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…

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…

This document describes the numbers of Minnesota students who are actively selecting their schools, and the number of Minnesota school districts offering options from which families may select. The first section explains the different kinds of school choice offered to Minnesota students. The second section illustrates the change in Minnesotans'…

Minimum competency testing, in which passing a uniform test is necessary (but not sufficient) for promotion or graduation, has been carried out in a number of colleges, including the City University of New York (CUNY). Competency programs usually have three basic components: placement testing, remedial instruction, and exit testing. Competency…

The Parental Choice in Education Initiative was defeated by California voters in a statewide special election in November 1993. The stated purpose of the initiative was to enable parents to choose their children's schools. This document summarizes the provisions of the initiative, analyzes its policy and fiscal impact, and reviews supporting and…

The special features found in admitting students to diploma nursing programs in Ontario provide the context for a review of relevant information regarding admissions procedures. Criteria to be used in an evaluation of admissions procedures are offered, alternatives are delineated and discussed, and systems analyses for procedures are suggested.…

This study examined the extent to which students with disabilities are accessing alternative schools and Area Learning Centers (ALC) in Minnesota. Also of interest was the option used by students to enroll in the school, the extent to which students crossed district boundaries to attend the school, and differential participation by category of…

The controversy generated by the CUNY open admissions policy is described by its former president. The combination of tuition charges and the modified open admissions policy lowered student enrollment and the retrenchment of younger faculty lowered the morale of the faculty. (MLW)

Based on one Canadian community college's experience with flexible admissions, it is concluded that access to higher education for nontraditional students can be increased if policies are mediated at the department level; these students do not threaten academic standards; and radical change in teaching methods and curriculum is not necessary. (MSE)

Measures to improve parent and student choice of school have recently become an important issue for educational reform in a number of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. This book summarizes the school-choice experiences of selected OECD countries. The data, collected by the OECD/Centre for Educational Research…

A procedure used to select students for a nursing program in a community college was evaluated, and attention was directed to the cost effectiveness of the program and the implications for the community of an open-door policy. The selection criteria were based on high school grades in chemistry and biology; scores on the Aptitude Test for Allied…

The academic performance of intercollegiate athletes at the University of California (UC), Davis, was studied, using graduation rates and grade point average (GPA) as performance measures. Comparisons of academic performance of athletes and other UC Davis undergraduates were also made. Of 1,042 male athletes during 1970-1979, 63 percent were…

The open admissions policy at the City University of New York (CUNY) and the effect of fiscal crisis in New York are considered. One of the important changes that occurred after the fiscal crisis in 1975 was that entry to CUNY's senior colleges became more difficult. Another change was the implementation in 1977 of a more stringent and precisely…

Educationally disadvantaged college students who were enrolled in an experimental sociology course section did not have significantly different test performance than nonparticipating disadvantaged. Results indicated that significant improvement could be expected of disadvantaged students if they were admitted with a high Scholastic Aptitude…

To help public schools experience free-market competition, Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander and President Bush propose parental choice among private, parochial, and public schools, supported by public financing for program design and tuition grants. Sidebars highlight church/state separation concerns and school choice experiments in…