Describes the evolution of alternative schools from progressive learner-centered free schools founded in the 1960s to the present emphasis on at-risk students. Outlines three models of alternative schools and discusses successful strategies and essential characteristics of effective schools for at-risk youth. Emphasizes the importance of…

A youngster failing to thrive in one environment needs an alternative learning situation. Research shows that small, personalized schools offering authentic, engaging curricula are essential for reaching unsuccessful learners. The test-score craze can be contained by publicizing other numbers regarding consequences: absence rates, dropouts,…

Assessment of the impact of the Life Centered Career Education curriculum on 23 special education students in a small rural high school revealed that special education students increased their job skills to a level comparable to that attained by regular education students. However, special education students did not report fewer barriers to…

Research has established that small schools create intimate learning communities where students can be encouraged by caring adults, reduce student alienation, reduce negative effects of low socioeconomic status, and encourage teachers to help students succeed. Strategies for creating small learning communities within large schools and findings on…

In a reborn rural community populated by former urbanites, a small private school established by newcomers provides a place where upper-middle-class newcomer families negotiate their sense of rural place and contest that sense with working-class long-time residents' concept of rurality. Former urbanites' conception of rural community emerges as…

Describes how two rural Colorado communities, threatened by the loss of their elementary schools, established a charter school based in two existing facilities. Discusses the benefits of local autonomy, the value of networking with other rural charter schools, the role of the community in school innovations, and emphases on staff development and…

A review of rural and urban demographics reveals that rural areas are experiencing increasing diversity in their student population, decreasing sense of community, and increasing similarity to the challenges faced by urban and suburban schools. As the distinctions between urban and rural areas become less pronounced, will the benefits of rural…

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a philanthropic organization created by the Microsoft founder and his wife in 2000, has already invested nearly a billion dollars in an effort to redesign the American high school. It supports some 1,500 existing schools; 450 of them are either restructured or brand new. But the foundation's focus was not…

High school teachers often have difficulty motivating struggling students to complete homework--especially in inner-city schools in which many students are discouraged by stressful living conditions. The authors consulted with successful urban educators who were involved with innovative, small high schools in New York City, and asked what…

Positioned in relationship to reform literature calling for small schools "by design" and interpreting data from a case study of a high performing but low-SES district in a Midwestern state, this paper provides a basis for making sense of the apparent divergence in policies governing schooling structures in rural and urban places. Its…

This paper is intended to describe the roles and responsibilities of the small school head and is based on the personal experiences of a serving headteacher. It seems an accepted element of academic discourse that recent governmental initiatives have impacted on the leadership and management of educational institutions in such a way that they have…

Many small Christian colleges and universities are changing their cultures from focusing solely on teaching to embracing a teacher-scholar model. Motivating faculty at these small colleges to engage in scholarly activities is becoming one of the top priorities of administration. The culture at private colleges with enrollments of less than 5000 is…

Education Resource Strategies (ERS) works with school and district leaders to help them more strategically use resources--people, time, and money--to improve student performance. They have found that many school districts begin creating small high schools without a clear sense of how much they will spend or how to ensure that small schools…

This report is one of nine detailed case studies of small urban high schools that served as the foundation for the Education Resource Strategies (ERS) report "Strategic Designs: Lessons from Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools." These nine schools were dubbed "Leading Edge Schools" because they stand apart from other high…

This paper provides a glimpse of the current picture of education in rural Scotland. Scotland has many small schools, and not all of these are in geographically isolated areas. Although Scotland's population has decreased in the past 20 years, the decline has been mostly in urban areas. Remote areas are becoming more cosmopolitan as highly…