Compares parental behavior in two pairs of school districts to analyze the effects of choice on the formation of social capital in inner-city and suburban school districts: one with considerable choice and one without much choice. Findings indicate school choice stimulates parental involvement and can do this in both suburban and urban settings.…

Describes development of Milwaukee's Parental Choice Program from an alliance of neoliberal reformers and supporters of inner-city community schools enrolling Black and Latino students. Necessary ingredients included the legacy of independent community schools, frustration of many Black school reformers with Milwaukee Public Schools, and political…

The pendulum has swung from strong parent involvement in the home- and community-based schools of the agrarian 17th century to the bureaucratic factory-model schools of the industrial revolution. Today's parents are making inroads. The tension between professional educators and parents is being expressed in open forums such as…

The relationship between parent involvement and school choice was studied with 575 parents in urban Catholic, single-focus, and multiple-focus magnet schools. Religion, income, and ethnicity were important in understanding parents' reasons for school choice, and school type was a major factor in parent choice. (SLD)

A school superintendent describes the restructuring in his Springfield (Massachusetts) school district. The effort to desegregate from the perspectives of race, color, ethnic background, and gender has involved organizational, pedagogical, social, attitudinal, and political transformation. Emphasis is given to the district's choice system. (SLD)

America's public schools face a demanding call for reform. This guidebook argues that public schools are failing and that the "education establishment" has a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. The book provides guidelines for parents and citizens for making community-based changes or state reform of education. Section 1, "What Is…

The extent to which gifted and talented students participated in Minnesota's Open Enrollment Option was investigated via a survey of 26 gifted students who transferred to nonresident schools and comparison of results with those of a survey of 60 students without special needs. Results indicated that academic and educational concerns were some of…

Parental choice represents a promising approach to school improvement; it eliminates the excessive regulation, inefficient operation, and ineffective service that characterize the public monopolies that American schools and school systems have become. However, school reformers should bear in mind the following key points: (1) school performance…

Comprehensive educational choice, implemented by a voucher system, would improve the quality of education of Chicago's elementary and secondary students and empower parents to choose the public or private school that would best serve their children's special needs. Enrollment in the Chicago Public Schools has decreased by 29 percent since 1971,…

This 5-year study is evaluating the Public Charter Schools Program (PCSP), a federal effort to help charter schools meet planning, startup, and early implementation costs. It is gathering local, state, and federal information about the program, documenting the evolution of the charter school movement. Researchers are studying the operations and…

More than 70 percent of San Antonio (Texas) urban school children are Hispanic, and approximately 85 percent are from minority ethnic groups. This paper is the second in a series of reports from a 3-year study of private and public school-choice programs in San Antonio. The paper discusses the characteristics of private and public schools as…

These five issues provide news and support to parents who home school their children. Each issue contains news items and a substantial resource section which provides book evaluations, directory additions, resource lists, resource persons in the fields of law, psychology, and school districts, pen-pals, and advertisements. The February/March 1996…

The experience of the school-choice program in Alum Rock (California) illustrates how a determined effort to reach all parents and provide them with information about choices and programs can have a reasonable degree of success. Parental information is essential in avoiding inequities of opportunity. (SLD)

Examined the attitudes of parents whose children participated in an urban, elementary magnet school, emphasizing reasons for selecting that school, participation in school activities, effects of changing schools, and satisfaction with the program. Surveys and interviews indicated that parents were generally very satisfied, though there were…

The Rainbow Connection Society at a community elementary magnet school in Lynn (Massachusetts) attempts to establish a schoolwide version of the best aspects of U.S. society in a school setting. A "microsociety" theme forms the hub of six educational strands and all facets of school programming. (SLD)