Describes two new, innovative approaches to elementary education being tried in New Jersey and in other states across the nation. (AN)

This case study focuses on the role of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire (UW-EC) in a consortium effort to implement, maintain, and institutionalize individually guided education and the multi-unit elementary school (IGE/MUS-E). The framework for the study is based on the chronological academic involvement of UW-EC with the various facets of…

Many individuals have contributed to the development, implementation, and refinement of IGE. (MM)

In multiunit high schools such as those in New Jersey's North Hunterdon district, the department chairperson serves as an intradisciplinary Learning Community Leader (intra-LCL). The multielective portion of the school's curriculum in each subject area remains the responsibility of this person, while individual learning communities determine their…

The primary role of the principal in a multiunit high school is as a curriculum leader. By allowing others to share in the decision-making process, encouraging the utilization of the program improvement council, striving for community involvement, and allowing others who are highly motivated the autonomy they need, the principal helps assure that…

The roles of the principal and the lead teacher in a team are closely related in that the lead teacher serves the unit team in much the same way as the principal serves the entire building staff. The prime function of the lead teacher is instructional improvement, and his basic concerns center around the teaching team and children who comprise the…

Achievement and attitudes of pupils in Grades 1, 3, and 5 in the experimental school were compared with those of pupils in control schools. No systematic differences in students' achievement were found to exist between the Multiunit School and I and R Unit and their control schools. The analyses suggest two major conclusions: First, the…

Describes the "schools-within-a-school" elementary program at Broken Ground School in Concord, New Hampshire, where parents and teachers are involved in choosing the learning environment best suited for each child, either the more formal "Conventional School" or the more individualized "Continuous Progress School."…

The multielective system in the high schools of the North Hunterdon district in New Jersey failed to provide students a sense of belonging, warmth, openness, and importance. The multiunit high school model, developed to answer these needs, groups students into learning communities of 20 to 125 students each. Each learning community is focused on a…

Improvement on standardized tests, fewer discipline problems, less school vandalism, better student-teacher relations, and higher grades have all resulted from the nongraded learning unit approach. (Editor)

Small, private universities can make valuable new social and educational contributions to communities. (Editor)

The leadership of the principal is a crucial factor in the functioning of the Instructional Improvement Committees (IICs) in the multiunit schools studies. IICs are representative cabinet-type leadership committees. (Author/IRT)

This technical report provides summary information and evaluation of the activities that were carried out in the institutionalization phase of the implementation of the Individually Guided Education (IGE) Project in the Multiunit School--Elementary (MUS-E). The institutionalization phase, the last of four, is defined as the introduction of IGE…

In this study, data were collected from 163 Instruction and Research (I&R) Units from 45 elementary multiunit schools (MUS) in 12 different states to determine the relationships between I&R unit effectiveness and unit member compatibility, unit leader's behavior, and the level of task structure as perceived by the unit members. The instrument…