City-as-School (CAS) is an alternative high school linking students to various out-of-school learning experiences throughout New York City. In 1985, CAS was awarded a National Diffusion Network (NDN) 4-year replication grant to disseminate the model to other schools and districts throughout the country. During 1988/89, its fourth year of…

This document is a resource guide for educators on using telecommunications in the classroom. The first chapter provides a brief history of telecommunications, describes what telecommunications is, and discusses its value in the classroom today. The second chapter discusses the parts of a telecommunications system and provides technical…

A strategy for revitalizing public education by stimulating the creation of new public schools is proposed in this report. The proposed system goes beyond school choice and is based on the withdrawal of local districts' exclusive franchise to own and operate public schools. The proposal is based on the premise that the state must provide both…

This review of literature compares schooling at home and in school. After definitions of home schooling and conventional schooling are supplied, general characteristics of home schools are delineated. Discussion subsequently focuses on the outcomes of home schooling. With respect to cognitive outcomes, the evidence suggests that youth educated in…

Two principles of progressive education can be of particular value to meaningful educational reform in the 1980's: first, good education is holistic, inevitably and continuously connecting the learner to that which is to be learned; and second, good education can take many alternative forms. Putting the first of these principles into practice…

The demand for postsecondary education on a part-time basis has been rising rapidly in Canada, due in part to the growing need of students to maintain full-time employment and due also to increasing requests for continuing professional education. Since part-time students are often unable to attend regularly scheduled classes and may find frequent…

Changes that might reduce dropout rates as high school graduation standards are raised are discussed. A review of research on successful dropout prevention programs reveals four common characteristics: (1) they separate potential dropouts from other students; (2) they have strong vocational components; (3) they utilize out-of-class learning; and…

A project aimed to identify the staff development needs of tutors involved in the OWTLET (Other Ways To Learn--Educational Technology) open learning scheme and to pilot supportive strategies. To ascertain a broad view of inservice tutor training requirements, the first phase of the project was devoted to a literature review, student and tutor…

The evolution of the Outward Bound curriculum in the United States with emphasis on how it has changed to ensure greater transfer of course learning from the Outward Bound wilderness experience to experiences in daily life is examined. A typology of curriculum models is developed consisting of (1) a first generation "Mountains Speak for…

School mathematics is governed by a powerful tradition as regards both content and methods. In the first stage of the Alternative Course of Mathematics (ALM) project, an analysis is being made of the mathematics used in the everyday life of the community. By interviewing adults and children outside school, an analysis is also being made of the way…

Because rural communities have different needs and resources from those found in urban settings, nontraditional education programs provide alternatives to those features of modern mass education that respond primarily to urban needs. This digest looks at a few nontraditional programs and strategies, the problems to which they respond, and the…

This document is one of a series of studies that surveyed recruits to teaching drawn from nontraditional pools, such as retirees, homemakers, career switchers, and recent college graduates with mathematics and science degrees. The preparation programs for these prospective teachers are "nontraditional" in that they are designed specifically to…

This Digest advocates alternative educational programs as ways to reduce dropout rates, increase academic and personal satisfaction and achievement, provide real options for struggling students, and generate improvement in all grade levels. The study discusses five concerns in relation to alternative school programs: (1) issues raised regarding…

China continues, in the 1980's to try to return its educational policy to the balance between academics and ideological work and study that existed prior to the cultural revolution. It also plans to expand colleges and postgraduate education. This change has meant a return of the key demonstration schools at every level from primary to university…

This study of the characteristics of home schooling is based on returned questionnaires of 37 questions each, mailed to a random sample of 416 drawn from 6,850 families listed in the Bob Jones University Press home school mailing list. The 253 returned questionnaires, representing a 62% reponse, provided data on the characteristics of these…