The Use of Decision-Science Techniques in School Districts

Abstract

A survey of the use of eight decision-science techniques was conducted in a stratified random sample of school districts in the United States. The purpose of the study was to determine the relative frequency of use of the techniques in fourteen application areas. Also sought was information on the potential uses of these techniques in the school districts. The amount of formal training that the respondents (usually superintendents of schools) have had in the eight techniques was tallied in addition to the areas where they desired training or additional training. The conclusion of this preliminary study is that there is a need to train more educational administrators in the decision sciences so that greater use of these techniques can be applied to the administration of the schools.