That American education is in trouble no longer needs to be documented. What is not clear or widely accepted is an understanding of how and why the schools became that way, and what alternatives are available. The readings in this book have been brought together as sources in which to find the foundations of educational alternatives. Alternatives…

A comprehensive evaluation of the characteristics of students attending a public alternative school revealed marked differences between the experimental group (the alternative school) and a control group (students attending a regular public school). Alternative school students showed significantly lower achievement and ability on all measures,…

In analyzing past and present conditions of external degree programs, it is apparent there is emerging support for lifelong learning. There has been an increase of American interest in the external degree program, particularly during 1970. There are five external degree-related developments which contribute to increasing lifelong learning…

Utilizing a grant from the Office of Economic Opportunity, the Rochester Schools Alternative Study has been established to study the possibilities of developing an education system which would: (1) include a variety of learning programs based partially on the best aspects of those previously tried and (2) provide parents and teachers a choice in…

The Alternate Secondary Center (ASC) Program, is the latest step in a series of activities which have been taken to individualize prescriptive learning programs to meet the identified needs of alienated secondary school youngsters. As the external component to the chain of alternate secondary programs, Hartford's two ASC's focused on two…

New York State schools have adopted a variety of alternative schools and programs. The schools and programs include free schools, community schools, open education schools, street academies, schools without walls, minischools within schools, minicourses in the curriculum, and alternative programs that bridge the gap between schools and colleges,…

This catalog presents 40 of the optional educational programs developed in New York State that accommodate factors such as student needs, parental preferences, and teacher interests. The catalog includes guidelines for establishing alternative learning programs and a request for information from other New York schools that have established such a…

The role of technology in non-traditional higher education is analyzed with particular emphasis on technology-based networks. A brief overview is presented on non-traditional programs, institutions, and consortia. Non-traditional programs which utilize technology are studied. Technology-based networks are surveyed and analyzed with regard to kinds…

This study is concerned with what happens when students bring conventional assumptions about education to an unconventional alternative school. By field observation and interview, the author examined how alternative schools change the conventional patterns of hierarchy, formality, and the press to achieve; the assumptions students hold about the…

This chapter suggests procedures and alternative practices for the improvement of big city education. The authors (1) urge the importance of planning, (2) describe procedures for identifying and selecting promising alternative practices, (3) discuss the involvement of people in urban education, (4) identify emerging learning environments, (5)…

The six papers in this publication discuss how reasonable planning processes can be established and how budgeting procedures can be related to the wider planning process. In the first selection, K. George Pedersen establishes the current context of educational planning and decisionmaking with emphasis on economic implications, and he outlines…

Priorities for the continued development of postsecondary education in the South are identified, specifically the structure and process by which limited funds will be allocated and public resources used. Education and training for employment has been identified as a special need for southern high school graduates. Postsecondary education must…

The Middle College High School, an experimental school at La Guardia Community College (New York) which incorporates the last three years of high school and the first two years of college, was designed for adolescents of average ability but deficient computational and communication skills. Remediation was viewed as a social as well as…

The 1974 Maryland General Assembly charged the task force "to make an indepth study of the changes needed in the educational systems throughout the state to enable the schools to work effectively with the increasing percentage of youth who cannot function within regular school programs and to develop suitable alternative programs." This…

A selection of essays deals with current issues in American higher education, offering a variety of views. Essays include an overview of contemporary higher education, and discussions of: changes in typical college curricula; changes in the college calendar and their effects on curriculum; the present status of nontraditional studies; the growth…