The National Conference on Rural Education, a major event in the 1979 calendar of the Education Department of Western Australia, was held under the auspices of the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Educationalists, government, and community representatives…

Four evaluation methods for determining educational policy are objectivism; subjectivism; emotive-imperative; and instrumentalism. For the objectivist, the rationale for undertaking an evaluation is based on empirical verification or non-verification of claims of existing policies or activities. Secondly, the objectivist is interested in…

Reviews the literature on the importance of community involvement in achieving desegregation and other broad social and educational goals; details risks that must be taken into account when planning meaningful involvement; and specifies techniques for fostering community involvement, with attention directed to the strengths and weaknesses of each.…

Parents need to understand the responsibilities of people at all levels of school governance. This paper discusses the role of the state government (usually state boards of education), the local school board, the superintendent, and the principal. A sidebar presents information on teamwork involving PTAs, principals, superintendents, and school…

This report addresses the research and development (R&D) organizations and the decision-making processes that the Federal Government needs to enable it to work toward national and global environmental objectives. It is essential that these programs be well organized, adequately funded, and closely linked with the policy-making process. The…

This paper examines the characteristics of high school and college as life stages of young people in Japan and the United States and suggests some of the ways in which these experiences mesh with the demands of the occupational structure. The paper first contrasts the differences in the Japanese and American student experience during their high…

This report provides a summarized version of a larger study conducted by the Office of Technology Assessment concerning the choices that Congress and the executive branch must make in supporting U.S. science and engineering. The summary first discusses the report's origins; trends in federal research funding; and a look at federally funded…

This report analyzes what the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) identifies as four pressing challenges for the Federal Research System in resource allocation and funding for research in the 1990s: (1) setting priorities in funding; (2) understanding trends in research expenditures; (3) preparing human resources for the future research work…

Archive-based historical analysis brings a perspective to policy studies that is lacking in individual case studies. The recently opened Kennedy and Johnson archives facilitate an internal analysis of the evolution of education policy formulation in the 1960s from the perspective of the executive branch. The central thread of continuity for such…

Discusses the benefits and effects of music teacher empowerment. Concludes that additional skills, knowledge, and professionalism will be necessary to successfully teach music in an empowered setting without losing sight of the students' larger interests. Urges that music education programs for training teachers be expanded to include critical…

The National Research Council is coordinating the development of national standards for science education in grades K through 12. By the fall of 1994, National Science Education Standards will be completed and published. The standards will contain narrative descriptions of what all students should be able to do to engage and understand the natural…