Reports on a study of the graduates of the Sudbury Valley School, a primary and secondary school that has no learning requirements but supports students' self-directed activities. The majority of graduates went on to good colleges and good jobs. Although this could reflect their middle-class backgrounds, their futures were clearly not harmed by…

Considers the liabilities imposed by the acceptance of a political orientation toward the concept of the free school or the open classroom. This orientation results when a notion of freedom taken from political theory is applied to education without careful consideration of the relevant differences between political and educational activity.…

This bibliography is divided into eight subsections. The first section lists articles on community schools and schools without walls. The second encompasses the effects of alternative education. Student attitudes, academic achievement, and parental reaction are some of the variables assessed in the articles in this section. The third section is on…

An alternative schools "explosion" is currently producing a large number of diverse educational choices for parents and students. Alternative schools, or those schools that offer all students a distinctive choice of educational programs, can be classified by philosophy, curriculum, or governance. This report defines, explains, and…

The school described here operates on the principle that play for the sake of play, without unsolicited adult intervention, entails the acquisition of skills and knowledge. Sudbury Valley School promotes cultural acquisition in a manner harmonious with the child's biological self-education system, without age segregation, grading, or academic…

Based on a database of over 500 resources, this paper explores the educational alternatives that exist today between the cracks of mainstream education and culture. It presents information about the growing numbers of schools and education centers that call themselves learner-centered, progressive, and/or holistic. Sources of data for this summary…

This revised and expanded version of the 1960 classic "Summerhill," edited by Albert Lamb, portrays Summerhill School throughout its development. The book reveals A. S. Neill's fundamental belief in the self-regulated school in which children make their own rules and determine for themselves how much they will study. Neill's commitment…

The Sudbury Valley School was founded in 1968 by a group of Massachusetts parents who felt that a child is a person, worthy of full respect as a human being. It was intended that a nurturing environment be created in which the children themselves chose what they wished to do and scheduled their time. Democracy was a cornerstone of the school's…

The Sudbury Valley School is a nontraditional private school founded in 1968 as a place where each student could be trusted fully to make every decision about how to grow into an adult. This book describes a study conducted in 1991 to determine what became of Sudbury students after they left. Questionnaires and interviews were used to gather data…

Followup student interview about Kinokuni Children's Village, a Japanese residential free school modeled after Summerhill School. School features include voluntary lessons, self-government through schoolwide and dormitory meetings, and extensive project work. The school now has secondary programs and another campus. Eight-year-old Akira, in his…

To help educators continue to refine approaches to nourishing children's imaginations, this bibliography brings together 652 references on alternative school systems. The references are arranged into 17 categories and indexed by subject category and author. The categories include alternative, cooperative, experimental, interdisciplinary, and…

Starting with the contention that we need to restore a wider range of choice to parents in their children's education, this paper lists and reviews the varieties of public education currently available throughout the country, and discusses their advantages and disadvantages. These varieties include magnet schools, alternative schools, independent…

The four issues of the journal SKOLE published in 1997 contain articles, personal narratives, and interviews about small alternative schools, home schooling, educational history, the deficiencies of public education, and educational philosophy and innovations. Major articles include: "The Creatures They Are: Children Becoming Their Nature" (about…

The Sudbury Valley School in Framingham, Massachusetts, is a nontraditional private school founded in 1968, based on the idea that a child is a person worthy of full respect as a human being. It aimed to create a nurturing environment in which the children themselves choose what they wish to do and schedule their time. This book is a guide…