One of the key claims of choice advocates is that it will take diverse schooling options to engage all children in learning. In a school system truly open to new providers of instruction and diverse schooling options, private schools and public schools of choice can vie for customers by trying different subject themes and pedagogies. If a school's…

Many educational researchers have identified issues on classifying schools and some have made use of ad-hoc classification systems in their analyses; however, these solutions are generally one-dimensional, which prohibits them from capturing the full breadth of variation among schools. To understand the amount of variation that exist in schools…

Given the challenges of a culturally and linguistically diverse student body, one exemplary high school has developed supportive schooling practices that provide academic rigor and access for all students while embracing their linguistic and cultural identities. This ethnographic study documents how this school contributed to the college…

The future prosperity of the United States relies strongly upon the success of its higher education system. With an increasingly technological and competitive world economy, more jobs require the advanced skills and knowledge that higher education provides. Yet despite the significant efforts toward improving elementary and secondary education in…

This "snapshot" illustrates how one school is managing to make a positive difference for ninth graders. It describes the Ninth Grade Success Academy, a school-within-a-school at Thomas A. Edison High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which has a number of features specifically designed to help ninth-graders make successful…

Winters Mill High School is a typical comprehensive high school in most respects. Situated within the city of Westminster, Maryland, the school opened its doors to students in grades 9 and 10 in the fall of 2002. Historically, the Westminster area has had an agrarian culture that has coexisted comfortably with merchants and the McDaniel College…

A fundamental ideal of our democratic republic is that every person has some way through which she/he can participate in decisions which directly affect her/him. To some extent, most teachers are able to recognize this ideal in their private lives. It seems logical that this realization would also carry over and prevail in an individual's working…

This bulletin addresses the topics of agriculture in elementary schools, including the work of boys' and girls' clubs; secondary schools; and collegiate institutions. The development of a six-year elementary school and the growth of junior high schools have contributed to a clarification of the aims of education for these school periods. There has…

In this age of greater school accountability, some the country's larger comprehensive high schools have lost their allure with the public. Because of significant achievement gaps between White and minority students, many of these schools have been blamed for not meeting the needs of poor and disadvantaged students. Detractors point out that these…

The transition from middle school to high school represents a significant event in the lives of adolescents, one that necessitates support from and collaboration among teachers, parents, counselors, and administrators at both educational levels. Successful transitions place particular emphasis on ninth-grade initiatives and can create one of…

Middletown High School is a comprehensive high school with 1,970 students, located in the environs of Washington, DC. It is distinguished by an open enrollment policy for all courses; a strong emphasis on inclusion of students with learning disabilities (LD) in general education classrooms; block scheduling that allows for more in-depth and…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between teachers' teaching effectiveness and school effectiveness in comprehensive high schools in Taiwan, Republic of China. The establishment of comprehensive high schools signals a new type of secondary education. In order to improve the quality of education in comprehensive high…

Loveland (Colorado) High School is a comprehensive high school of approximately 1,500 students located 50 miles north of Denver. Two years ago, Loveland was not making annual yearly progress (AYP) in any subpopulation as required by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The scores of the general population were not much to brag about either.…

The recent wave of accountability reform movements has largely overlooked the needs of middle and high school counselors, yet has generated daunting pressure for guidance programs to be standards-based and data-driven. Written from the perspective of a practicing, certified counselor, this guide contains essential information needed to implement…

For more than a century, American educators and education policymakers have chosen sides in a great debate about the nature and function of American high schools. The origins of this long-running argument can be traced to 1893, when the influential Committee of Ten, a bluechip panel of educators, issued a report proposing that all public…