Even though choice is not officially a feature in the German primary school system, some parents intervene in determining which school their child attends. Especially in urban contexts, the informal school market is growing. This demand is based on promises with respect to a certain quality of education as well as on issues that prevail in certain…

"Family Circle" magazine editor visits a Brooklyn elementary school as "principal for a day" and learns about lighter and darker sides of school administration. Behind cheerful daily activities are some sad realities: children left at school long after final bell and teachers' realization that school provides only security and…

Discusses a south-Minneapolis (Minnesota) community's investment in a K-5 school design that has become a neighborhood landmark. Photos and a floor plan are included. (GR)

A sample of 81 Australian primary teachers was surveyed in 1985 and a similar group of 55 teachers was surveyed in 1987 in order to compare the numbers and variety of microcomputers purchased and how teachers used them in primary schools. Data were collected on teaching background, participation in inservice and preservice courses, and various…

To halt "white flight" to the suburbs occurring since a 1969-70 court decision imposed cross-town busing, neighborhood schools should be reinstated. The board's decision was challenged by the United States District Court, upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals (Fourth Circuit), and may become a Supreme Court case. (MLH)

Design considerations for the Haverhill Elementary School in Fort Wayne (Indiana) were that it blend in with the residential neighborhood and be extremely energy effective. By dividing the building into four pods with low hip roofs, and by the extensive use of insulation, both requirements were met. (Author/MLF)

This article compares the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (IBPYP) as implemented at three schools in the USA. The author hypothesizes that the schools each offer a unique form of the program based on the respective context and capacity to implement the IBPYP. The author found consistency among the faculties in their explanation…

Discusses hedonic technique and application to housing markets, specifying pertinent structural and neighborhood characteristics and focusing on data of house sales in Baltimore (Maryland) area. After treatment of each neighborhood characteristic (including crime and schools), hedonic price regressions are estimated and interpreted and policy…

A survey of the opinions of parents of 85 elementary school children in the San Diego area regarding elementary school foreign language instruction is reported. A questionnaire was used to gather data, which was processed with the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences to provide results and correlations in the form of frequencies. Results…

This paper provides background information on school desegregation in Springfield, Massachusetts, and describes a study that compared the academic achievement of two groups of black elementary school students: one group who was mandatorily bused to a previously white school, and the other who walked to their neighborhood school which was…

A cluster elementary school was formed when six schools in Washington, D.C., were in danger of closing. Spearheaded by the PTA, teachers, and administrators, this reorganization increased enrollments, improved the quality and diversity of education, and offered more educational choices to parents. It increased the social integration of the school.…

A survey of the parents of French immersion students and the parents of regular English-language program students in four Winnipeg, Manitoba districts revealed that non-immersion parents generally question the viability of immersion programs, prefer to send their children to neighborhood schools, and have stronger feelings than immersion parents…

Discusses the consequences for school reform inherent in the relationships between schools and the institutional actors with whom they are linked in the restructuring efforts. The article describes the experiences of two elementary schools in a collaborative restructuring effort that raises questions about what is involved in building a school's…

Neighborhood-based independent schools are more satisfactory than idealistic attempts to achieve an equitable education for minority and disadvantaged children within public institutions. Instead of assimilation, there is acute alienation from schooling for a large proportion of minority students in poor urban neighborhoods as majority-culture…

Inner city Catholic elementary schools have been closing at an alarming rate. White student enrollment has declined because there are fewer students since the end of the baby boom and as a result of the changing racial and ethnic compositions in the inner city. Minority enrollment has also declined because the schools could not, or did not, adapt…