As Minnesota's experience shows, school choice is not the panacea that John Chubb and Terry Moe have proclaimed. However, introducing a marketplace into public education helps create the accountability that school reformers have sought, even as it diminishes the necessity for prescriptive mandates. When students choose their schools, they…

Considers writing instruction in open-admissions sites as central to the historical formation and continuing practice of composition studies. Interviews compositionists at open-admissions institutions, showing how they put students' acts of reading and writing at the center of their disciplinary practice, and regard the teaching of first-year…

Identifies and analyzes the issues that emerge in the context of school desegregation and interdistrict school choice and applies these to Iowa's experience. The analysis is based on case law, federal and state law, and state administrative agency rulings. Interviews were conducted with officials in Nebraska, Minnesota, Washington, Utah, and…

Responding to the "Handbook" chapter on educational leadership programs, this article underscores several topics noted by Professor Martha McCarthy that need attention. These include open-admissions policies; faculty dynamics (understaffed programs, changing demographics, and the graying professorate); and universities' persistent…

This article features South Texas High School for Health Professions in Mercedes, Texas. With the support and encouragement of their parents and siblings, students choose to attend South Texas High School for Health Professions, because it offers a way out of poverty through a rigorous education with a strong occupational career component. South…

Changes in admission policies and curriculum and their current/projected effects on enrollment, academic standards, student retention, and costs are discussed. (MSE)

Proposes human potential seminars on topics such as "study skills" or "library use" as alternatives to traditional freshman orientation courses. Examines the implementation of the seminars at Lurleen B. Wallace Junior College and discusses their effectiveness in improving the self-concept and retention of high-risk students.…

In 1993-94, Ohio implemented an interdistrict open-enrollment policy, allowing student transfers only to adjacent districts. Districts can be open or closed, but cannot prevent transfers. A 1994 survey found that open districts were small, rural, racially homogeneous districts with declining enrollment. Closed districts were suburban, with…

Finds that open admissions at City University of New York in the early 1970s resulted in a dramatic increase in degree attainment by Blacks and Hispanics. Concludes that more flexible aid programs, improved high school curricula, and stronger preparation in two-year colleges can increase future attainments and narrow educational inequalities. (DM)

The English education system is undergoing radical change initiated by central government. Extensive delegation of financial control to the school level has been paralleled by introduction of a national curriculum and open enrollment. This paper explains England's educational finance structure and the central government's interest in delegated…

Provides an update on community college responses to the new student majority who lack the skills to succeed in college-level work. Defines "at-risk students," identifies college responses to literacy problems, describes promising instructional strategies, and highlights problems in evaluating programs for at-risk students. (DMM)

Presents Mina Shaughnessy's 1976 speech, given at a time when great financial crisis threatened to result in the wholesale disestablishment of basic writing programs. Notes grave perils, and outlines some of the truths uncovered through the experience of Open Admissions in higher education, truths that are indestructible despite retrenchments and…

The author discusses an outreach framework focused on retaining nontraditional students at small open-admissions institutions. By using both campus and community resources, this approach integrates social work and counseling disciplines in an attempt to meet the needs of this populations more effectively. Components of the program, implementation…

Considers problems associated with community college open admissions policies, questioning the colleges' effectiveness in developing needed skill levels. Reviews proposed solutions to literacy problems. Argues that literacy education is the responsibility of all faculty and that open door admissions must be accompanied by policies that facilitate…

Reviews the historical arguments for the abolition of freshman college composition courses, analyzes the assumptions that undergird them, and assesses their influence. Concludes that the fundamental ideological conflicts must be faced if the teaching of writing is to take a full place in university English departments. (SD)