Decision-making and the models of decision-making that people carry in their minds were assessed. Participants in a public policy decision involving early childhood education were mapped onto four frequently used models of decision making: the rational, the bureaucratic, organizational process (Allison, 1971) and the garbage can or organized…

Ways that data can be misused in establishing accountability of public higher education are described along with approaches to help alleviate the potential adversary relationships between postsecondary leaders and state agency personnel. It is suggested that scholars fear a future in which educational decisions may be made according to numbers or…

The relationship between the state legislature and governance in higher education is considered. Among the significant issues facing legislators and educators is the demand for comparable data, which can be useful for decision-making or can be misused to fit the views or objectives of a particular group. Issues about which there are many questions…

This paper examines the relationship between politics and education in developing nations in light of the question: "Under what conditions is educational reform successful?" The objective is to create a framework for investigating educational policies based on outcomes rather than objectives or needs. The author recommends that, in addition to…

Budgeting and budget planning in higher education are considered, and the long-standing debate concerning whether budgeting is largely a technical or a political exercise is reviewed in this monograph. The roles of various participants in the budgeting process and the form of their participation, with emphasis on centralization of authority in the…

Power, or influence, in educational governance is increasingly becoming diffused. Everyone in education now feels relatively powerless. A political model of decision-making, emphasizing consultation with representatives of interest groups is now appropriate. In this model, the school board functions as "meta-mediator." This modifies the…

By focusing on the question of whether it was right or wrong to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, this social studies unit seeks to illuminate the political, military, scientific, and moral complexities involved in making far-reaching decisions today. Sections of the unit use primary materials from American, Japanese, and English sources to…

The desegregation decision by a local school system sometimes is perceived as the result of pressure, and at other times as unrelated to overt pressure for desegregation. Contrary to both of these views, this exploratory study suggests that a positive desegregation decision may stem from the personal values of school board members. These values…

An evaluation is made of the technological, analytical, social, and political forces which operate on the public schools and influence their disposition toward the utilization of technology. Three chapters are devoted to delineating the manner and extent to which technology, accountability, and behaviorist learning theory interact. The potential…

This monograph contains papers that study and assess the societal and political influences that could affect the work of the educational administrator during the next decade. Authored by conference speakers, panel members, and reactors, the papers cover such subjects as (1) the implications of social change for the administrator, (2) the politics…

The author advances the argument that evaluation is unique not in purpose, but in environment. The evaluator operates within ethical, organizational, and political contexts in order to achieve utilization of a context-responsive evaluation. (LMO)

This book consists of 11 chapters that discuss various concerns of importance in the field of the politics of education and describe some of the current research efforts in the field. The individual chapters include "The Politics of Education: An Introduction," by Jay Scribner and Richard Englert; "Methods and Conceptualizations of…

Major decisions made by public institutions that resulted in the location of a permanent campus of the University of Illinois first within the Chicago area and then at a particular site are examined. The decision-making process is examined from economic, social, and political stances. The respective roles played in the process by the university,…

Papers are on the topics of: perspectives on the place of institutional research in policy, programs, and politics (William H. Faricy, Virginia P. Mitchell, Paul L. Kenepp, Dwight C. Smith, Jr., Wendell G. Lorang, Jr., Ronald H. Stein); assessment and management in higher education (Jerry W. Brown, J. Barton Luedeke, Adolph Katz, James J.…

A statistical definition of information utilization for policy making decisions and an evaluation impact test to determine its occurrence are proposed. A univariate time series analysis is used to identify the internal trend for a given policy output variable and to control its effect. Two problems are identified in implementing an evaluation…