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Academic productivity is a generalized notion of measurement in terms of an output/input model. For this writer, this concept of academic productivity is a type of institutional-level theory concerned with monitoring one aspect of the university. Be it in financial indicators, the measurement of instructional effort, the calculation of FTE faculty, or finding out the character of the faculty extra-instructional services, the notion of academic productivity has generic applicability. This generic idea of academic productivity and several specific examples are described in this paper. (Author/PG)

This prototype of a guide for educational change agents focuses on the roles and tactics of personnel employed in nonprofit educational research and development organizations and in state and intermediate education agencies. Included is a compilation of reports from recent users of three classes of tactics: information, demonstration, and field agent. These tactics are conceptualized as following an adoption/diffusion continuum whose stages can be labeled, step by step, from awareness through interest and evaluation to actual utilization. Change agent behavior is viewed as ranging from impersonal through personal to interpersonal. The organization of this paper reflects these underlying patterns. At the same time, behavioral sciences and marketing research are brought to bear in an effort to help explain the need for planning and evaluation strategies based on market segmentation, product differentiation, and communication skills. Case studies are briefly discussed, and a table of indicators is provided as a tentative guideline. In conclusion, some policy implications are briefly outlined with a view to initiating greater interaction among practitioners, diffusion personnel, behavioral scientists, and funding sources. A list of references is also provided. (Author/PD)

This document argues the need for improved procedures for planning educational change. Specifically, it argues for a marketing approach which involves starting with the real needs of a particular population and planning a coordinated set of products and programs to serve those needs. The authors focus on using marketing concepts and techniques to help in situations where educational products already exist. The publication first discusses past beliefs about the approaches to educational change and how these beliefs have led to confidence in the potential usefulness of a marketing approach. Secondly, it reports the results of empirical work done to apply one such marketing concept to educational change--that of market segmentation. The application of the market segmentation concept to educational dissemination and utilization assumes that the market for educational innovations is heterogeneous, and further, that variables can be found which meaningfully divide the market into homogeneous subgroups which are expected to respond differently to marketing efforts. A discrepancy model is divided for use as a basis for market segmentation and as a guide for market selection and marketing strategy development. (Author/DN)

This report explores the possibility of using the discrepancy measures to assess the implementation of educational innovations. The discrepancy measure was derived from the decision to segment the educational market, and to select or develop marketing strategies, on the basis of discrepancies between the potential user and the requirements of a product. Discrepancies occur because the nature of the product is incompatible with the nature of the user. The first section of the report considers the discrepancy measure in the general context of implementation assessment and indicates that the measure makes a potential methodological contribution in this area. An analysis of existing data, in the second section of the report, indicates that, even in its present form, the measure generates relatively rich data on implementation and permits a rough classification of different implementation behaviors. A number of modifications which could be made in the measure to make it even more suitable for the collection of implementation data are discussed in the third section of the report. (Author/DN)

The Laboratory was established as a public nonprofit organization in 1966 under a Joint Powers Agreement. The Laboratory has five major development divisions, each of which is responsible for different areas of educational research and development. Division IV identifies and investigates problems relating to home-school linkage. This position paper was initiated by Division IV in January of 1973 at the recommendation of a special panel of the National Institute of Education. The goals for this position paper were: (1) to expose the reader to the assessment of educational research in our problem area; (2) to help to clarify a set of complex problems associated with interactions of low-income, urban black children and their teachers; and (3) to identify research areas in which more research is needed. Our immediate purpose was to provide a base from which to identify a target area for further research and study. The position paper is organized by sections. Section 1 includes a set of discussions of the boundaries of the larger problem area. The next section (section 2) is composed of material associated with the delimited problem area and our intellectual framework. Section 3 includes reviews of the literature; and summaries, conclusions, and recommendations. These sections are followed by a bibliography and a set of appendixes. The paper's form is circular in that the sections can be read in any order depending on the user's purposes. (Author/JM)

