A longstanding debate in education pits advocates of liberal curricula against advocates of "back-to-basics," fundamental education. The study described in this publication examined the long term results of a fundamental elementary school that began operating in August 1978 with 347 students. During the 1989-90 school year, the first…

To examine long-term effects of a fundamental elementary education in Mesa (Arizona), this study assessed student characteristics, academic achievement based on standardized testing, and social interactions based on high school extracurricular activities. Students who had attended the fundamental school for 6 complete years, had remained in the…