Describes a recent movement among business leaders and others to start privately funded voucher programs that enable low-income parents to send their children to religious and other private schools. Covers programs in Indianapolis (Indiana), Milwaukee (Wisconsin), San Antonio (Texas), and Atlanta (Georgia); and notes minority families'…

The expectations of parents of students with disabilities who transferred schools through an open enrollment option were examined in this qualitative study. In-depth interviews were conducted with parents of 18 children and adolescents who transferred their child through Minnesota's open enrollment law. Interviews addressed: the student's history…

This collection of four case studies discusses the work of teachers and their efforts to change their classrooms, schools, and districts. The case studies show that teachers can learn to use their own strengths and talents, knowledge, shared vision, and commitment to student growth and development to effect change. The first case study,…

This digest focuses on several issues in school desegregation that stem from recent changes in demography, policy, and research. Change in student diversity, the first consideration, is even more marked in cities than in the country as a whole, with only 9 of 47 urban cities in the Great City Schools network having a majority white enrollment.…

The effectiveness of the "user choice" approach to allocating public funds for training was examined through telephone interviews with 46 employers who were associated with 48 of Australia's 50 User Choice pilot projects (including employers associated with 7 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander initiatives). The employers uniformly…

This document presents career planning information based on the Washington Occupational Information System in a tabloid-size newspaper format. Part 1 includes articles on the Washington Occupational Information System; career clusters; occupational information tables; educational opportunities (including choosing a vocational school, private…

The Post-Secondary Enrollment Options Act, enacted by the Minnesota State Legislature in 1985, allows 11th- and 12th-grade high school students to take courses, for credit, in colleges, junior colleges, and vocational-technical institutes despite opposition from high school authorities. Students may use credits from these courses to count toward…

The findings of a pilot study of Pennsylvania's School Performance Incentive (SPI) program are presented in this report. School level incentive policies as elements of the entrepreneurial context of educational restructuring and an organizational model for an incentive-based merit system are also discussed. The study examines the effect of SPI on…

Private education and comparisons between private and public education at the collegiate and elementary/secondary levels are discussed in 11 articles. Attention is directed to relationships between private choice and public policy as they affect the quality, finance, governance, mission, and division of labor in a cross-national, interdisciplinary…

A study examined the influence of such variables as aptitude, interest, personality traits, attitudes and aspirations, school achievement, and background on the post-high school training and career choices of secondary school students in South Africa. Data from various sources, including the Project Talent Survey begun in 1965 and continued with…

There are parents and students who are to be won or lost depending on which sector--public or private--answers their calls for programs to match their learning styles and desire for rigor, vitality, and variety. This report examines where choice has evolved from, what it offers parents and students, and how its disappearance could affect this…

This paper analyzes data from the "High School and Beyond" study on approximately 30,000 sophomores in 1,000 U.S. schools. The purpose is to explain the contradictory conclusions offered by two recent national studies on public and private schooling. The analysis examines differences between public and private school students in…

This document contains eight papers examining different aspects of categorization, divisions, and choice in further education (FE) that were commissioned during a study of tripartite pathways (for example, academic, vocational and applied) in education and training for 16-19 year olds in the United Kingdom. The following papers are included:…

For Michigan, like many other states, providing noninstructional services strains public school district budgets. School districts provide more transportation, food, maintenance, and counseling services than ever before. In some cases, noninstructional expenses exceed classroom expenses. Seven states, including Michigan, employ more nonteachers…

This is a compilation of presentations delivered at the National School Boards Association Council of School Attorneys' Annual School Law Seminar: "From Vouchers to One Nation Under God: A Review of Recent Decisions Affecting the Separation of Church and State in the Context of Public Education" (Jay Worona); "ACLJ Memorandum:…