This paper explores some problems of adaptation of curriculum materials that need to be faced by product developers and teacher trainers. It focuses on: a) developing teacher skill in purposeful variation, b) promoting adaptation of materials, and c) transforming available products. First, the Responsive Teaching project, designed to instruct teachers to vary their responses to pupils depending on the level of initiative that pupils display, is described, and three major decisions basic to program development and inherent in product development are discussed, including: a) determining the effective training strategy to promote the desired teacher skill, b) identifying a somewhat simplified organization of concepts for a complex training system, and c) selecting available products that are suitable to the training strategy and the organization of concepts. Second, an aspect of the Responsive Teaching package designed to encourage adaptation by the local user is used to illustrate the adaptation of training strategy, training sequence, and specific content. Third, an analogy between transformation of training products and transformation of language is examined. The effects of extensive transformation and skill development in adaptive arts are also discussed. A six-item bibliography is included. (PD)

These studies examine the dissemination strategies of ten selected educational innovations that illustrate a number of the problems and solutions that have emerged from past experience. In studying the diffusion of these products and programs, facts have been sought about what happened between conceptualization and implementation. The study tries to ascertain what was done at each step in the life of a product where a decision could affect its success in reaching users. Although the focus is diffusion, examination of product design and testing is also included, since the actions taken at these stages could have a crucial impact on eventual market success. The products and programs possess a wide range of types and degrees of innovational complexity and success. Their diffusion histories illustrate the diversity of tactics that have been tried. The products discussed have been developed and distributed by various combinations of research and development agencies, other nonprofit agencies, and commercial firms. Key points of general interest have emerged and are summarized to help fill a need in the diffusion literature for facts and inferences culled from practical experience, and to give advice to developers, disseminators, and funding agencies. (Author/MLF)

This document presents a concern in relation to the NCHEMS Information Exchange Procedures Implementation Project--the absence of black-box analysis. The nexus between the Outcome of Post-Secondary Education Project and the Program Classification Structure is foucsed on black-box analysis to illustrate its importance through the area of the instruction/learning interface. (MJM)

One of the twelve exemplary programs summarized in the Introduction to Right to Read's "Effective Reading Programs: Summaries of 222 Selected Programs" (CS001934), this program uses an organized phonics system to increase the reading readiness of one school's kindergarten children, many of whom have bilingual parents. In a careful sequence of activities, the children learn to name, sound, and write one letter at a time. The program includes a number of devices to motivate pupils and catch their interest, including an imaginary character from outer space who provides frequent rewards. Each child, when ready, is encouraged to begin reading stories and books, and receives special rewards for these achievements. (WR/AIR)

San Jose City College's Future Think Program consists of the following courses: Language, Culture, and Change; Third World Since 1945; Marriage and Family; Ecology and Man; Science Fiction; Introduction to Literature: Science Fiction; Introduction to Sociology; and Sociology/Fiction of the Future. An evaluation by an independent consulting firm was based on student responses to a comprehensive course and program evaluation instrument and on classroom observations. The 367 students completing the survey gave a favorable assessment of the program, courses, and instructors. They believed futuristics to be an important curriculum topic, felt their study had favorably affected their own thinking and planning for the future, and felt more responsible for the future of society. In-class observations showed that instructors were creative in melding instructional strategies to the requirements of the topic. To determine the integration of program materials with the general field of futuristics and global perspectives, students were asked to list which of the Articles of the U. N. Declaration of Human Rights were related to their courses and which were not. Their responses tended to concur with the stated objectives of the course, but the students were only moderately optimistic about the chances for achievement of goals in world affairs. (MJK)

A program in which poets teach poetry in the classroom has been undertaken in the California public schools. This book focuses on the program and contains several short articles on various aspects of teaching poetry writing, a collection of student works, two photo essays, and practical techniques devised by poet/teachers. A bibliography lists resources under two categories: (1) anthologies of poetry and (2) collections of children's writing, teaching techniques, and books by poets. (JM)

Computer programs capable of describing the thermal behavior of buildings are used to help architectural students understand environmental systems. The Numerical Simulation Laboratory at the Architectural School of the University of Texas at Austin was developed to provide the necessary software capable of simulating the energy transactions affecting the environment of internal spaces of buildings and to make these programs easily accessible to students. Several specialized programs of the Dynamic Energy Response of Buildings (DEROB) system were integrated to describe the energy transactions within a building: Solar generates solar exposure tables; PERSP produces solar perspective views of the structure; GLASS uses dielectric algorithms to describe the dynamic energy responses of solid walls; and DYNWALB describes the energy behavior of opaque walls. Evaluation of the architectural design course using computer-assisted instruction shows an increase in skills and a strong level of student receptivity to the project. (CH)

