Traditional theoretical explanations for the rate of expansion of educational institutions have included the "organizational ecology" model of new foundings as a function of population density, the "institutional theory" argument that foundings are responsive to societal/consumer demand, and theories of political economy which describe foundings…

The hypothesis that when true group tasks feature ill-structured problems, interaction will predict learning that involves higher-order thinking skills was tested with middle school students with a strategy called complex instruction. Complex instruction is designed for heterogeneous classrooms in which teaching objectives are conceptual and…

Based on Fiedler's Contingency Model of Leadership Effectiveness and Leader-Match program, this study's hypothesis is that experienced school principals increase their effectiveness by changing key organizational variables to suit their personal leadership styles. Following V. D. McNamara's application of Fiedler's contingency model in a study of…

The general meaning of research data drawn from study of school improvement programs creates the opportunity for sound theory building. By emphasizing the principal's role in policy development, this paper analyzes the characteristics of large-scale educational innovation projects and their explanatory foundations. Belgium's comprehensive Renewed…

The contributions of various disciplines to the field of higher education and research studies are discussed in 10 seminar papers, which also review Burton R. Clark's work, "The Higher Education System: Academic Organization in Cross-National Perspective." Titles and authors are as follows: "Internal and External Regulatives in…

This report analyzes the effects of multiunit school organization on elementary teachers' patterns of task-related communication. Multiunit teacher work teams, or units, are characterized by discussions between teachers about the intimate details of their daily work; this contrasts with the structurally undifferentiated organization of…

To generate a theoretical model for future interpretation, this study analyzed the 1985 Indiana Legislature concerning educational policymaking in public school funding. Previous research indicates that the classical rational actor model of policymaking inadequately addresses multidimensional pressures at work in state legislatures. A model is…

A model based on organizational theory was used in this study to discover educational goals emphasized by teachers in classrooms and to explore the impact of the social organization of schooling on these goals. Age-grade structure was examined as a possible organizational characteristic influencing moral and technical goals selected by teachers.…

By means of communication network analysis and individual interviews conducted between September 1982 and March 1983 with district administrators in a single medium-sized school district, this study describes the consequences of the 1975 decentralization of the district's communication network. Following a brief introduction and a discussion of…

Managerial motivation models have evolved beyond the human resource tradition of the 1960s and the 1970s to a form of corporate involvement with the personal needs of employees, many of whose family lifestyles have changed dramatically. To analyze the new role for companies and the corporate concern for employees' well-being, this research study…

Present administrative structures at various Canadian universities are described, and administrative functions for universities in the 1980s are suggested. Attention is directed to the following topics: presidential leadership, university management, and institutional survival; conflicts inherent in organizational theory and organizational…

Recruitment and reward patterns of college faculty in 1969 were analyzed, and implications of the findings for segmented labor market research and for the analysis of stratification systems in science are discussed. Data from a 1969 Faculty Survey of the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education provided a sample of 77 universities for the…

Qualitive data from interviews with individuals and observations of group meetings were gathered from 16 school districts that participated in a study of school district uses of evaluation and test data. The findings are organized around a series of discrete topics presented in a set of independent papers. The title essay, "Working Knowledge,"…

The main text of this report consists of a review and evaluation of job enrichment as an approach to job redesign, with implications for Air Force research and application. In addition, two appendixes are included: the first, a supplemental historical discussion; the second, a ninety-six-item annotated bibliography. Specific objectives are to…

The Practice-Theory-Practice Model (PTPM), a method designed to infuse theoretical perspectives into case study materials and to serve as a guide for examining chance processes in institutions of higher education, is described. The PTPM considers the historical and experiential environment that acts upon an institution, its practices and its…