Following a brief history of education over the last forty years, this article provides a discussion of the meaning, impact, and relevance of the recent educational reform movement in the United States. (JDH)

This article describes the static or declining economic conditions of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden and relates these conditions to restrictions on education, the relationship between education and employment, control of education by governing authorities, and the employment conditions of teachers. (JDH)

This article describes the merger of teacher education programs at neighboring institutions and the problems and benefits accruing from the merger. The efficacy of the merger concept is examined. (MT)

Competition for students will increase in the next decade. Some factors indicating an institution's vulnerability to declining enrollment can be assessed, and may also be the key to initiatives by campus leaders to help offset the decline. (Author/MSE)

Several criticisms of a "Journal of Education Finance" article by Guilbert Hentschke and John Yagielski (v8, n1) are elaborated, the most fundamental of which is its failure to consider the revenue side of fiscal strain. (MJL)

Authors of "School District Fiscal Strain: Implications for State and Federal Financial Assistance" respond to a critique by F. Howard Nelson in this issue. Among other points, they counter that their article did consider the revenue side of fiscal strain by assuming a constant budget constraint. (MJL)

The responses of higher education institutions in the United States, England, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, and the rest of Western Europe to declining enrollments, changing financial support, fiscal problems, and changes in the professoriate and academic careers are compared. (MSE)

Chronicles the process used by University of Denver officials as they decided to close the library school as of August 16, 1985, due to overall enrollment declines and financial pressures. Highlights include plans of university's reorganization committee, questioning of library school's quality, and 30-minute defense by library school dean Bernard…

Census projections, broken down according to age groups, reveal that the school age population for ages 5-9 bottomed out in 1982 and is now increasing; ages 10-13 will bottom out in 1986; and ages 14-17 will bottom out in 1990. School districts should prepare accordingly for increases in elementary enrollment. (TE)

The difficulties of school closure decisions are discussed. The author describes ways financial modeling on microcomputers can assist school boards in making such decisions. (MD)

Zero population growth will soon affect higher education. The sophisticated use of faculty, physical plant, and other resources offers possible solutions. (Author/MLF)

Demonstrates how a long-run average cost function was estimated for selected public elementary schools in Pennsylvania. The optimum sized elementary school was found to be one having 585.7 students and an educational plant of 71,832 square feet. Substantial economies of scale were evidenced up to the optimum attendance size. (Author/IRT)

Discusses the Simu School component in Santa Clara County, California, which focuses on communities in areas that are changing from rural to urban characteristics and on declining enrollments. (Author/IRT)

Advantages, along with problems that arose when many colleges and universities embraced open admission policies during the past two decades, are recounted. Trends toward more selective admission policies in the 1980s are also discussed. (PP)

The prospects for decline in the 1980s led the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) to investigate institutions in the Northeast, Midwest, and South. A number of substantial and creative approaches to the management of decline were identified. Some conclusions of the SREB study are discussed. (MLW)