A random sample is reported of fifth-year teachers from conventional schools and from open or innovative schools who completed the Organizational Climate Descriptions Questionnaire (OCDQ), administered anonymously, which measured subjective rather than objective dimensions. The instrument is interpreted as being primarily a measure of teacher…

Queries which college serves best: one with 10,000 part-time students or one with 2,500 full-time students? Deems the services rendered dissimilar, but the costs about the same. Discusses attrition rates and transfer success and the relationship between academic persistence and goal attainment. (DMM)

Discusses whether the intersection of traditional and modern institutions in the Persian Gulf region influences student opportunities to learn. Provides preliminary and empirical indicators of how this might happen by estimating the degree of penetration of Gulf state culture and religious ideology into school organizational environments. (CAJ)

Both traditional instruction and student evaluation have become more a measure of recognition and recall ability than a genuine understanding of concepts. To move schools toward a greater sensitivity in cognitive processing, new views of time, curriculum, learning, and teachers' roles must be adopted. This will require major changes, including a…

The purpose of this study was to gain a student's perspective on the differences between alternative and traditional educational settings. Specific objectives were to (1) identify obstacles students perceived in transitioning from alternative settings to traditional school settings and (2) hear the authentic voices of students to determine what…

A study tried to determine if development can continue through middle age, if education can stimulate adult development, and, if so, what the contributing factors are. The subjects were 60 men and women who had begun doctoral studies between ages 37 and 48, half of whom had just finished and half of whom had just started. Half of the students were…

Based on primary research relating to the theoretical framework of alternative schools, this study investigated teachers' and students' perceptions of instructional practices in alternative and conventional public schools to determine if differences in actual teaching practices do occur between the two types of schooling. Ten high schools…

Teacher achievement expectation effects were investigated for third- and fourth-graders (24 boys and 24 girls, each grade) in open and traditional classrooms. The main and interaction effects of teacher achievement expectation (High/Low), class type (Open/Traditional), sex of child and grade level on students' behavior and teacher-student…

This paper is a report of the proceedings and a synthesis of discussion from a conference on the state of basic skills in American education held in Racine, Wisconsin, in April 1977. The participants were national education leaders, including specialists in different curriculum areas, legislators, public school administrators, and leaders from…

Interviews with several individuals representing a variety of viewpoints about the recent controversy regarding textbooks and philosophy in the Kanawha County, West Virginia, public schools are presented in this transcript of a National Public Radio program broadcast in December 1974. Beginning with a discussion of the issue of textbook selection…

A comprehensive evaluation of the characteristics of students attending a public alternative school revealed marked differences between the experimental group (the alternative school) and a control group (students attending a regular public school). Alternative school students showed significantly lower achievement and ability on all measures,…

This chapter suggests procedures and alternative practices for the improvement of big city education. The authors (1) urge the importance of planning, (2) describe procedures for identifying and selecting promising alternative practices, (3) discuss the involvement of people in urban education, (4) identify emerging learning environments, (5)…

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)