In September 1984, the New Jersey Board of Education launched the Provisional Teacher Program, the first alternative teacher certification program in the United States. The program, or the "alternate route," came from a reform process initiated after a commission created by the legislature concluded that New Jersey's teacher preparation…

This collection of 13 articles describes informal learning environments that occur outside traditional school settings; covers research-supported strategies for helping both students and teachers engage with and master concepts in school subject matter; and reviews school reform, and the current knowledge about what practices and principles are…

This collection offers reports on groups of children and young people largely unseen or unheard in society and its schools: homeless children, homosexual youth, immigrants, and other marginalized groups of students who are not having their needs met in today's schools. The following selections are included: (1) "Homeless Children and Their…

This report seeks to further the debate about the overall reform impact of Colorado's charter schools. It focuses on the characteristics and performance of the first 32 charter schools in the state, ones that have been operating for at least 2 years as of the end of the 1997-98 school year. The document identifies promising trends: the performance…

This paper analyzes whether certain events in society influence educational choice, in particular, the choice to home school children. Using an epidemiological approach, the article analyzes the perceptions of home-school leaders and others involved in the movement, focusing on the substantive influence of events on the home-schooling movement. It…

This paper examines various claims made by charter-school advocates that charter schools are publicly funded, open to all, are chartered by public entities, and thus are a form of public schooling. It addresses this subject by comparing the rhetoric of Michigan's charter-school reformers with that of the common-school reformers of the 19th…

The Progressive Architecture Awards Jury included applied research for the first time this year. In the category of "designs of specific projects" a citation was given for data gathering and data analysis involving participatory planning and charrettes to develop a longrange school building program. (Author/MF)

The author examines the realities behind the myths of the school as a melting pot; as a road to success and wisdom; and as a self-fulfilling experience for every individual. (Author/KM)

Suggestions for establishing or improving an intern-apprenticeship program are offered for alternative schools which desire to use the community as part of school and learning. (KM)

Schools that are frontline innovators have difficulty sustaining their leadership thrust, the writer contends, primarily because of difficulty in the broad areas of training, leadership, professionalism, and community. (Editor)

This paper argues for an alternative method of structuring classroom behavior that is more democratic, giving students a chance to discipline themselves. (Author)

Article analyzes the impetus for alternative schools' development, their present status, and reactions to their development. (Editor)

Author discusses the four components of planning: need, interest, organization, and accountability as they relate to an alternative school. (Editor)

Article is a list of cautions based on the experience of large school districts, as leaders in initiating educational options. (Editor)

Author feels that our understanding of educational space has not developed simultaneously with new concepts of the learning process. We must begin to think of using space in terms of user needs rather than in terms of curriculum divisions. (Editor)