In spite of a widespread commitment to the comprehensive high school, the nation has long had specialty or theme schools and schools that target particular children. Magnet schools, alternative schools, and Catholic schools illustrate that the idea of specialized schools is not new. Recently, the concept has received a boost from a study by the…

The Rainbow Connection Society at a community elementary magnet school in Lynn (Massachusetts) attempts to establish a schoolwide version of the best aspects of U.S. society in a school setting. A "microsociety" theme forms the hub of six educational strands and all facets of school programming. (SLD)

The Cornerstone Project was developed to build a strong foundation for urban adolescent student learning through staff development and student leadership development. This report summarizes its implementation and objectives and considers the responses of students and teachers. The program was developed at the Martin Luther King Law and Public…

The National Alliance of Black School Educators' (NABSE) Educational Development Plan (EDP) was initiated in 1985 as a four-year effort to implement the findings and recommendations of NABSE's report of the Task Force on Black Academic and Cultural Excellence, "Saving the African American Child" (1984). The EDP has the following major…

In many places across the country, public school students no longer automatically attend their neighborhood school. Instead, parents may decide that their child's needs are better met elsewhere, for example, at a small alternative school, an arts magnet school, a charter technology high school, or a media academy operating within a larger school.…