The planning of health care systems is currently being carried out under conditions of uncertainty and economic constraint in Europe, and full integration of health projections into the decision making and planning processes at the highest levels is therefore essential. A study of work on projections of the future health situation in Europe was…

In highlighting findings from five separate studies on the characteristics of public school personnel in Minnesota, this study seeks to assist legislators, public agency staffs, school board members, and administrators in gaining a better understanding of the educator labor force as they engage in policy development and planning for the decade…

This newsletter issue reviews the research and literature on issues and best practices in programs to facilitate the transition of students with disabilities to adult life. First, the definition of transition services under the 1997 Reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is presented and explained. Next, a…

This paper reviews and synthesizes the literature on institutional support for student assessment, offering an organizing framework for using this information to shape institutional policies, processes, and practices in ways that lead to both improved student performance and institutional functioning. The framework, first, involves the overall…

Considers the social and political changes social workers may be faced with in the remainder of the century, and how the profession will react, in four scenarios. A national commission considering "future histories" describes possibilities ranging from heroism and expanded influence to loss of professional identity for social workers. (Author/JAC)

This article raises critical issues that need to addressed while considering the future needs of people with Down syndrome and dementia, along with suggestions as to how they may be met. It discusses dementia diagnosis, staff training, the family's role, advantages of health screening, and difficulties in collating accurate information. (Contains…

Evaluates various aspects of federal information resources management and reviews technological changes within the Department of Agriculture to illustrate current issues and future trends in information resources management. Topics discussed include telecommunications and networking; distributed processing and field office automation; the role of…

Details six planning assumptions related to the costs, replacement, and upgrade of computer resources at community colleges. Illustrates the assumptions with examples from the Maricopa County Community College District's efforts to implement and maintain their computer technology. Includes tables of costs of computing equipment from 1986 through…

Explores the essence of developmental education, looking at its roots in the American higher education system, and discusses how it evolved into its present state. Provides a student case study and four assumptions underlying the National Association for Developmental Education's working definition of developmental education. Contains 13…

Twenty-five studies were reviewed that surveyed parents of children with moderate to severe mental disabilities concerning such issues as what parents wanted their children to learn, desired school setting, type or degree of desired involvement with the schools, level of satisfaction with services, and needs and plans for their children as adults.…

Although faced with declining revenues and increasing enrollments, community colleges have also traditionally provided expensive support services for nontraditional students and maintained costly technological capacities to respond to the training needs of business. Financial decision-makers face unsettling questions as they attempt to achieve…

Visionary leadership has emerged as a significant characteristic of high performing school administrators. Vision provides a sense of direction for the school and facilitates accomplishment. Administrators must move from authoritarian and managerial modes of operation to proactive leadership, and maintain a focus on the vision through turmoil and…

This collection of essays provides case studies of current uses of technology in community colleges and projections for the future. The collection includes: (1) "Education and Curriculum Futures: Impacts from Technological Advances and Global Trends," by Earl C. Joseph; (2) "The Sociological Implications of the New Technology," by Bernard G.…

Evidence exists indicating that significant planning for elementary and secondary education has been largely absent. Recently educators have placed more emphasis on short-range and long-range planning as they have become more aware of the benefits of such planning to educational organizations. The areas receiving attention are the increasing size…

A person's beliefs about the future are very powerful in shaping his or her actions. The issue of what image of the next 10 years is most appropriate for educators today can be examined metaphorically with differing visions of what education can become. By using a series of predictions and by consolidating forecasts from futures research,…