The purpose of this study was to gain an in depth knowledge of the day to day activities of home school families in order to better understand the instructional approaches, curriculum decisions, and challenges. Four themes were addressed: motivations, operations, resources, and challenges. Findings about motivations to home school included: (a)…

The Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) at Stanford University conducted a large-scale analysis of the impact of charter schools on student performance. The center's data covered 65-70% of the nation's charter schools. Although results varied by state, 17% of the charter school students have significantly higher math results than …

Some current experiences in conservative education are in marked opposition to present-day educational innovations, such as minicourses, microteaching, and open education in general. (JA)

Home education is a well established phenomenon in Australia but little is known about the movement of students between home schooling and formal education and how students view and handle the transitions. A sociocultural theoretical framework has been used to explore student perceptions of their transition experiences between formal education and…

Supporters of public education fear attempts to privatize schools, while the private sector has always struggled against the monopolistic power of the public schools that educates almost 90% of all K-12 students. This trepidation has recently been intensified by the creation of a "third sector" that includes charter schools, voucher…

Although dropout rates in virtual school courses are typically quite high, some virtual programs have very low course dropout and failure rates and better passing rates on key criterion tests (e.g., AP tests) than do traditional school programs. Directors of five successful virtual schools agreed to share their "formulas for success" in…

The author reflects on the "back to basics" movement using examples of what schools were really like in the "good old days" of the 1930s. (Editor/SJL)

This study examined the reasons that four high school students who had previously refused to attend school willingly attended an alternative K-12 school for students with special needs. The two research questions that framed this study were (a) why do students who refused to attend their regular schools willingly attend Brookfield Park? and (b) in…

Western intellectual heritage is characterized by a gradual but significant shift from a supernatural to a naturalistic worldview between 1880 and 1920. With the ascendancy of naturalistic worldview, various conflicting ideas emerge about the place and proper function of the family and the educational institutions. The social and legal…

In their respect for tradition, educatiors have failed to learn how to face crises realistically, to analyze them for deeper underlying factors which past generations have overlooked. This article deals with such overlooked learning factors. (Author)

Examines the effect of classroom structure and teaching style on the creative performance of first grade children. (BD)

Argues that if conformity is what culture demands, then schools that emphasize dull, fixed, ritualistic, and conformist behavior are functional. (Author)

A look at schooling in the United States, from the vantage point of Spain. (DS)