Discusses the growth and challenges of charter schools. Asserts that small stand-alone charter schools may not be the basis for a sustainable, large-scale movement for change in education. Education management organizations and other similar service providers may be needed to help charter schools become a serious force for change. (WFA)

South Carolina's Education Improvement Act (calling for improved teacher quality and development of an alternative certification program for college graduates with no previous pedagogical) provides an example of successful alternative certification programs addressing teacher shortages. Such programs can do a superior job of supporting teachers…

Discusses Bunker Hill Community College in Massachusetts. Covers many different aspects of the college's programs, all of which have been developed to meet the needs of nontraditional adult learners. Discusses the aims and outcomes of their student-centered approach to education. Briefly comments on how to encourage rather than discourage…

The president of Frontier College (Canada) uses examples from the program to elaborate the central philosophy of student-centered, individualized learning. Basic points are that labels often prevent marginalized people from making contributions and that literacy should be a tool for empowerment and inclusion in the community. (SK)

Discusses the rationale for magnet schools or programs and differentiates between a magnet school and a magnet program within schools. Discusses concerns of teachers, students, and administrators in relation to magnet schools and programs. Concludes that magnet programs can achieve the purposes for which they are established. (SLM)

A member of the original faculty of the experimental Ohio State University Laboratory High School reflects at a fiftieth reunion of the first graduating class. Students were used as guinea pigs to determine the effects of providing teenagers with liberating, interesting, and customized education from university faculty. (SM)

Now in its eighteenth year, an alternative public high school in New York City located on a college campus and aimed at potential dropouts and high-risk adolescents, Middle College has an exemplary retention rate and is being replicated across the country. (MSE)

Discusses independent elementary schools serving primarily Black urban students. Focuses on the following issues: (1) individualized attention; (2) small class size; (3) parent participation; (4) cultural values; and (5) school finance. Suggests that many of the principles and practices applied in independent schools could improve public…

Drawing on NAEP assessment data and economic and educational arguments for restructuring, this article discusses the Holweide Comprehensive School experiment in Cologne, West Germany, and presents an Incentive Schools plan stressing team management, cooperative learning, and revamped assessment methods. Includes 16 references. (MLH)

Seventeen years ago, the Lagunitas School District (California) decided to honor the wide range of parent values and expectations by setting up alternative curricula. Options presently include an Academics and Enrichment program, a Montessori program, open classrooms, home study, and transfer to another school district. Nontraditional student…

Discusses various aspects of home schooling, including reasons that parents choose home schooling, two major schools of thought on home education, historical perspectives, and legal issues. The role of the public library is examined and some services offered to home schoolers are described. A bibliography of books for parents is provided. (10…

Describes the design and logistics of a one-month, 1600 km bicycle tour field trip in which the travel, not the stops, is the major teaching tool. Provides a map and a summarized itinerary of the geology experience of southern California and Nevada. (RT)

Discusses alternatives to formal grammatical analysis to teach syntax and usage, including sentence combining, expansion, and modelling/imitation; transformation exercises; and inductive grammar. Considers ways of teaching editing/proofreading skills, including peer editing, teacher/student conferences, and selective marking of errors. Discusses…

Assessed family environments of 84 pregnant adolescents who recently made decision to parent or to place their babies for adoption. Results showed that adolescent parents or placers described their families as less functional than adolescent norms. Found no significant differences in family functioning between parents and placers. Vast majority of…

Summarizes alternatives to using live animals for the teaching of veterinary medicine both currently and over time. Advantages of using teaching alternatives include low cost, accessibility, completeness, psychomotor skill training, ease of repetitive use, and humanness to both the animal and the person. (Author/MDH)