Findings suggest that class openness may have some effects independent of the initial entering characteristics of the child and that, at least with regard to some outcomes, the child's characteristics may help to determine the type of class from which he would derive the greatest benefit. (Author/MV)

While some reformist writers have proffered the notion that modern educators agree on what makes a good school, teachers, students, and parents can have divergent attitudes on the matter. (Author/IRT)

This report contains the typology of charter schools that were sought, based on Carpenter's careful sorting of 1,182 charter schools, representing 87 percent of all those operating in 2001-2002 in the five states (Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan, and Texas) that then accounted for the lion's share of U.S. charter schools. Carpenter sorted…

Discusses the results of two studies comparing charters schools with traditional schools. Both studies suggest that charter schools are more successful in retaining better teachers than are traditional schools. Finds, for example, charter schools are much more likely than traditional public schools to employ teachers who lack regular state…

Describes Progressive Education Association's Eight-Year Study conceived in 1930 and published in 1942. Attempts to correct subsequent misconceptions and misinterpretations of the study's findings. (Contains 43 references.) (PKP)

Argues that the emergence of digital marketplaces for learning has broad implications for the standardization and commercialization of education. Defines the concept of the virtual university and discusses how traditional institutions could be reconceived by adopting an alternative model. (PEN)

This article is a rejoinder to TM 501 980. (DEP)

The Los Alamitos School District, a poorer than average elementary district in southern California, has made a near complete transition from a traditional to a nongraded, team-teaching program with individualized instruction in reading and language arts. The results have been startlingly good. Describes how the district made the transition.…

Discusses the arrival of a new breed of educator with skill, ability, leadership, and the courage to do away with outmoded paternalistic practices in favor of new creative approaches emphasizing personal growth and lifelong learning. (Author/GB)

This research was undertaken to determine (1) if students in open and traditional classrooms perceive themselves as significant decision-makers; (2) if they perceive opportunities for decision making; and (3) if congruence exists between student and teacher perceptions of the decision-making process. Selected pupils and their teachers from five…

In most instances teachers from open area, quasi-open area and traditional schools view the supervision or evaluation of their instructional activities in approximately the same way and with the same degree of emphasis. (EVH)

This chapter of "The Best of the Best of ERIC," Volume 2, contains 15 summaries of documents and journals on the back-to-basics controversy, all of which are indexed in either "Resources in Education" or "Current Index to Journals in Education." The materials included deal with various aspects of the topic, such as…

To determine what happens to a student's reading interests in an open classroom setting, three studies were conducted into the expressed reading interests of 1,078 first and second grade children in twelve public schools located in the urban and suburban areas of New York, Detroit, and Los Angeles. The children were interviewed individually and…

This study tested all children (N=1163) in one open classroom school and five "traditional" schools, using Stanford Achievement Tests, the Children's Self Concept Indicator, and the Children's Attitudinal Range Indicator. Data were collected four to five months after the initiation of the open classroom methods, as a preliminary indicator of the…

Describes a method of instruction and a system of teaching that befits the role of what is called the "traditional" teacher, pointing out that teaching is an art and not a science. (GA)