Sixth in a series of seven articles on innovative programs, this description of the fate of Northwest High School in the Shaunee Mission (Kansas) School District reveals that low test scores and lack of student discipline necessitated a return to a more traditional organization. (WD)

Celebrating its 35th year, the Fayerweather Street School of Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of the few extant schools associated with the "open education" movement of the late Sixties. Not only has the school flourished, but it has managed to stick to its original progressive principles. Fayerweather recently hosted a panel discussion on…

This innovative high school gives no grades and students satisfy graduation requirements through unique combinations of classes, apprenticeships, independent study, work, and travel. Funding is mostly public and flexible. A benefit has been low turnover in the principalship. The school is an important community resource. (PB)

In this article, the author profiles Charles Dickens Elementary School in Vancouver, British Columbia, a school that dares to be different from the rest. This elementary school operates on a child-centered, multi-aged framework that is based on belief in an orientation towards continuous progress, appropriate evaluation of progress, schoolwide…

A successful challenge education program at a small private school is described. Students in grades 10 through 12 spend mornings on traditional academic subjects and afternoons on both guided and independent challenge projects. (MJL)

Describes the individualized program of Mountain Open High School which at first coincidentally resembed Maurice Gibbons'"Walkabout" concept and was subsequently more consciously shaped by theory. Students move through three phases culminating in challenging independent projects of practical use. (MJL)

The school described here operates on the principle that play for the sake of play, without unsolicited adult intervention, entails the acquisition of skills and knowledge. Sudbury Valley School promotes cultural acquisition in a manner harmonious with the child's biological self-education system, without age segregation, grading, or academic…

Horizon High School combats student dropout rates in Bakersfield (California) by maintaining a small enrollment, high community involvement, close student-teacher relationships, flexible scheduling, and attention to individual students' educational needs and interests. Student attendance, graduation rates, and standardized test scores are…

Identifies five factors that appear to have contributed to the survival of several firmly established programs in the alternative school movement. (Author/WD)

Describes an open-format laboratory school housed on the campus of Manakato University in Minnesota that was the antithesis of dominant schooling patterns in 1968. Wilson Campus School practiced early forms of authentic assessment, participative decision making, cooperative learning, nongraded student grouping, multicultural education, and…