This study explores teacher and principal role expectations in conventional versus alternative secondary school settings. A 59-item "Role Expectations Instrument" was to give to 472 teachers in 11 conventional high schools, each having a mini-school associated with it, and in five independent alternative high schools. In addition, 11…

Similarities and differences between alternative and traditional school programs are assessed through a survey of 11th grade social studies teachers in Long Island, New York. The sample consisted of 11 alternative schools and 24 traditional public high schools containing a representative sampling of upper, middle, and lower-class students. A…

Children in a model preschool designed to develop planning and problem-solving abilities scored higher than children in comparison preschools on measures constructed to assess planning and problem-solving skills. (BB)

Highlights case studies of three elementary schools in the Kansas City (Missouri) System of Choice program that resulted from a court order to erase all vestiges of segregation in the Kansas City school district. The possible effects of these choices of school programs on educational equity are summarized. (GR)

Compares and contrasts the approaches to mathematics in Montessori schools and traditional schools. Suggests that in a traditional curriculum, math is studied as a separate subject and isolated discipline, in an abstract format, with the entire group of children moving together through the prescribed curriculum. In contrast, the Montessori school…

Findings are presented which provide information about the extent to which fundamental schools (learning in a highly structured setting with instructional emphasis placed on "basic" subjects) at the elementary and junior high school levels in a large school system in Virginia have achieved their objectives. In this report, four schools…

Ethnographic techniques are employed in this study in order to determine the extent to which curricula developed in magnet schools is distinctly different from curricula in conventional or nonmagnet schools. The variables examined and compared include: (1) subject matter offered; (2) instructional methods; (3) grouping procedures; (4) student and…

This paper continues previous reports of a controlled multivariate evaluation of a junior high school open-education program. A new method of estimating program objectives and implementation is presented, together with the nature and degree of obtained student outcomes. Open-program students were found to approve more highly of their learning…

Four evaluation instruments were used to assess the impact of inservice and preservice training in open education techniques experienced by four teacher groups. The Semantic Differential Scale was used to determine teacher attitudes on the concepts of behavior modification, team teaching approach, parental involvement, self-contained classrooms,…

This report describes the Ypsilanti Preschool Curriculum Demonstration Project, a 5-year program conducted to assess the efficacy of preschool intervention for culturally disadvantaged children diagnosed as functionally retarded. Five groups of 3- and 4-year-olds participated in the program or served as controls. The project served as a source of…

Tracing the broad movements in the teaching of English--both in theory and in practice--from its origin as a subject during the 1880's to the present day, this book focuses on the aspect of the teaching of English which has absorbed the greatest amount of teacher's time, energy, and enthusiasm: the teaching of literature. Chapters, following a…

Third-, fifth-, and eighth-grade pupil achievement test results in the 1970-71 school year are contrasted in terms of types of school plants, with those schools that had been in operation in a recently constructed school plant for at least one year grouped as "Innovative." Differences in ability levels of pupils were taken into account…

Recent reports on educational reform tend to encourage a return to enforced uniformity in American public schools. If public education is to compete successfully with private education, however, increasing numbers of magnet schools should be established to provide diversity and genuine choice among public schools. (JBM)

Findings from this Fordham-sponsored survey--the fourth survey of Dayton, Ohio parent/community attitudes toward education since 1988--present a fascinating array of opinions about today's schools (and those who are responsible for them) and the changes that could be made tomorrow. Over 70 percent of Dayton-area parents support the idea of…

Offers a comparative framework for school organizations which illustrates tacit differences in teacher role expectations inherent in unique types of organizations. Expresses the central idea that the effective classroom teacher's role is operationally defined by the organizational system in which the teacher functions. (CSS)