"Three Big Lessons in Six Years" is both a reflection on the past and a look ahead to the future at Charlestown (C-Town) High School (Boston, Massachusetts) and other early college programs across the country. The purpose of this series is to document essential design elements, operational structures, and critical support for students to…

Home-schooling students in the Cupertino Union School District, California, are enrolled at one alternative school. Each home-schooling family is assigned a resource teacher who is responsible for meeting with students and parents at least once a month. The district provides a variety of materials and services. (MLF)

Notes difficulties encountered teaching history in an open university. Describes methodology used in a twentieth-century history course, combining current events with the course content. Using a major continuing news story as the basis for a semester project, students are asked to consider multiple scenarios and to predict outcomes of current…

Development of a national higher education market in Australia provides the opportunity for open-access universities to develop recruitment strategies based on the experience of North American institutions. Implications are drawn for focusing on student learning potential, reorganizing the curriculum, integrating recruitment and teaching/learning…

Describes an open enrollment program at Ohio County Schools (West Virginia) that allows parents to request transfers for their children. After a decade of experience, the program is judged as minimally disruptive. School choice seems to be based on child care considerations, rather than quality of education concerns. (MLH)

Discussion at a 1990 symposium on democratic values and higher education administration is summarized. Issues addressed include productive competition in higher education, open access vs. competitive selection, assessment of teacher performance and instructional quality, and the relationship between higher education institutions and national…

A comparison of the reading skills assessment programs at three community colleges in Virginia and New Jersey is presented as part of an examination of the kinds of placement decisions that are made from assessment test data. Introductory comments focus on the controversy surrounding the growing emphasis on skills assessment in open-door community…

Discusses background, rationale, and current trends in school choice. Where implemented carefully with parent participation, choice plans have increased public support and student achievement and provided curriculum differentiation, cohesiveness, autonomy, and small size as benefits. However, school choice raises some equity problems, including…

Describes an open admissions program, a public university's nontraditional population, and their unique academic needs. Provides a political science briefing book assignment in which students research and write about one country. Claims the book is effective in helping students to organize and focus their thoughts and to improve their research and…

Some of the common characteristics of remedial students are described and their relation to difficulty in mastering course content and completing course requirements are discussed. Teaching techniques are suggested that will afford students a greater opportunity to succeed. (MLW)

First-cycle university courses in France have a special function, both providing education and serving as an adjustment variable, guaranteeing a place in higher education for any student with the "baccalaureat" degree. Suggests criticism of the system for poor completion rates in undergraduate courses is partially unfounded because the…

This three-part concept paper was the result of a colloquium, during which 35 community college educators met in Traverse City, Michigan, to discuss issues related to access, assessment, and developmental education and to develop concept papers and recommendations for each topic. First, introductory material describes the colloquium and its…

Open enrollment is an essential feature of the Education Department of the International Institute in St. Louis, a refugee sponsoring group offering a wide range of social, housing, and medical services; job counseling and placement; and English as a second language classes. The institute allows students to begin a language training program…

The Commission to Study the Future of Community Colleges in Kentucky was established in 1988 to review the accomplishments of the Kentucky Community College System (KCCS), to assess its current status, and to provide direction for the KCCS towards the year 2000. Developed as part of a collection of reports on the KCCS for use by the Commission in…

There are parents and students who are to be won or lost depending on which sector--public or private--answers their calls for programs to match their learning styles and desire for rigor, vitality, and variety. This report examines where choice has evolved from, what it offers parents and students, and how its disappearance could affect this…