This evaluation provides an overview of demographic characteristics and student achievement outcomes among Wake Country Public School System (WCPSS) elementary schools when these schools are categorized as schools of choice (program magnets and calendar magnets) or traditional schools (nonmagnets). Data were drawn from school-level outcomes…

This study focused on the adjustments nontraditional female students who return to college must make in order to complete their studies. The study examined the influence of a 3-hour orientation program for such students to see of the seminar would increase the coping skills and decrease the anxiety levels of nontraditional female students, most of…

Focus Alternative High School (FAHS), Oak Park, Michigan, is a Detroit suburban school designed to meet the needs of approximately 50 students who have not demonstrated success in the traditional high school setting. At FAHS and in its afterschool Project Graduation program, PLATO (registered) Pathways has been implemented to address the…

Throughout the country, a wide range of educational options exist, from neighborhood public schools to cyber-schools. This study focuses on school choice in improving the educational experience in one city, Philadelphia. The study employed interviews with policymakers, teachers, and others; a focus group of middle-school students; a collection of…

Many people dissatisfied with the public school system are actively seeking alternatives to public education. In the past, the only alternatives to public school were parochial or private schools or privately hired tutors. Not everyone could afford these alternatives. Over the past 20 years, another alternative to public school education has come…

The charter-school movement is a diverse and confusing collection of values, motives, beliefs, and assumptions. To help ease the confusion surrounding charter schools, an outline of the general purposes of the charter-school movement and the values behind these purposes are presented in this booklet. The intent is to provide a structure for…

Distance education is described as instructional delivery that takes place when learners and teachers are separated throughout the learning process by time and physical distance. Research indicates that distance education can provide students with opportunities for learning through alternatives to regular class meetings. Furthermore, research…

This book provides an overview of the thinking behind the charter schools movement, using information from over 3 years of immersion in the charter schools movement via the Educational Excellence Network. The first 2 years of the Network were devoted to research on charter schools in action. The research examined practical and policy issues…

The main focus of this document is on audioconferencing, which in distance education contexts provides "virtual" interaction equivalent in quality to face-to-face, conventional classroom interaction. The applications of audiotape and audio broadcast are covered only briefly. Discussion first includes reasons for using audioconferencing…

This paper synthesizes existing knowledge, definitions, and themes about alternative education programs, based on a review of literature and reports, focusing on common terminologies to characterize the various kinds of alternative education programs. It seeks to develop a typology of existing alternative education by focusing on certain common…

Projections of college attendance over the next 15 years reveal that higher percentages of Americans will attend college, the student body will become more diverse, and the costs associated with the challenges of higher education will challenge state governments in particular to secure higher funding. In the next 15 years, approximately 1.6…

This review explores the empirical research on nontraditional instruction methods and their effects on reasoning development in college students in introductory biology. A search of primary databases found relatively few empirical studies, but eventually nine relevant empirical studies were identified. Findings suggest that inquiry-based,…

This document looks at the increasing popularity of charter schools for intradistrict school choice. During 2000, about 1,700 charter schools were serving some 250,000 students in the United States. Charter schools typically begin as preexisting schools or as "startups" born with charters. States seem to have ambivalent attitudes toward charter…

This report discusses homeschooling as an option for parents looking for educational choice. Keeping track of homeschoolers is difficult since many return to the public schools. Some estimates claim that in the late 1960s there were 10,000 to 15,000 homeschooled children in the U.S. By 1999, those who were homeschooled ranged in numbers from…

A 1985 AFL-CIO report suggested that the steep decline in union affiliation among members of the working class might be related to the ways in which public schools shape student opinions on organized labor. During the Progressive era, labor educators and activists were also concerned that the civic education being provided working-class children…