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Most of the staff and resources in government schools in Australia and New Zealand are directly allocated by state education authorities. This direct allocation occurs either at a central or regional level. System-wide resource allocation policies set the boundaries within which schools operate. This report documents the ways in which eight government education systems allocate staff and resources to schools. Differences and new developments are noted in order to suggest future initiatives and similarities are described so that the foundations of policies can be elucidated. Detailed compilations of the staffing formulae used by each system are reported. The authors note that these formulae govern closely the allocation of staff to schools. At present there is little scope for recognition of the special requirements of individual schools. It is suggested that there should be a greater recognition of school- determined priorities. An approach called a basket of services is discussed. It also suggests basing a proportion of school staffing on school needs using a system of prospective reviews of circumstances and programs.

This report provides a comprehensive summary of the principal ideas underlying educational developments to 1962 in the area of 'teaching machines' and 'programmed instruction', offering suggestions about criteria to evaluate such programmes, examples of such evaluations, and details about those programmes that exist.

Analytics, q.v. annotation.

The world of education can be considered a natural laboratory in which different countries are experimenting with different strategies. This report presents the findings of the First and Second International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) Science Studies. The book contains the following chapters: (1) Issues in Science Education; (2) Introducing Science in the Primary School; (3) Science for All in the Middle Secondary School; (4) Graduating from High School; (5) Learning Science; (6) The Science Curriculum; (7) Teachers of Science and Their Influence; and (8) Planning Science Education for the Future. (PR)

In most developed countries a majority of the citizens benefit from extensive educational opportunities, yet there is a growing number of people in these same countries who are educationally disadvantaged because of their sociocultural backgrounds. There are four stages of educational disadvantage including: (1) limited experiences in early childhood; (2) restricted learning experience at school; (3) transition support services; and (4) second-chance learning. Educational leaders in Australia are making an attempt to address the problem of educational disadvantage. One strategy they have used is to learn from the research and experiences of other developed countries. This report is an assemblage of pertinent data on educational disadvantage and its related programs and policies gathered from Australia, the United States and Great Britain. The six chapters are as follows: (1) Equity Issues in Australian Education; (2) The Nature of Educational Disadvantage; (3) Research and Evaluation: The Findings from Overseas; (4) Australian Research into Educational Disadvantage; (5) The Disadvantaged Schools Program; and (6) Overcoming Educational Disadvantage. A 175-item list of references is included. (VM)