This study evaluated the Courtlink Auto Crime Prevention Program (CACPP), a 13-hour curriculum for senior elementary school and secondary school alternative program at-risk students in British Columbia, Canada. The program provides students with information about automobile crime and its costs, consequences, and prevention. It promotes positive…

Determining the value of school-choice programs depends on an assessment of consequences on the differing elements of the school system. The International Conference on School Choice and Educational Change at Michigan State University explored the themes of governance, equity and access, innovation, student outcomes, and accountability from the…

This document summarizes the key issues discussed at a "Listening Session" on the topic of alternative schools, held on December 8, 1998. The session was convened at the request of the Secretary of Education, Richard Riley, and included practitioners, researchers, administrators, policy makers, and teacher trainers from across the country who have…

This report examines research on education vouchers. It discusses how most studies have focused on the systems in place in Milwaukee, Cleveland, and New York City. Although researchers have accused each other of specious findings, some generally consistent results have arisen: families that are served by vouchers are generally low income, parents…

Drawing on the Los Angeles Unified School District's experiences with charter schools, this brief highlights the difficulties in balancing the twin needs of charter-school autonomy and accountability, and their implications for the way in which charter schools and districts can work together. It identifies key challenges in district-school…

Describes in general terms the nature of Alternative Schools, and more specifically discusses the program at Alternative School East, which serves four public school districts in the Philadelphia area. Outlines the curriculum and teaching methods used in biology. An interdisciplinary approach and learning activities in the community are…

Analysis of bureaucratic structure and the incentive systems of the public schools reveals access points for enhancing the school's ability to adopt and implement innovative education. Research and development coordinated to those points can provide a greater diversity of educational possibilities, assuming such diversity to be a positive…

Reviews a book by Theodore Sizer that aims to expose some educational delusions and to speculate on viable educational alternatives. Sizer asserts that the accepted purposes of education are honored only in the breach, and proposes that the unitary school be replaced by multiple schools for different kinds of learning. He contends that educational…

Ten weaknesses of alternative schools are identified; however, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. (Author)

Reviews and provides capsule summaries of books recommended for board members or school administrators. (JF)

Discusses the need to develop new ways of delivering education to students as well as new materials for instruction. (Author/RK)

Discusses the philosophical underpinnings of alternatives to public education. (Author/RK)

Presents a case study of student involvement in decision-making at Chicago's Metro High School and proposes a supportive role for research, evaluation, and feedback to strengthen alternative schools within a framework of shared analysis and decision-making. (Editor/GB)

Without building costly new plants, the College High School plan can be implemented. This plan provides the kind of climate usually associated with colleges, where students accept major responsibility for selecting courses, choosing teachers, and managing free time. (Editor)