Nine elementary schools enrolling 852 sixth grade students participated in a study that examined the relationship between the organizational climate of elementary schools (whether the school was "open" or "closed") and the reading achievement of students. Each school's organizational climate was determined by administering the Organizational…

In this paper, data collected from two midwestern schools, one open and one traditional, were compared to determine differences in pedagogical techniques, routines of teachers' work, teacher participation in decision-making and school policy, and frequency of staff communication. School profiles (neighborhood composition, student characteristics,…

This paper presents results from a study of the effects on student development of open and traditional family and school environments. The theory is entertained that a match (or congruence) of family and school styles improves some student outcomes, while a mismatch (or incongruence) of environments results in improvement of different student…

The purpose of this practicum was to develop and field-test a model for reorganizing traditional school plants to accommodate and support individualized instruction. The model was implemented in five areas of eight traditional buildings in the metropolitan Atlanta area. Results demonstrated that reorganization could be accomplished at considerable…

The guidelines, resulting from a series of sessions held by the American Council of Industrial Arts Supervisors, were prepared to offer direction by describing educational specifications for industrial arts in the middle school. The middle school philosophy is child-centered and uses an individual approach to meet the unique needs of early…

Teachers conducting more open programs and/or teaching in architecturally open schools had significantly more positive attitudes towards education, teaching, pupils, and educational innovation than did teachers conducting less open programs and/or teaching in architecturally closed or partially closed schools. This apparently reflects more…

The Prisoner's Dilemma Game and locus of control measures were administered to eighth graders enrolled in an open or closed space school. Open-space students developed cooperative interdependence and made seating choices indicative of anticipated peer interaction most frequently. Interactions involving sex and race were obtained for cooperation…

Reports on a comparative study of a traditional and an alternative course offered in Victoria, Australia. Student attitudes provided the indices to changes in students' perceptions of themselves and their courses over one-year period. Students from the alternative course showed a greater increase in self-esteem, higher satisfaction with school,…

Discusses alternative programs and schools visited by the Hispanic Dropout Project. Notes a pervasive "disconnect" between alternative programs and "regular" schools, and outlines lessons alternative programs have to offer traditional schools. (SR)

This paper describes a study which examined kindergarten students' concepts about authorship and how these concepts affected their view of themselves as readers and writers. The teachers' role in helping form students' attitudes was also examined. Thirty-eight children from two kindergarten classrooms and their teachers were interviewed. The…

The purpose of this study was to compare students enrolled in an alternative school with students in a traditional school on the bases of academic achievement and attitudes toward school subjects. The subjects were 33 sixth-grade students who attended an open education school modeled after the British infant school. The control group consisted of…

Children whose primary school experience was consistently "open," consistently "traditional," or "mixed" (open education followed by traditional) were compared on a number of psychological variables. Subjects were 120 children, aged 10 to 11, from six primary schools in suburbs of London, England. The open classroom…

This study focuses on the differences in operating costs between the traditional 180-day school schedule and the 45/15 year-round schedule in the Bethel School District of Tacoma, Washington. Two approaches were used to identify and analyze costs of the following: building administration, teachers, secretaries, clerks and aides, instructional…

Patterns of stability of behaviors in classrooms with varying types of structure were investigated by means of a low-inference rating scale applicable to both traditional and nontraditional classrooms. Utilizing a research design which controls for subject matter, period of day, and day of week, eighteen observations were made in each of six…

Research compared Mexico's television-based Telesecundaria (TS) with its more traditional secondary school counterpart, the Ensenanza Directa (ED). The data collected indicated that the TS schools tended to be located in poorer rural communities and to have larger classes and less adequate facilities; its students were generally older and from…