Accession Number:

AD0672780

Title:

DECISIONS, DECISIONS, DECISIONS: IS EDUCATION IMPORTANT ENOUGH

Descriptive Note:

Corporate Author:

SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT CORP SANTA MONICA CA

Personal Author(s):

• Adelson, Marvin

Report Date:

1968-04-01

Pagination or Media Count:

33.0

Abstract:

As the society enters a critical period in its evolution, education, which is at the center of that evolution, is being severely stressed. The processes by which decisions are taken, policies are set, programs are developed, and plans are made in and for education--the decision processes--are in urgent need of examination. They may have to be modified if education is to remain a vital part of the dynamism of change in our society. Technology holds some promise, not only for enabling needed changes, but for discovering and identifying what those changes should be. That promise is not unlimited, and it depends upon decisions that people make. Educators and others must therefore start to look closely at their decision processes. Not only decision processes be adapted to achieve current objectives in emerging contexts, but to revise the objectives as needed. Decision making in education is highly decentralized and very widely distributed. The techniques of decision aiding developed in other fields may not be directly usable. The technologies examined for relevance to improving educational decision processes are information processing, communications, and social technology. Social technology includes such activities as planning, programming, budgeting, operations research, system analysis, and even--education.

Descriptors:

• *DECISION MAKING
• *EDUCATION
• DATA PROCESSING
• SYSTEMS ENGINEERING
• IMPACT
• FEASIBILITY STUDIES
• OPERATIONS RESEARCH
• SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
• BUDGETS
• COMMUNICATION AND RADIO SYSTEMS
• COMPUTER PROGRAMMING
• COST EFFECTIVENESS
• ORGANIZATIONS
• MANAGEMENT PLANNING AND CONTROL

Subject Categories:

• Humanities and History
• Psychology

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE