The Northern Indian California Education Project, established in 1971, has pilot programs in 6 schools which reach out to 24 additional schools. The article lists project goals, the implementation of these goals, accomplishments, and available materials. (KM)

The article describes Ramah Navajo High School (New Mexico), the first secondary school in the nation owned by American Indians. (KM)

The Academic Foundations Department at Rutgers University developed an alternative method for encouraging writing that allows the students to work together in small groups. This method, called group composing, has many advantages: it is process-oriented rather than product-focused; it allows students to become aware of the options available to…

There is growing evidence of the special benefits to be derived from self-directed learning groups, in which students operate without an instructor, determining for themselves the rate and manner in which to study course material and to evaluate their performance. At Hope College, 54 students enrolled in a social psychology course in Fall 1966…

This 35-minute, black and white, 16mm, sound film was made at the Fayerweather Street School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and narrated by John Holt. It is designed to show what happens in a school in which children are free to move about, to talk, and to plan and direct their own work. The film shows children of different ages engaged in…

Reported is a study comparing a directive problem-solving (teacher centered) approach and a non-directive problem-solving (student centered) approach in a community college remedial science course for freshmen. The evaluation of the two methods was based on statistical analysis of changes in achievement and in student attitude toward the course.…

An alternative to teacher dominance, inquiry-based learning permits greater choices for the student and thereby encourages initiative and responsibility. Flexible modular (flex-mod) schedules that permit student inquiry can be adapted to fit nearly any teaching situation. For example, a tenth-grade history class is divided into four groups:…

This speech discusses the concepts of the large group presentation, or the motivational experience; the small group discussion, or reaction discussions; and independent study, or continuous progress self directed learning. The discussion of these concepts is taken from the perspective of three years' participation by the author's school in a Model…

With teachers' centers in Britain taking the lead, centers have been created in many other countries including the U.S. This movement may now provide teachers with the opportunity to take charge of the curricula they teach and of their own professional destiny. (Author/GC)

Reports a study describing children's learning about controlling variables in an environment where student autonomy is maximized and teacher controlled instruction is minimized. (SL)

Compares the relative effectiveness of facilitator-directed (FD) and self-directed (SD) programmed treatments on the same participants. The programmed treatments were tested for their capacity to induce change in the quality of group member verbal interaction, and for their differential semantic meaning. Results are inconclusive. (Author/HMV)

This article represents the findings of a small-scale, classroom-based investigation of 11- and 12-year-old pupils working in self-directed groups. It shows how a more holistic understanding of group work can be achieved when teachers and pupils "think together" to explore the dynamic, ambiguous, and often provisional links that exist between…