This paper examines the effort to standardize science education in light of ethnographic research done within an Amish Mennonite community and its alternative school. Describes Amish Mennonite communities and their schools, discusses their views of science and technology, and examines their reactions to the national science education rationales.…

The charter-school movement is a transition to a total system change that began sometime after World War II and the Korean War. When 1960s educators started the alternative schools movement, they were really creating charter schools. Resistance to charter schools is based not on philosophy, but on scarce financial resources. However, educators…

Investigated the vocational aspirations and expectations of African American adolescent mothers living in urban poverty. Data on girls from an alternative school for pregnant/parenting teens indicated that depressive and anxious symptoms along with childcare provided by relatives were associated with a gap between aspirations and expectations.…

Focuses on indicators of the condition and progress of education in the United States, including student participation, persistence, and performance and societal support for learning. Also includes this year's special analyses of private schools and nontraditional undergraduates. (SLD)

Discusses changing framework of American education in light of charter-school movement, school choice and voucher programs, and home schooling. Analyzes potential impact on public education of 2000 Supreme Court decision ("Troxel v. Granville"), involving parents' child visitation rights. Concludes that "Troxel" could…

Grace Pilon's Workshop Way system succeeds because it communicates inner security to students and promotes intelligent self-control. Program components include specific teacher guidance, high and intelligent student involvement, daily student-teacher contact, satisfaction of diverse needs, promotion of living-learning truths, and respect for…

Reports the results of an evaluation study of an English non-professional, school-based reading program called Volunteer Reading Help (VRH). Finds no significant VRH effect. Analysis shows many discrepancies between recommended VRH approach and the actual approach taken in practice. Calls for more professional help for the volunteers to improve…

A characterization of the nontraditional student including veterans, vocational-rehabilitation students, single parents, and late reentry students is presented. Recruitment and retention of these students into the geological sciences is discussed. (CW)

Reports results from a study which compared the performance of students in an accelerated, clinically based teacher preparation program to the performance of students in two more traditional teacher education programs. Findings indicate that participants in the alternative program had higher NTE scores and higher postprogram employment rates. (IAH)

Describes the evolution of a microsociety school in Lowell, Massachusetts. Guided by teachers, students use money, markets, and property building blocks to create a microeconomy producing numerous organizations and jobs. Lacking a prescribed ideological path (or a prepackaged curriculum), the students fashion their own social system and guiding…

The Intifadeh, Palestinian, uprising against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, has become a catalyst for educational change. Palestinian methods of coping with an educational system controlled by outsiders include informal, community-based education; alternative instruction based on existing textbooks; and long-term planning as part of…

Students resist intellectual work and show an impatience to finish school and begin a career. This is a result of curriculum disputes over vocational policy. A participatory and dialogic method for job training courses, derived from Paulo Freire's ideas, offers an alternative to the current methods of technical instruction. (Author/VM)

This article focuses on research identifying the value-added outcomes perceived by adults completing a liberal arts degree. These outcomes are compared with those of traditional-aged college graduates. The personal growth gains indicated by the adults provide support for justifying special degree programs. (SK)

Provides an overview of music learning in the People's Republic of China, focusing on three basic types of schools: public schools, target schools, and fine arts schools. Also looks at teacher training and at the long-range sociological implications for music education in China. (LS)

Boys Town programs for disadvantaged, homeless, or high risk youngsters in Omaha, Nebraska, are described: (1) a long-term family style residential center with on-campus schooling for boys and girls ages 10-17; (2) an alternative education program for 200 high-risk inner city teenagers; (3) the Center for Abused Handicapped Children. (JW)