Thanks to ever-increasing high-level advocacy and the added incentive provided by Goals 2000 legislation, many states have completed or are working on school technology plans. Although technology planning occurs at multiple levels, many principles are identical, and with careful cooperation, facets of a plan at one level will often…

Within the field of education, the act of planning implies that the schools are more than passive pawns in the hands of socioeconomic forces. The current profound demographic changes, which will continue to reshape the nation and its schools in the coming decades, make strategic planning particulary important. Implementing a strategic plan first…

Small public libraries can deliver service like big libraries, without sacrificing hometown warmth and charm. By borrowing strategies used by successful small businesses in the private sector, defining goals and exploiting low cost technologies, small public libraries can serve customer wants as well as much larger institutions. Responding to just…

The technological advances that have occurred in recent decades have resulted in substantial changes in the nature and structure of occupations and industries. Career development is now being recognized as a lifelong process. Individualized career plans (ICPs) or personal plans of action are becoming important instruments for counselors and others…

This digest compares long range planning with strategic planning in the community college, focusing on examples of colleges' strategic planning processes and on the future of strategic planning. Long range planning tends to be static, focusing on developing a plan based on what has already happened, while strategic planning emphasizes process over…

This brief report summarizes a longer document with the same title. It reviews the reshaping of the college undergraduate curriculum in order to meet the new and compelling issues of the future such as accommodating diverse races and ethnic groups, incorporating global perspectives on the environment, and dealing more effectively with the human…

The ordinary conduct of school business is accompanied today by risks that were rare or unknown a few decades ago. This ERIC Digest discusses how risk management, a concept long used by corporate decision makers, can help school boards and administrators conserve their districts' assets. Risk management is a coordinated effort to protect an…

A planning manual for teachers, parents, administrators, and students working on K-12 social studies curriculum development is presented. The manual discusses six problems facing social studies educators and then presents 12 sequenced group activities corresponding to the steps in the planning model. The six problems involve student learning and…

Over the last 20 years, K-12 schools have spent millions of dollars equipping their schools with the latest technologies, but often without a thoughtful plan of how their use would impact learning and teaching. What is important is how the technology is integrated with the instructional program. To ensure that technology dollars have an impact on…

School improvement in rural places cannot succeed without attention to the rural context of learning. Most especially, smaller schools need to be preserved and sustained in rural areas, particularly impoverished communities, for the sake of student achievement and personal development. This school improvement tool suggests the character of a "good…

The ordinary conduct of school business is accompanied today by risks that were rare or unknown a few decades ago. This ERIC Digest in Spanish discusses how risk management, a concept long used by corporate decision makers, can help school boards and administrators conserve their districts' assets. Risk management is a coordinated effort to…

This collection of essays focuses on the importance of accurate and timely information for effective decision making. First, Ivan Lach considers the proliferation of statewide planning and policy formation and discusses problems with and ways to improve statewide research. Next, Cheryl Opacinch focuses on decision making for federal postsecondary…

Total Quality Management (TQM) is "a system of continuous improvement employing participative management and centered on the needs of customers." Key components of TQM are employee involvement and training, problem-solving teams, statistical methods, long-term goals and thinking, and recognition that the system, not people, produces…

This monograph addresses the need for reshaping the college undergraduate curriculum in order to meet the new and compelling issues that have emerged from the criticism and analysis of the past decade. These issues are as follows: (1) how to accommodate diverse races and ethnic traditions and both genders; (2) how to incorporate global…

Current issues are complex and funding is difficult to obtain as adult education providers try to meet the needs of the community, business, and industry; therefore, collaboration can be very advantageous. Information, ideas, and resources can be pooled, and duplication and harmful competition can be avoided. Four factors that are important for…