Researchers report that fundamental reform is under way in perhaps one-third of Chicago public schools, involving more than 100,000 students. These sketches of schools where restructuring is taking place provide some clues to fundamental questions about educational change. The Chicago School Reform Act of 1988 established local school councils and…

Reviews the contributions of alternative schools to public education over the past decade and predicts diversity and success for the movement in the 1980s. (WD)

Studied the effect of programs within desegregated schools that serve an identified population of students for cultural affirmation and advancement. Ethnographic data from a girls' group at an urban magnet school and a Vietnamese students' homeroom, focusing on 20 high school students, in an urban comprehensive school demonstrate both the power of…

Discussion of the impact of computers on education highlights the role that educational technologists can play as change agents. Topics discussed include models of the diffusion and adoption of innovations; computer interfaces; integrated software; teacher training; teachers' roles; and the use of magnet schools to demonstrate the effectiveness of…

Traditional schooling falls short of preparing students for real-world experience in failing to incorporate informal, "in-context" learning situations. Reviews the literature on experience-based education and cites several successful urban programs that involve students in the educative community through learning experience, career…

Describes Forest Glen Elementary School, a successful K-5 magnet school with an international focus located in suburban Indianapolis. Explains how three components of the curriculum--the foreign-language program, wise use of technology, and child-centered climate--are helping prepare students for tomorrow's world. (TJQ)

Study investigated attrition at a nonselective magnet elementary school over 5 years, examining 11 variables which might influence students' withdrawal. Data analysis indicated the school proportionally retained students of varying backgrounds and abilities while serving a diverse urban population, fostering equal educational opportunities. (SM)

This description of the School Development Program of J. Comer at Valencia Park Center for Academics, Drama, and Dance in San Diego (California) is accompanied by an interview with E. Joyner. The approach focuses on nurturing students, parents, and teachers, rather than on weaknesses or deficits. (SLD)

Choice plans include private schools (voucher plans, tax credits and deductions, and contract services and charter plans) and public schools (intradistrict choice, interdistrict choice, and statewide choice). Issues spanning both areas are those of curricular choice and residential choice. (SLD)

Surveys urban school principals about desirable alternative education programs for low-achieving students, and identifies schools and programs that have been effective in promoting educational excellence in this population. Explores the nature of effective schools, and examines the principal's role in establishing models for educating children in…

Changing school demographics, coupled with a teaching force that is predominantly white and female, has created a growing discrepancy between teachers and the students they teach. Many children and children in poverty do not display the behaviors or experience the type or degree of success in school as white or middle-class students do.…

This article features South Texas High School for Health Professions in Mercedes, Texas. With the support and encouragement of their parents and siblings, students choose to attend South Texas High School for Health Professions, because it offers a way out of poverty through a rigorous education with a strong occupational career component. South…

Are magnet schools in a position to meet diversity ideals? As districts are declared unitary and released from court ordered desegregation, many are framing their commitments to fairness and equity in terms of diversity--i.e., comparable rates of participation and comparable educational outcomes in all segments the student population. In this…

This publication describes schools of choice that are nontraditional in structure, including continuous-progress, open, and Montessori-type schools. It describes the philosophy, curriculum, teaching methods, school organizations, and grading methods of several different kinds of nontraditional schools: two continuous-progress schools, a Montessori…

This report is based on background research and a community forum held in September 1990 in St. Paul, Minnesota, and addresses issues related to equal education for American Indians in Minnesota public schools. Minnesota's Native American population is increasing, is younger than non-Indian Minnesotans, and is becoming more urban than rural. The…