This paper, based upon our experiences starting a school, is part dialogue and part theory. The three authors have all played important roles in the design, creation, and ongoing support of an innovative public elementary school. The first part of the paper describes the impetus behind the creation of this "buildingless," environmentally…

Accounts, in part, for the successful implementation of an alternative "school-without-walls" and provides clues to what program administrators can do to make it more likely that new programs will get fair trials in the schools. (Author/IRT)

The open school concept used as an alternative to more traditional forms of schooling in selected elementary and secondary schools in Austin, Texas, includes seven major dimensions: individualized instruction, continuous progress of students, team teaching, multiage and multigrade grouping, differentiated staffing, open space classrooms and…

In 1990, Kent-Meridian High School in Kent, Washington, decided to implement four schools within schools, each with its separate academic and career focus. The first section of this paper outlines the 3-year evaluation plan for the Health/Science School (1992-1995), with a focus on identifying program outcomes and developing assessment measures.…

Discusses educational benefits of the Internet and what schools are doing to integrate technology into the middle- and high-school curriculum. Reviews pitfalls of technology integration, initiation and implementation tips for administrators, program-evaluation strategies, and censorship issues. The Internet brings immediacy and individualization…

Provides guidelines for establishing a partnership between a community college and a single high school or school district. Outlines the steps necessary for developing a concurrent enrollment program, focusing on program goals, staffing requirements, program maintenance, and institutional benefits. Discusses how to maintain quality and meet the…

This report contains the findings of the first year of a 2-year Hudson Institute study of U.S. charter schools, which focused on their startup problems, solutions to the problems, and the policy environments in which such schools are most likely to thrive or falter. Data during 1995-96 were derived from site visits to 35 charter schools, which…

Based on the assertion that punitive programs for at-risk students are ineffective, this book describes in detail how to start an effective alternative program to redirect the lives of at-risk youth. Following the preface, chapter 1 presents a historical background and an overview of alternative education. The second chapter describes strategies…

The report describes a special program at the University of Rochester (New York) which annually offers up to 20 students a tuition-free fifth year of education. The program is intended to allow students to study subjects distant from the requirements of their concentrations. Students present their intellectual ambitions in an application process…

This bibliography, prepared in connection with Duke University's (North Carolina) Elementary Certification Program, summarizes a review of the literature on innovative elementary Teacher Certification programs in the U.S. from 1985 to 1990. The review is divided into the following main areas: (1) innovative elementary teacher certification…

Examined educational attitudes of 168 students and their parents in the first year of a primary level multiage program. Found that although the majority of parents and students considered the experience positive, their principal concern was that older students did not appear to be sufficiently challenged academically, suggesting the need for…

Outdoor education provides a setting in which students learn to discover things for themselves and should be an integral part of school curriculum. Beginning as soon as students and teachers step beyond the classroom, outdoor education employs methods of observation/discovery, research, and reflection. Small group instruction allowing full use of…

Individually Guided Education (IGE) is an educational innovation, developed during the late 1960s and early 1970s, that originated at the Wisconsin Research and Development Center for Cognitive Learning. It is one of the few innovations that was scheduled for national implementation. The conceptual origins of IGE have their roots in educational…

The document establishes the need for a nationwide youth participation program and suggest strategies and problems in implementing such programs. Youth participation provides a means for young people to be released from their isolation from the rest of society by providing the opportunity for participation in socially productive activities. The…

Off-campus education is an experiential method of learning that integrates a student's classroom studies with on-the-job experiences obtained at an employing organization. Off-campus education programs are based on a partnership among the school, the parents, the student, and the employing organization, with each of the partners sharing the…