In this article, researchers Dick M. Carpenter II and Grant Clayton explore common enrollment systems (CESs)--how they work and what school leaders can learn from districts that have implemented CESs. Denver, New Orleans, and Newark (New Jersey) have rolled out this centralized enrollment process for all district-run and charter schools in their…

The natural beauty that surrounds many rural schools hides the troubling realities that students in these schools frequently live in poverty and the schools struggle to give these students the education they need. James A. Bryant believes that one source of the problem is the fact that so many school reforms are designed with urban schools in…

School segregation in the United States is on the rise. Educational Leadership asked four noted educators who are passionate advocates for educational equity--Jonathan Kozol, Beverly Daniel Tatum, Susan Eaton, and Patricia Gandara--to discuss what should be done to tackle this serious problem. Their comments cover such topics as targeting federal…

Argues for less standardization and more diversification in public education. Responds to several common concerns about diversification: Loss of the common school, inequality, lack of curriculum coherence, and problems in rural settings. Asserts that parents should be allowed to select among several meaningful options for their children's…

The responses of Professors Heckman and Elmore to this author's critique of the ASCD's "Public Schools of Choice" monograph reinforce her original reservations. The ASCD report overlooks the urgency of the present context and the inadequacy of alternatives to choice, makes unfeasible research demands, denies its own bias, and makes questionable…

When he was director of alternative schools and deputy superintendent of New York City's District Four in the 1970s and 1980s, Seymour Fliegel created a districtwide free choice plan and a nationally recognized network of 24 alternative concept schools. In this interview, Fliegel argues the merits of choice and suggests ways for schools to…

Discusses results of a survey of 42 randomly selected parents who had chosen kindergarten programs in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Respondents' decisions raise concerns about equity and quality and challenge assumptions that parents want choice and will use parent information centers to gather performance data. If choice is introduced without…

Discusses the factors influencing the recent increase in school segregation based on findings of recent study by The Civil Rights Project at Harvard University. Resegregation factors include changes in residential patterns, public-school choice, and Supreme Court decisions such as "Freeman v Pitts" (1992) and "Missouri v…

Acton (Massachusetts) Public Schools' open enrollment experience shows that a system can develop a common curriculum while allowing individual schools and teachers considerable instructional latitude. Confronting open enrollment pitfalls such as intensified competition, pressures for curriculum standards, and enrollment dilemmas helped this…

Study of school choice in the Boulder Valley School District in Boulder, Colorado, finds increased stratification of schools according to race, ethnicity, and income created by open-enrollment procedures. Per-pupil costs and money raised through fund raising were higher in choice schools, as was student achievement. Recommends actions to limit the…

As European countries become integrated into the European Community, they are examining each other's standards and those of the U.S. and Japan. British and French high school graduation practices are based on terminal assessment. All European universities charge home students only nominal fees; all European countries have elaborate student finance…

Chubb and Moe model education on the economic system. The rules governing the economic system, concerned with distributing goods and services, differ from those governing the educational system, concerned with developing and disseminating knowledge and information. Controlled choice recognizes the complementary relationship of freedom and…

Claims that Joe Nathan's article in the same "Educational Leadership" issue stresses positive school choice examples while ignoring the problems of replacing neighborhood schools with a system of unzoned, competitive enrollments. Raises concerns of equity, school improvement, parent involvement, teacher empowerment, school assessment, funding, and…

1980s reform strategies amounted to fine-tuning a model T. Inner-city high schoolers' reading and writing skills cannot be improved if each teacher is responsible for 175 students. The 800 schools participating in Coalition of Essential Schools projects share certain characteristics: small size; collegiality among educators, parents, and community…

The goal of closing achievement gaps between students of different socioeconomic status and race has eluded public schools for decades. Facing increased pressure from NCLB to reach this goal, some school districts have turned to a new experiment based on an old-fashioned vision: integrating students by socioeconomic income. Kahlenberg reviews the…