language, puts simulation modeling into a network framework and automatically performs such programming activities as placing the problem into a next event structure, coding events, collecting statistics, monitoring status, and formatting reports. To do this, INS provides a set of symbols (nodes and branches)…

Three major sets of factors are involved in the evaluation of classification systems: evaluation of the system according to purpose, according to design, and according to functional operation. Part A of this paper is concerned with the basic detail needs for evaluation of purpose. Eight different kinds of classification systems for the subject,…

The material in this book describes flowcharts and explains their use in simple language. It covers theory, standards, conventions, good practices, interpretation, computer-produced flowcharts, system flowcharts, and program flowcharts. It explains how to create and draw flowcharts, and it includes some exercises to sharpen the reader's skills. It…

Project characteristics are analyzed in determing the function of computer assisted instruction management. Specific and unique areas of concern are detailed. (RAO)

Describes the components of computer systems and library systems, and discusses several topics related to computer systems in the library environment: the systems approach and libraries; systems engineering and systems environment; natural and artificial systems; the importance of the systems approach; and the understanding of computer systems and…

A team approach to analysis of library operations is suggested. A specific example of staffing library information desks illustrates the complementary characteristics and advantages of using a librarian/consultant team. The example shows how lines of thought are developed by the team and the important aspects of cooperation between team members.…