"Three Big Lessons in Six Years" is both a reflection on the past and a look ahead to the future at Charlestown (C-Town) High School (Boston, Massachusetts) and other early college programs across the country. The purpose of this series is to document essential design elements, operational structures, and critical support for students to…

Describes techniques for motivating "new students," many of whom are economically, socially, and academically disadvantaged, and for improving their literacy skills.

Home-schooling students in the Cupertino Union School District, California, are enrolled at one alternative school. Each home-schooling family is assigned a resource teacher who is responsible for meeting with students and parents at least once a month. The district provides a variety of materials and services. (MLF)

Discusses the problems associated with teaching developmental reading in a four-year college with an open enrollment policy and suggests a method to get the students interested. (RB)

The federal government is devoting millions of dollars to charter and voucher programs that currently require parents to abandon regular public schools. The goal of the authors of The School Choice Hoax is to expose the misleading hyperbole that has been driving the school choice movement and to show how charter schools can become more effective…

Discusses applying psychological principles to modify behavior of open enrollment students in introductory psychology courses. Open enrollment students frequently are inadequately socialized in the requirements of the student role, lacking in study skills, and poorly motivated to achieve academically. Procedures are integrated into the formal…

Notes difficulties encountered teaching history in an open university. Describes methodology used in a twentieth-century history course, combining current events with the course content. Using a major continuing news story as the basis for a semester project, students are asked to consider multiple scenarios and to predict outcomes of current…

Argues that community colleges can maintain their commitment to students by raising academic standards, demanding more of students and educators on campus, and remaining open to the particular needs of all constituencies. Explains the experiences of Passaic County Community College, when in 1976 the college instituted higher academic standards.…

Development of a national higher education market in Australia provides the opportunity for open-access universities to develop recruitment strategies based on the experience of North American institutions. Implications are drawn for focusing on student learning potential, reorganizing the curriculum, integrating recruitment and teaching/learning…

Describes an open enrollment program at Ohio County Schools (West Virginia) that allows parents to request transfers for their children. After a decade of experience, the program is judged as minimally disruptive. School choice seems to be based on child care considerations, rather than quality of education concerns. (MLH)

The three principal choices in primary and secondary education include home schooling, attendance at private schools, and attendance at public schools nearest the home. However, parents feel that more options are necessary, due to the inadequacy of particular public schools or the need for educational programs not offered in public schools. Thus,…

Argues that older, nontraditional students, rather than ill-prepared recent high school graduates, are currently the primary beneficiaries of community college open admissions. Feels this shift refutes many of the criticisms currently launched against open admissions. Finds open enrollment policies necessary to the concept of lifelong learning.…

Discussion at a 1990 symposium on democratic values and higher education administration is summarized. Issues addressed include productive competition in higher education, open access vs. competitive selection, assessment of teacher performance and instructional quality, and the relationship between higher education institutions and national…

A comparison of the reading skills assessment programs at three community colleges in Virginia and New Jersey is presented as part of an examination of the kinds of placement decisions that are made from assessment test data. Introductory comments focus on the controversy surrounding the growing emphasis on skills assessment in open-door community…

Discusses background, rationale, and current trends in school choice. Where implemented carefully with parent participation, choice plans have increased public support and student achievement and provided curriculum differentiation, cohesiveness, autonomy, and small size as benefits. However, school choice raises some equity problems, including…