The results of a 1974 colloquium designed to discuss the preliminary feasibility of a United Nations University are provided. Twenty-five representatives from San Francisco Bay area institutions of higher learning met to discuss general programs and policies, bay area regional cooperation and collaboration, communications, and educator role. The consensus of all involved in the discussion was that the core philosophy of the university must be pragmatic rather than theoretical, using knowledge to solve global problems. One outgrowth of the colloquium was to have the Academy of World Studies act as a clearinghouse and information center for those wishing to promote the development of the university. Educators and students would contribute to the problem solving for this development. Potential faculty positions would be rotating in order to use the world's best minds in tackling the world's worst problems. (Author/DE)

The Asian Newcomer Parent Program (ANPP), an experimental project initiated by the Education Center for Chinese (ECC) in 1971, was intended to provide newly immigrated parents some of the same opportunities as their children to learn English, to understand American mores and lifestyles, and to transcent some of the cultural and communication barriers within the family unit. The third-year (final) report briefly reviews the total program before discussing the third year effort which was spent mainly in further development of English as a Second Language (ESL) materials while maintaining the operation of demonstration classes and a reception center. (The curriculum materials, entitled "Everyday English," include teacher and student guides and are available through the ANPP.) The final section reviews the program's evaluative survey of 85 participants and examines the ANPP's efforts, shortcomings, and successes in meeting the needs of the Asian adult newcomers it served. The survey instrument, program descriptions, and unsolicited testimonials are appended. (MW)

The appendixes to the final evaluation report for FY 1974 of the Experience-Based Career Education Program at Far West School (FWS) contain the following: an audit of the final evaluation report for FY 1974, a cost-comparison study of Experience-Based Career Education replication, information about data collection, and associated survey instruments. Survey instruments and collected data relate to: attitudes toward learning, attitudes toward tests, job-related attitudes, job-related terms, parent interview, parent questionnaire, resource person telephone interviews, resource questionnaire, student background summary, student change scale, student interview, student plans and perceptions summary, student questionnaire, student evaluation of school procedures entitled "The Way It Is/The Way It Ought To Be," and published tests. A Stanford University student report entitled "Anthropological Perspectives of FWS and Students" concludes the document. (JR)

The final evaluation report summarizes the FY 1974 operation of the Experience-Based Career Education Program at Far West School (FWS). The report's introduction provides a brief overview of the secondary level program and the evaluation design. Chapter 2 focuses on the procedures for the recruitment and selection of program students, discusses comparison and control student groups, and compares the demographic characteristics of these groups. Chapter 3 deals with program outcome data, discussing students, parents, and resource perceptions, attitudes and opinions about FWS and assessing student achievements. Chapter 4, outcome backup research, considers anthropological observations, an analysis of program components, test-taking attitudes, and staff-program issues. Chapter 5, model development and implementation, examines the formative evaluation of student-related procedures, and the assessment of the FWS instructional system. Chapter 6 provides a summary and conclusions, presenting generally favorable student and parent reactions to the program, and reporting success in achieving most FWS program goals in self-development, career development, and basic skill and interpersonal skill development. The program was also viewed as successful in keeping students in school and achieving community support. (JR)

The interim report for FY 1974 is the first program evaluation, conducted midway through the first year of operation, of the secondary level Experience-Based Career Education Program at Far West School (FWS). A brief introduction surveys the FWS program and discusses the organization of the report. Section 2, descriptions of data collection instruments and procedures, discusses instrument development and administration and data processing. Section 3, student recruitment and selection, summarizes and analyzes past recruitment policies and discusses recruitment plans. Section 4, student samples, discusses the composition of the FWS student group and the comparison and control groups and their respective demographic characteristics and standardized test results. Section 5, mid-year data, analyzes the results of the student opinion questionnaire, the parent opinion questionnaire, the resource opinion questionnaire, the student attitude scale, and interviews. Section 6, program development data, discusses instrumentation, student learning programs, resource development and use, student diagnosis, and student orientation. Section 7, student use and staff perception of the program discusses the differential use of resources and the staff program questionnaire. Section 8 summarizes the report's major findings, generally concluding that the program was positively received by students and parents. Survey instruments and results are appended. (JR)