The similarities among comprehensive high schools in the United States promote equity and social integration rather than educational excellence. Increased specialization would encourage competition for students and provide schools with a sense of mission, two factors critical to developing strong faculties committed to improving education. (PGD)

Lists the attributes of quality vocational education programs: depth of instruction, closeness to industry, and response to labor market demands. Indicates why it is difficult for comprehensive high schools to offer high quality programs, due to size of enrollment, administrative leadership, and personnel policy. (SK)

From his 20 years experience in modeling a comprehensive school according to genuinely comprehensive principles, the author gives a considered statement of his objectives and experiences. (This article is part of a theme issue on comprehensive education in Britain.) (Editor/SJL)

Surveys of 931 students indicated that 85 percent supported condom distribution at their school, and 76 percent believed that condom distribution would not change the frequency of sexual activity among adolescents. (SM)

The emergence of the "polyvalent" secondary school in Quebec Province is examined with approval in the article. Choice for the student is offered in four broad areas: languages, sciences, art, and technical courses. The schools offer a well-rounded education to all youths, not just to an elite. (Author/AJ)

This document is an English-language abstract (approximately 1,500 words) of a report dealing with the arguments for school reform, aims of elementary education, student development, elementary school activities, educational administration, and the measures leading to school reform in Finland. The purpose of elementary education in Finland is to…

Surveyed approximately 280 high school students, 125 parents, and 150 teachers to examine impact of Missouri Comprehensive Guidance Program from perspective of these groups and to obtain useful information in assessing comprehensive school guidance programs. Even though survey results were positive, counselors and those responsible for guidance…

Studied attributions for school-based loneliness for 36 Finnish students with a high degree of loneliness and 42 with a low degree of loneliness. More lonely students mostly used a nonself-serving internal-stable attributional style, while less lonely students attributed temporary loneliness to external, unstable, and controllable causes.…

Presents five beliefs related to the small schools versus large schools debate: Differences matter more than similarities, a large building offers more opportunities, larger schools attract better teachers and administrators, small schools reflect provincial values, and what matters most is class size. Discusses two implications for advocates of…

American-style comprehensive high school (CHS) systems were started in Japan and Taiwan in 1994 and 1996, respectively. Most CHSs in Taiwan were transformed from senior vocational schools, whereas others were changed from senior high schools or newly founded. To assist these schools in successfully restructuring or designing new programs, a…

This article discusses the creation of comprehensive secondary schools in Argentina to meet the diversified goals of the population in any given geographical region. The plan described here provides for the creation of several basic-study cycles within one school so that students may pursue courses in commercial, technical, and academic fields.…

The Comprehensive School Project, the benchmark in the steady trend toward diversification of the Thailand secondary school curriculum, is the focus of this paper. In the first part three stages of educational development are examined and discussed, followed by education in the present period, the 1960 national scheme of education, and the…

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…

The purpose of this report is to explore the structuring of academic departments within contemporary comprehensive high schools. It begins with an argument for research on the organization of schools that takes account of the fact that high schools are fundamentally different structures from their elementary school counterparts and that…

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…