The primary goal of the Early Learning Laboratory is to reduce minority group isolation and promote interracial understanding and cooperation in a Montessori-type setting with a language development approach. The 300 students, ages 4-1/2 to 7 years, represent a racially mixed population appropriate to approved criteria. The behavioral competency…

This report documents the process, findings, and support data of the Neutral Site Planning Project (NSPP) regarding a proposed magnet school program in Providence, Rhode Island. The need for a neutral site school that is accessible to a substantial number of students from different racial/ethnic backgrounds in Providence is discussed and an…

Reports on the development of the High School of Telecommunication Arts and Technology in Brooklyn, New York. Describes the overall goals of the high school's program, the make-up of the student body, the development of the curriculum, and the computer capabilities of the school. (TW)

Efforts to promote greater educational opportunity (compensatory spending, racial desegregation of schools, higher standards, reduced class size, and private school vouchers) have fallen short. Research indicates that middle-class schools generally work well, and any given child will do better in a middle-class than a low-income school. This paper…

The debate about school choice continues in the absence of much data about its effects on student achievement, or on anything else. This volume assembles such data. The papers in this book present recent empirical results, showing that the specific features of the choice program make a great deal of difference in influencing student outcomes. The…

The New York Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) is a grass-roots community organization representing 20,000 mostly low-income residents of New York City. This report presents information about students relegated to the low achievement track that ACORN suggested, in a previous report, was inevitable when parents of color…

This monograph explores issues related to school choice by examining available evidence for the success of choice plans. It begins with an overview of the choice movement and then describes several specific plans that illustrate the various plan types. It concludes with an appraisal of how choice will change and shape urban school reform in the…

In an urban magnet middle school serving mostly minority, poor, and low achieving students, the presence of high levels of interracial interaction and positive student-teacher relationships was attributed to the school's curricular, academic reward, and classroom activity structures, and to a faculty subculture that encouraged teachers to foster…

Two federal statutes govern the provisions for special education in public schools. Briefly describes these laws and some of the challenges to their compliance within the school choice context. Describes and analyzes four case studies representing four types of school choice plans currently in operation. Offers recommendations for policymakers.…

Discusses the inequalities and hidden curriculum of public education and the role that the Montessori approach can play in revolutionizing educational assumptions, values, and conventions as it expands in the public sector. Suggests that Montessori models for self-discipline, meaningful work, choice, respect, and holistic psychology provide a…

In this interview, a female Hispanic principal discusses the challenges, resources, and support involved in implementing a two-way bilingual immersion model in a Hispanic community in Albuquerque (New Mexico). Program success resulted primarily from supportive parents, faculty, and superintendent and the principal's leadership style, which is…

Compares indicators of curricular and instructional differentiation and innovation in magnet and traditional schools in two large urban school districts. Finds among other things that magnet schools were more likely than traditional schools to lead to school-level rather than classroom-level curricular and instructional changes. (Contains 42…

This report presents information about public elementary and secondary education for the 2003-04 school year. The data were provided by state education agencies through the Common Core of Data (CCD) survey system, a universe data collection that includes the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of Defense…

For the 1993-94 school year, the Office of Educational Research (OER) of the New York City Public Schools was asked to conduct evaluations of the 12 magnet schools funded under the New York State Magnet School Initiative. The state initiative was planned to promote the development of magnet schools that promote multicultural educational…

This book takes the position that public schools can be saved if we can learn from history, discard ineffective methods and policies, and recognize the essential elements of quality education. Chapter 1 reviews reports that have portrayed a crisis in American public education. Chapter 2 examines disparities in public- and private-education costs.…