This report presents a case study of how Hagerstown Junior College (HJC) has adjusted its curriculum to meet the challenges presented by the "new" student, the needs of the community, and the need for institutional self renewal. HJC has adopted a modularized, audio-tutorial, contractual (MATC) system of instruction. This system uses…

Optional alternative public schools have been developed as an expression of the democratic ideal of individual choice. Alternative systems offer the opportunity for individuated instruction, contact with the "real world" community, and community control of educational decision-making. However, reforms in the last few decades have encouraged…

A perspective of state assessment, state goal-setting, and state standards adoption is presented. Relationships among these three concepts are noted and the relationship of all three to a system orientation is explored. The recent history of national and state assessment is documented. Attention is given in this historical overview to the manner…

The author, editor of the National Society for the Study of Education yearbook on secondary education, reports some contentions and observations presented by the yearbook's chapter authors. Each author addressed one of nine central issues. The issues are in the areas of the individual, values, social realities, man's experiences, education's…

A survey conducted in 1974 in the Little Rock area revealed there was a demand for office personnel who could take shorthand. There was a definite need for the initiation and implementation of a program at McClellan High School to boost enrollment in shorthand courses. The purpose of this study was to determine if students could acquire a…

The public library is part of a large and complex network of institutions which provide nontraditional, continuing education to adults. Attempts have been made to ally these institutions in a single coordinated approach to community-based education, the ideal being a "communiversity"--a federation of all the educational and cultural…

This four-part paper on competency-based teacher education (CBTE) in Michigan contains the following sections: (a) the development of CBTE in Michigan, consisting of a chronology of events dating from 1971, and a listing of CBTE grants programs in 1974; (b) a survey of CBTE programs in Michigan, including an overview of the programs and status…

This guide examines the elements of the open space concept and offers insight and suggestions as to how to employ this process in the classroom. These elements are outlined as follows: (a) objectives--primarily to develop self-respecting, self-directing, autonomous individuals; (b) knowledge and method--with emphasis on cognitive or thinking…

Casa de la Raza, a K-12 grade school, operated from September 1971 to June 1973 as part of the Berkeley Unified School District's Experimental Schools Program. Based on the belief that using the student's home culture and language within the instructional program would foster personal growth and academic advancement, Casa used a bilingual…

Effective functioning of experimental programs will require substantial leadership responsibility from college administrators. Conservatism and "resistance to change" are "signposts" of historical precedence in higher education circles. The traditionalists who yearn for the "status quo" must be psychologically conditioned or weaned; and the…

A study was made of the market need for cable television-based higher education from an off-campus and non-traditional point of view. State University of Nebraska (SUN) is such an endeavor. Reduced to its essence, SUN is three things: (1) an extensive investigation into non-traditional education; (2) a new exportable model for systematized design…

The Parkway Program is the name of a public alternative coeducational high school program for grades 9-12 in Philadelphia. Since student applicants from the entire city exceed openings, they are chosen by lottery, and the result is a wide variation of backgrounds and abilities in the student population. The program, begun in 1969, is committed to…

Nontraditional higher education is a movement toward increasing the options open to an individual in the pursuit of post secondary education. Its major emphasis is in recognition of individual differences and making institutions more flexible in response to them. This paper describes many programs and proposals throughout the country, giving…

The 1973 Critical Issues Conference of the National Education Association (NEA) was convened in Portland, Oregon. The 3-day forum combined problems, suggestions, and ideas of delegates and members within the field of education. The topics discussed by politicians and educational leaders included educational unity in the face of crisis, heightened…

The Occupational Learning Center Program is an alternative high school experience for young people who are academically or socially unable to cope with the regular high school program. The curriculum includes development of basic skills, vocational development, personal and vocational counseling, and job placement and follow-up. Each student works…