The 19th-century mutual education for boys and girls was introduced in Britain from France. It is discussed in the context of economic development, social divisions, and historical traditions. (ND)

Compares sixth-graders' math and reading achievement at year-round and traditional schools in the same (Ohio) school district. Uses a randomized, control-group, posttest-only method controlling for the effects of history maturation and pretesting. The statistical and practical results favor the alternative year-round calendar, particularly when…

Four responses to a paper on phonics and whole language approaches to reading instruction in fundamentalist Christian schools examine the home schooling perspective, complexities of different definitions, design of the original research, and need for continued dialog into the bigger picture of traditional education and its staying power in…

The academic success of students with previous open school experience who entered structured or traditional schools was impeded. (MM)

Farley's theory of arousal and stimulation-seeking proposes specific educational alternatives for high and low arousal and hyperkinetic children. This study tested the prediction that open classrooms provide children at the lower end of the physiological arousal continuum with enough external stimulation to reduce their overt seeking of…

Determines the intercorrelations among measures of intelligence, achievement, self-esteem, and anxiety among elementary pupils who were enrolled in two different styles of instruction: a traditional self-contained structure and an open school using the Westinghouse PLAN system of computer-backed individualized instruction. (Author/RC)

This article presents a study that analyzed audio taped transcripts of students' interaction in two different kindergarten settings. Findings presented indicate that early classroom socialization has a significant impact on the communicative patterns of young children. Comparisons are made between open classroom and traditional classroom…

The purpose of this study was to explore differences in personality traits between children in open and in traditional classrooms, considering any differences in relation to sex. Results indicated that, generally, children of both sexes seem more capable of coping with their environment in the open classroom program, with differences being more…

Article describes how the Amish resist modern education for a religious reason and fear the loss of their cohesive spiritual tradition, but the government wishes to impose compulsory high school education upon them. (Author/MM)

After Deer Valley School District (Arizona) adopted a whole-language, discovery-based curriculum, parents who believed in a traditional "basics" curriculum established Valley Academy, a charter K-9 school serving 455 students. After struggling through administrative and financial problems, bad publicity, and interpersonal conflict, the principal…

Children were assessed at the beginning and end of a school year on their perception of opportunities for self-management of their instruction and perception of academic locus of control. Perceptions of opportunity for self-management of instruction were causally prior to perceptions of academic locus of control. (Author/RD)

Self-esteem of 350 seventh-grade students from open and traditional elementary schools was measured. The seven open and eight traditional classes represented significantly different treatment groups. No group differences in self-esteem were found, nor were effects found for socioeconomic status, IQ, or sibling position. Girls had higher…

This report presents the results of a 1999 survey of 336 elementary schools in Ohio. It examines progressive and traditional practices in public, Catholic, and independent schools and offers an overview of the different kinds of schools. Rather than asking principals to characterize their schools as progressive or traditional, principals were…

A study of the relationship between attitudes toward school and learning among pupils in grades one through six in two different models of instruction revealed four significant correlations among twelve calculated. The implication was that attitudes toward school were not systematically related to learning among elementary pupils. (Author)