Covers camping out for credit; racing for credit; choosing from the seven "schools" in Quincy (Illinois) High School; and developing the Colorado College block scheduling plan under which students take only one course at a time. (Author)

In the past 30 years, research has suggested the need for much smaller high schools. In response, some administrators have attempted to subdivide big high schools into smaller entities. This digest reviews recent research on the movement to break up large schools and discusses five types of error common to such attempts--errors of autonomy, size,…

To capture some of the benefits of small-scale schooling, educators are looking for ways to downsize, including dividing large schools into subunits or "schools within a school." This approach establishes within the school a smaller educational unit with a separate educational program and its own staff, students, and budget. This digest…

Fast tracking and construction management resulted in a less expensive and rapidly completed high school for the Cumberland Regional High School District in New Jersey. (MLF)

A large Baltimore high school has shown how personalizing relationships and focusing the curriculum can turn around an unsafe school and create a climate conducive to learning. The school adopted the Talent Development model, which created six smaller units or academies. Instead of suspending or transferring ill-behaved students, Patterson…

Argues that creating separate schools for ninth-grade students improves their academic and social transition to high school. Supports argument with research results and personal anecdotes. Describes school district experiences in developing and operating ninth-grade centers. (PKP)

In this article, the author advocates co-educational residence halls for college/university campuses. He argues that this living arrangement is more natural and promotes the fullest possible development of the individual through meaningful relationships with the same and opposite sex; it helps to teach the residents personal and social integration…

Discusses the development since 1971 of an alternative school-within-a-school at the Wheatley School in East Williston (New York), emphasizing shared decision making, nontraditional teaching, and student self-evaluation. Describes recent changes in the program to improve both student evaluation and the program's communication with the traditional…

Study shows an example of one attempt to meet student territorial needs by turning over a room to a small group of individuals for their own use. Sharing of common territory brings members of the floor unit into a small community that supports and enhances the positive growth of those involved. (Author/BEF)

Discusses "pods,""team areas," and "houses" as middle school physical environments that support the type of learning opportunities young adolescents need. Offers examples of such school designs from Cleveland, Tennessee; British Columbia; and Milledgeville, Georgia. Concludes by suggesting specifications for new middle school buildings. (EV)

Granby High School in Norfolk, Virginia, is a large comprehensive high school restructured into four smaller academies that allow students a more personal learning environment. Positive growth is shown in test scores, dropout rates, and the narrowing achievement gap between minority and majority students. (MLF)

Des Moines, Iowa's School within a School is locally funded program of instruction in basic skills, career guidance, and counseling support to meet needs of at-risk seventh- to tenth-grade students attending city's comprehensive middle and high schools. Program evaluations indicate declining dropout rate, increased attendance, and progress toward…

Discusses findings of two studies conducted in the Poudre District in Fort Collins, Colorado, which had experienced rapid implementations of in-district choice, a school-within-a-school, several public alternative schools, and a charter school. Debate rages over relationships between public schools and their communities, school choice and academic…

Having developed a technology-based teaching unit on weather that appeared to work well for middle school students, Nancy Butler Songer and her colleagues at the University of Michigan decided in the late 1990s to take the next logical step in their research program: They scaled up. This article discusses lessons learned by several faculty…