This paper summarizes arguments surrounding the closing of Hisel School in Jackson County, Kentucky, in an effort to analyze the debate on rural education in Appalachia and how it relates to school-community relationships. Events surrounding closure of the school are summarized, including a two-year period in which a school community volunteer…

This study was conducted to determine whether changes from traditional organizational patterns in elementary schools make a difference in reading achievement. The study was conducted through comparisons of student populations in three suburban schools. Two schools were experimental (one nongraded, one open space), and the third was a traditional…

As part of the development of a classroom interaction observation instrument, this report presents the results of a comparative study of group interaction in contrasting educational environments (open and traditional) with children of different socioeconomic backgrounds (middle and lower classes). Additionally, problems of adequately assessing…

Although classroom "openness" has been much discussed in recent years, there has been little effort to investigate to what degree this openness occurs within a general sample of classrooms. The purpose of this study is to identify significant attributes of classroom activity and organization relevant to the concepts of "traditional" and "open" and…

A review of the literature concerning the cooperative education movement brought into focus a number of key issues which helped direct the study effort. Based on that review, the purpose of the annotated bibliography was conceptualized as two-fold: (1) to familiarize the project team with the broad sweep of writings on cooperative education, its…

This study examined five student characteristics with the expectation that if interactive characteristics could be established, attitudes could be improved by assigning students to classrooms with the appropriate degree of openness. It was hypothesized that some pupils might be happier in a traditional, or structured, environment. Five variables…

This pamphlet presents a description of two interrelated Swedish research projects both of which studied the effects of preschool programs on young children. The first project, a traditional preschool curriculum, is examined in terms of Weikart's scheme for preschool curriculum models. The evaluation procedure involved a comparison of 130…

Reports the differences found in intellectual achievement responsibility, attitude toward school, and self-esteem of black male elementary school students attending the Milwaukee African American Immersion Academy compared to those attending a traditional Milwaukee school. It was determined that Immersion Academy children performed better than…

Discusses ways in which the conflicts of capital and labor in later nineteenth-century U.S. influences the philosophy of education of J. Dewey. Dewey never lost his concern with social problems and advancing the cause of workplace democracy. He wanted his school community to prefigure a reconstructed industrial society. (SLD)

This policy statement adopted by American Federation of Teachers delegates in the summer of 1992 discusses two great tasks for U.S. education: improving the traditional model of education, while creating a different kind of learning institution to replace the traditional school. How to proceed in both areas is outlined. (SLD)

This essay traces the history of the school reform movement from colonial times to the present. Public school reform tends either toward equalizing educational opportunity or higher academic achievement, but seldom both. The essay asks the question: Can public school provide equal educational opportunity and be excellent too? By tracing the…

This study employed the authors' previously developed Statements about Schools Inventory (SAS) to assess how well 14 alternative and 11 conventional high schools were meeting the needs of their students. Pairs of alternative and conventional schools studied were located in 11 communities in 10 states. Results of both student and teacher responses…

Starting with the contention that we need to restore a wider range of choice to parents in their children's education, this paper lists and reviews the varieties of public education currently available throughout the country, and discusses their advantages and disadvantages. These varieties include magnet schools, alternative schools, independent…

This paper presents an evaluation of a 3-year Title III project carried out in the Vigo County School Cooperation, Terre Haute, Indiana. The project involved the evaluation of three differing instructional methodologies utilized in three elementary schools which also differed in the socioeconomic background of the students. The Dixie Bee school,…

Three fundamentals schools in Minneapolis, Minnesota were evaluated using parent, student, and teacher surveys, standardized test results, and enrollment records. Parents reported their reasons for choosing the school--the most popular reasons were its emphasis on reading, arithmetic, writing, discipline, self-contained classrooms, citizenship,…