Utility and self-sufficiency in the selection of educational alternatives

Abstract

Methods of deciding among educational programs usually have taken too narrow a focus or have been unsystematic. A set of guidelines for selecting among alternative programs would be helpful to the decision-maker who must design new programs, continue existing ones, or modify and synthesize the old and the new. This paper provides a possible set of decision rules for identifying and choosing among educational programs based on the underlying requirement that each learner reach at least self-sufficiency. It proposes a two-level decision model that is intended to accommodate people in society who are self-sufficient or who are “on target” for reaching that state and those in society who are neither self-sufficient nor moving toward that state. Both a rational and mathematical model are presented; both require empirical validation and continued thought.