A rationale for learner-centered education and practical suggestions for the development of learning contracts based on individual objectives and attained skills are offered. The educator-as-learning-facilitator, developing the learner-facilitator relationship, and developing objectives are discussed. (Author/MLW)

Discusses the problems involved in matching differences between learners and differences between different types of media to improve the learning process. Thirty-eight references are cited. (CHC)

Describes an instruction and workshop inservice program on dropout identification, interpersonal communication and classroom management techniques provided by a consultant team for middle school personnel. Recommendations include some alternative curricula, monitoring of student participation, and administrative commitment. (JAC)

Paper presented at the 66th Convention of the International Association of Pupil Personnel Workers, October 20, 1980, Baltimore, Maryland, describes individual education based on the principles of Alfred Adler. Defines six advantages of individual education, emphasizing student responsibility, mutual respect, and allowing students to progress at…

State funding mechanisms are seen as coming under scrutiny because they don't accurately reflect enrollment decline effects on overall costs. Ohio has worked out a method of relating funding formula to actual costs and Florida reduces funding by half the average cost for enrollment declines. (Author/MLW)

Central Michigan University provides an individualized bachelor's degree program for adult students. A study of participants revealed common student characteristics and five factors predicting academic success: age at entry, grade point average, credits transferred or experientially earned, learning options used, and attitude toward staff. (MSE)

The institutional features of the American high school reflect its role as the custodian of adolescents, who lack any status in society beyond that of student. These features conflict with the school's educative aim of adolescent self-development; curricular and organizational reforms are needed to correct this dichotomy. (SJL)

Elderhostel, modeled on the youth hostels of Europe, is a national nonprofit organization offering older adults a week-long learning experience at any one of a national network of participating colleges and universities. The history and reasons for its success are described, along with a profile of its participants and an optimistic projection of…

The challenge of involving older adults in education must be met by reevaluating current concepts and developing new approaches. A primary goal should be the creation of a supportive environment that is accessible and enhances self-directed learning. (SK)

The past 25 years have shown an international trend toward destructuring in education: creation of new nonformal options; outreach to unserved groups; less rigid curriculum; more inductive pedagogy; and new student assessment methods. Despite this, formal schooling and traditional methods remain strong and may be beginning a cyclical resurgence.…

Examines the nature of external doctoral education, particularly as it pertains to nursing. While such nontraditional programs provide new learning structures and expand available options, disadvantages include separation from student support services, full-time faculty, and library facilities. Discusses accreditation, residency requirements,…

This issue presents some excerpts from the Commonwealth Conference on Non-Formal Education for Development, held in New Delhi, India, January 22-February 2, 1979, concerning the concept and tasks of nonformal education. Includes a few observations and recommendations from each of the Conference's 12 committees. (MF)

The first campus of a college (College of New Rochelle) to be established in the headquarters of a union (American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees) is described as a pioneering model of cooperation between labor and higher education. (MLW)

The author defines the tenets of "Zemecha," Ethiopia's radical education model, adopted in 1974. He asserts that the philosophy, the general mobilization, and the successful campaign of the "Zemecha" constitute a revolution in microcosm which sets a good example for the further advancement of the developing world. (Author/SJL)

The closely coupled cooperative education program of the General Motors Institute, an accredited college of engineering and business developed by GM, is described as a practical alternative to traditional higher education. The program is justified in terms of the needs of the students, the corporation, the institution, and society in general. (JMF)