Reading achievement of students from open plan and traditional elementary classes were compared in three areas; speed and accuracy, vocabulary, and comprehension. The first evaluation (Grade 7) indicated that the mean score of the speed and accuracy scale was significantly lower for "open-area" students than for traditional pupils. Score…

This paper contrasts two perspectives for evaluating educational programs: (1) a growth curve model of personal development in the sociocultural context; and (2) a narrowing staircase model of educational success. According to the first perspective, development occurs along personal, social, and cognitive dimensions, and arises from the…

Education, as a rational business, has largely ignored children's fantasies. Rather than dismissing fantasy, as both traditional and progressive educators have, the educational task is to begin the process of linking to the real world those basic concepts which make fantasy so engaging and meaningful to children. (IS)

Presents three addresses given at a conference at the College of St. Thomas (Minnesota) by Vincent Reed, David Frye, and Casey Banas on the priorities of American secondary education from a local perspective. Jean Dye, Neal Nickerson, and Steve Permuth respond. (WD)

Compares traditional education with national schooling in the Solomon Islands, concentrating on the nature, meaning, and transmission of knowledge and impact of the Western model of schooling on social change. Historical sources, government reports, interviews, and observations of the Kwara'ae, the largest cultural group in the islands, are…

A community school is both a place and a set of partnerships between the school and other community resources. Because community schools are premised on the comprehensive nature of student learning and development, they not only offer rigorous curriculum but also provide additional services, support, and opportunities for children, youth, their…

This book examines the proposal of individuals in England's university extension movement in the final 2 decades of the 19th century to create a part-time teaching university that shared the following similarities with present-day open universities: a policy of admitting all individuals likely to benefit from the university irrespective of their…

This paper discusses the long-term effects of preschool experience on sixth and seventh grade students. Subjects (n=200) were primarily black, lower-SES, Head Start children who, in 1968-69, were randomly assigned to one of four preschool programs: Bereiter-Engelmann, Darcee, Montessori, and Traditional. In 1976-77, approximately 140 of the…

This study compared the effects of the Stuttgart School District's developmental guidance program with the effects of one of its traditional school programs on children's affective-social development. Affective education data were collected at the end of third grade (May, 1975) and again at the end of fourth grade (May, 1976) for 58 boys and 47…

The major purpose of this study was to investigate selected personality characteristics of high and low rated, open and traditional classroom teachers who teach economically disadvantaged primary school children. A second purpose of the study was to investigate the assumptions which high and low rated, open and traditional teachers of the poor…

THIS DOCUMENT DISCUSSES THE IMPACT OF TRADITION ON THE CONCEPTUALIZATION OF THE NATURE OF EDUCATIONAL PROCESSES. IT INDICATES RESEARCHES AND ANALYSES IN EDUCATION HAVE ASSUMED THAT IT IS NECESSARY TO STUDY ONLY INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOR IN LEARNING SITUATIONS, THAT ALL EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES AND FORMAL EDUCATION ARE SYNONYMOUS, AND THAT THE TEACHER…

The experience of schooling in America is recalled through a memory-sharing essay and an album of photographs. The intent of the article is to prompt readers to remember their personal schooling experiences and relate them to the larger framework of national memories. The essay, focusing on schools at the turn of the 20th century, discusses…

This research brief recaps a study of California charter schools. After a discussion of the key distinctions among charter schools, the brief focuses on the following questions: (1) Who attends charter schools? (2) How does student achievement in charter schools compare with that in conventional public schools? (3) What oversight do chartering…

Compares indicators of curricular and instructional differentiation and innovation in magnet and traditional schools in two large urban school districts. Finds among other things that magnet schools were more likely than traditional schools to lead to school-level rather than classroom-level curricular and instructional changes. (Contains 42…

Acknowledging the growing trend to educate school-aged children at home, this book provides a detailed account of home schooling, providing a vision of home education that reflects its multidimensional nature. The book consists of seven chapters: (1) "Learning about Home Schools" describes the research study from which this book is drawn…