In this article, based on their book Educational Goods: Values, Evidence and Decision Making, Harry Brighouse, Helen Ladd, Susanna Loeb, and Adam Swift encourage education decision makers to give careful thought to the values that underlie the data they collect and use to inform policy. Rather than basing decisions entirely on what improves…

This article articulates a framework suitable for use when making decisions about education policy. Decision makers should establish what the feasible options are and evaluate them in terms of their contribution to the development, and distribution, of educational goods in children, balanced against the negative effect of policies on important…

This article draws on data from cases of high-performing and improving schools in Hong Kong. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with principals, middle leaders, and senior teachers to identify key policies and steps taken for their enactment, and to solicit interpretations of the policies. Principals were found to actively select,…

Adult and Organizational Learning and Policy Development in Environments of Gray The purpose of this study was to describe, analyze and provide an understanding of the values that influence state legislators' decision-making as it relates to appropriations, tuition and fees, and financial aid for public postsecondary education in Idaho. The study…

Examines the premise that increased research provides important contributions to decision making. The study counterplan assumes that information can be developed in a way manageable to the policymaker, that study can assist in choosing from a variety of competing values, and that thoroughly researched decisions will be procedurally superior. (JMF)

Articulates the position that a primary function of value-centered arguments is the generation of decision rules. Discusses decision rules and value-centered arguments; uses this analysis to identify issues of value proposition debate. Draws applications to academic debate. (PD)

Argues against the current trends in giving importance to subjective values in educational administration, particularly the argument that attention to subjective values can overcome the perceived irrelevance of scientific administration and organization theory and help administrators make better decisions. (MD)

The purpose of this paper is to propose a new, synthetic paradigm for debate analysis and decision making that features the policy systems approach within a context of values as boundaries for decision. As background for the proposed theory, the paper (1) summarizes the notions of paradigm formation and shifts initially presented by T. Kuhn; (2)…

Presents a theory of debate as a comparison of policy systems, a theory which satisfies the unique speech act requirements of discussing policy proposals. Describes the basic model and illustrates it by reference to the interpretation of "should" propositions and the analysis of burdens of proof. (JMF)

Notes that applying abstract ethical principles to the practical business of building a code of applied ethics for a technical communication department teaches students that they share certain unarticulated or unconscious values that they can translate into ethical principles. Suggests that combining abstract theory with practical policy writing…

Planning means knowing what you wish to do, developing a program to do it, and anticipating the context in which you will have to act. The role of the planning official is to point out options and consequences, not to take responsibility for any policy or pattern of decision. (Author/WM)

Illustrates and describes the historical roots and major characteristics, including environmental conditions and value orientation dilemmas, of two competing models of organizational decision making used in educational operations and research and development, the comprehensive/prescriptive (C/P) paradigm and the incremental/remedial (I/R)…

Presented is a scientific approach to public policy decision making which integrates facts and social value judgments to reach decisions that are scientifically, socially, and ethically reasonable. The approach is offered as an alternative to "science courts" or science advisors in decision making. (SL)

This symposium paper examines policy formation in early childhood education in terms of the functions, consequences, and implications of ideological conflicts. A definition of ideology is presented, and reasons are given in the context of this definition as to why an unreliable data base is the cause for current ideological battles in early…