Although the amount of available time imposes limitations on accomplishment, the key issue is time usage. Effective classroom management conserves instruction time by planning activities and tasks to fit the learning materials; setting and conveying procedural and academic expectations; and appropriately sequencing, pacing, monitoring, and…

Through her studies of "subordinated populations," Shirley Brice Heath has committed herself to fostering appreciation of diverse cultures and understanding how those cultures affect children's learning experiences. While at Stanford University, Heath began studying neighborhood-based organizations in three major cities. These groups helped…

Deborah Meier, coprincipal of Central Park East Secondary School in New York City, never uses "alternative" to describe her school, because that term implies that traditional schooling is acceptable. Creating smaller schools, granting parental choice, hiring intellectually curious teachers, and discussing what it means to be educated are essential…

Gardendale (Florida) Elementary Magnet School is a single-track, year-round elementary school with a four-theme magnet program, actually four magnet schools under one roof. There are schools of performing arts, math and science, arts and cultures, and microsociety. Success hinges on team leadership, strategic planning, and an active governance…

The Paideia School Model was inspired by philosopher Mortimer Adler's belief in a high-quality, single-track, liberal arts education to prepare students for work, citizenship, and lifelong learning. This article describes how Chattanooga (Tennessee) parents and educators worked to develop and implement a holistic, rigorous Paideia curriculum. (MLH)

Believing that many antisocial behaviors are symptoms of underlying social/emotional conflicts, a group of Georgia educators chose a therapeutic approach to handling unruly teens. They designed the Gateway Program to focus on academic study, daily group counseling, journal writing, and a system for earning privileges. Placements are decided by an…

The Global Youth Academy began as a low-cost, private school that taught global citizenship to its own students and foreign students recruited enroute. The school-on-wings formula is simple: build the curriculum into a tour, integrate academic and personal growth, and stress community service. The program succeeds academically while promoting…

Begun in 1972 as an alternative for students with attendance problems, the ALPHA program is still flourishing. Now attended by at-risk and volunteer students, this Michigan alternative high school offers individually tailored learning opportunities. Students complete traditional graduation requirements via workshop classes, independent study,…

Alternative schools are definitive departures from the programmatic, organizational, and behavioral regularities inhibiting school reform. Many reforms now pursued in traditional schools were pioneered by alternative schools. Types include popular innovations, last-chance programs, and remedial programs. Advantages, disadvantages, common elements,…

Oasis High is a small, effective, alternative school that helps high-risk students beat the odds. Staff actively nurture students' growth. Success depends on student ownership, a family atmosphere, a nontraditional school building, effective counseling, a well-equipped computer lab, on-site day care, varied teaching methods, and a noncoercive…

Charter schools are independent legal entities empowered to hire and fire, handle lawsuits, and control their own finances. Charter schools require new relationships with school boards, utilize site-based decision making, and foster new teacher roles. Minnesota, California, and Massachusetts are experimenting with charter schools. A sidebar…

Prospective charter schools in California must address educational design, outcomes, assessment methods, governance, staffing qualifications, health and safety procedures, racial balance, admission requirements, retirement benefits, employees' rights, financial audit procedures, expulsion and suspension procedures, and attendance alternatives.…

A survey shows that California's charter-schools movement is being shaped by the special features of the state's charter law--exclusive local oversight and ambiguous legal status. Each school must negotiate how it handles its local school board, teachers' unions, and lack of start-up funding and technical assistance. Most charter schools seek…

Presents planning lessons from the Community Involved Charter School, a Jefferson County (Colorado) grassroots initiative. Planners should seek community involvement in envisioning the school; define roles for students, parents, teachers, and community members; decide how to administer the school; decide on specifics, such as school size; and seek…

Home schooling neither isolates children nor harms their academic growth, but approaches the true definition of education: the passing down of culture. Public schools have redefined family values and often fail to take religion seriously. Home-school parents see the family as a superior social institution; many value religion's cultural…