A Pennsylvania countywide, centralized alternative school called CLASS--Creative Learning Alternatives for Student Success--encourages students to stay in school, master the basic skills, and develop the cooperative attitudes needed for success. Eight districts now participate and enrollment has grown to 73 students in grades 7 through 12. (MLF)

Asserts that accountability in charter schools is largely a political issue and not a technical, instrumental question as the rhetoric suggests. Drawing on Texas student performance data and interviews with key state policymakers, the paper concludes that viewing accountability in charter schools as a technical issue ignores the larger political…

Profiles Chuck Larson and Steve Albert, each of whom directs a multi-site child care organization in Hawaii. Larson directs Rainbow School, dedicated to the idea that learning is a natural, joyful accomplishment of living. Albert directs Seagull School, responding to the early educational needs of Hawaii's diverse community by offering affordable,…

Explores the reasons why teachers opt to involve their students in residential environmental education programs. Discusses the educational, social, and psychological benefits of these programs and presents selected comments from students involved in them and their parents. Contains 17 references. (DDR)

Discusses Goldstein's study of one possible application of a feminist curriculum theory for early childhood education and the nature of teaching with love. Notes the connections made between feminism and teaching in the approach and the usefulness of the book for those seeking an alternative approach. (JPB)

Home school is evolving and gaining popularity in the United States. This paper describes different methods of home schooling, presents various home schooling resources that are available, and discusses the relationships between home schooling families and public schools, noting that a relationship between schools and home schools could be…

Discusses various ways that public universities may finance the use of technology and suggests reasons administrators should use technology fees to finance the cost of current and future computer technology. An important reason is that public universities have a larger percentage of nontraditional students with lower retention rates. (SLD)

Describes the Russell Scholars Learning Community Laboratory at the University of Southern Maine and identifies elements of this curricular piece that would be useful to those who intend to develop similar programs on their campuses. The objective of the Lab is for students to acquire life-skills through exposure to non-traditional learning and…

Demonstrates that the employment of adjunct faculty at institutions of higher education, particularly nontraditional colleges, should not be viewed as exploitative based on Marxist economics, suggesting that the economic worth of adjunct faculty is shaped by market forces, like all other professions. Rejects the demand that universities employ…

The third in a series defining the field of distance education and its related concepts, this article focuses on flexible education, a term closely associated with open education. Discussion includes flexibility, autonomy and learner control; individualizing instruction; and management of instruction and instructional management software. (AEF)

Examined staff decision making at a restructuring urban middle school, noting how some of the decisions were made. The decision making process included balancing the relative needs of individual students and the whole class; managing consensus, dissent, voice, and democracy; and recognizing leadership, authority, and accountability. Collective…

In 1996, Missouri passed legislation that provided districts with grants to establish alternative schools or programs for violent, abusive, or disruptive students. St. Joseph School District developed a successful Elementary Management School stressing social skills needed to succeed in a regular classroom. Facility, staffing, curriculum, and…

Describes a typical day at the Rudolf Steiner School, an arts-based Waldorf school that encourages students to be anything they want to be and integrates the arts into everything. Natural developmental stages is an intrinsic part of the curriculum. Students remain with the same teacher for 8 years. A sidebar notes what opponents say about Waldorf…

Discusses the development of "short-cycle higher education," usually associated with community or technical colleges in the United States, and gives examples of the movement overseas. Offers profiles of institutions in 10 primary geographic sectors, including the Pacific, the Middle East, the Americas, and Europe. Examines implications…

Interviews with 17 university lecturers revealed ways in which they perceived adult students. Three types of accommodations were found: catering for weaknesses, treating older and younger students the same, and remediating weaknesses. Lecturers who viewed teaching as transmission tended to cater to weaknesses; those who believed in facilitation…