DECEMBER CONFERENCES.

The article previews the 1980 conference titled "Standing Conference on Studies in Education (SCSE)" held on December 12, 1980 in King's College, London, England. In the conference the topic for discussion was" The Impact of Research on Educational Studies." The chairman of SCSE, Keith Thompson welcomed the participants in the conference. Then Prof. Sutherland chaired the opening plenary session, addressed by Prof. Sixten Marklund of the University of Stockholm. Dealing with the era of comprehensivization, Prof. Marklund traced in a wide and impressive survey the way in which, in very different educational systems, the United States, England, France and Sweden, the stages of enunciation of principles, legislative implementation, and formal reorganization of schools had followed each other. He noted the common trends in comprehensivization including raising the upper limit of compulsory education, delaying differentiation within schools, new types of school programmes introducing links between school and society and industry, and an increased enrolment at upper secondary level within and across the systems.