Homeschooling Sharp Increase by admin

homeschooling3The percentage of the school-age population that was home-schooled showed a significant increase from 2.2% in 2003 to 2.9% in 2007 according to a U.S. Department of Education report. The number of home-schooled kids hit 1.5 million in 2007, up 36% since 2003. The report identified seven reasons parents give as their motivation for home-schooling their children.

Posted on January 8, 2009 at 12:14 pm under Alternatives, Homeschooling, Reports, Research, U.S. Dept. of Educ. | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Federal Program Supports School Choice by Wayne Jennings

The U. S. Department of Education’s Office of Voluntary Public School Choice program supports States and school districts in efforts to establish or expand a public school choice program. It supports efforts to establish or expand intradistrict, interdistrict, and open enrollment public school choice programs to provide parents, particularly parents whose children attend low-performing public schools, with expanded education options.

Building Choice.org supports the federal program with numerous and comprehensive “Tools” for communities to use beginning with the rationale and establishing a vision all the way to evaluating programs. Valuable resources, research and examples will help communities or schools at any stage in their program. Building Choice was developed for USDE by WestEd in collaboration with Edvance Research who also did a series on Innovation Guides.

Posted on December 6, 2008 at 5:21 pm under Alternatives, Choices, Policy, Reports, U.S. Dept. of Educ., Uncategorized | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Learning Outside the Ivy Walls by Wayne Jennings

Recently, I attended the Macalester College celebration and was struck by the number of community based and service learning opportunities touted as powerful for their students. In fact, there was little mention of conventional educational practices of courses, classes and lectures. Mentioned were international experiences with businesses, embassies, human rights, peace organizations, world hunger and local experiences with environment, law, government, education, community service, medical and many nonprofit groups. Students spoke of the life-changing influence of such experiences.

Of course, similar activities are available to K-12 schools but not used nearly to the extent possible by most school districts who have little recognition of the power of service, community based and experiential learning. The reluctance to adopt such practices has given rise to the need for alternatives and is a major factor in our calls for choice.

Posted on October 12, 2008 at 1:42 pm under Choices, Reform, Students, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

A Most Remarkable Book by Wayne Jennings

IALA promotes educational choices and there would not be the compelling call for change in district schools if they engaged students more. Here are my comments about an amazing book by an extraordinary teacher in a most democratic program.

If Holden Caulfield Were In My Classroom: Inspiring Love, Creativity and Intelligence in Middle School Students by Bernie Schein is one of the most astonishing books on teaching that I have seen in my 50 years of reading education books. This remarkable teacher of middle school students brought out the real feelings and emotions of students to create authentic people and in the process a classroom of vitality and greater learning. This book takes you inside the lives of adolescents, their fears, hopes, jealousies, dreams and inner selves. He also uses class meeting, trials and the core curriculum as a progressive educator. Every teacher at every level would gain from this engaging, readable book.
Posted on October 9, 2008 at 8:10 pm under Alternatives, Democratic schools, Personalized Educ, Private schools, Reform, Students | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Recalled for Revision by Wayne Jennings

We thought you might like this favorite piece from 1971 and consider its relevance for today.

Recalled for Revision
William C. Miller

Dear Parents of Our Graduates:

As you are aware, one of your offspring was graduated from our high school this June. Since that time, it has been brought to our attention that certain insufficiencies are present in our graduates, so we are recalling all students for further education.

We have learned that in the process of the instruction we forgot to install one or more of the following:

- At least one salable skill,
- A comprehensive and utilitarian set of values, and
- A readiness for and an understanding of the responsibilities of citizenship.

A recent consumer study consisting of a follow-up of our graduates has revealed that many of them have been released with defective parts. Racism and materialism are serious flaws and we have discovered they are a part of the makeup of almost all of our products. These defects have been determined to be of such magnitude that the model produced in June is considered highly dangerous and should be removed from circulation as a hazard to the nation.

Some of the equipment which was in the past classified as optional has been reclassified as standard and should be a part of every product of our school. Therefore, we plan to equip each graduate with:

- A desire to continue to learn,
- A dedication to solving problems of local, national and internation­al concern,
- Several productive ways to use leisure time,
- A commitment to the democratic way of life,
- Extensive contact with the world outside of school, and
- Experience in making decisions.

In addition, we found we had inadvertently removed from your child his interest, enthusiasm, motivation, trust and joy. We are sorry to report that these items have been mislaid and have not been turned in at the school Lost and Found Department. If you will inform us as to the value you place on these qualities, we will reimburse you promptly by check or cash.

As you can see, it is to your interest and vitally necessary for your safety and the welfare of all that graduates be returned so that these errors and oversights can be corrected. We admit that it would have been more effective and less costly to have produced the product correctly in the first place, but hope you will forgive our errors and continue to respect and support your public schools.
Sincerely,

P. Dantic

Principal

Posted on October 6, 2008 at 9:32 am under Uncategorized | Comments (0)

Choice of Education Is Advancing by admin

Peter Groff, chair of the Colorado Senate wants to see 100 new schools for students to choose from. The Initiative called Get Smart Schools will be launched shortly. Already two new schools will open next fall: Envision and Atlas. Chicago and New York are cited as having opened new schools (55 and 88 respectively) in the last few years. Florida has just passed a sweeping requirement that all districts must offer full time online learning programs for their K-12 students.

New schools have a better chance of reform or making changes. It’s been long noted how difficult it is to change existing schools in any substantive way. New schools offer an institutional bypass.

Posted on September 26, 2008 at 11:53 am under Alternatives, Choices, Reports | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)

International Democratic Education Conference by Wayne Jennings

The International Democratic Education Conference (IDEC) provides some of the most provocative and growing challenges to conventional education and probably some of the most extreme examples of choice. John Loflin has attended all of the recent conferences and filed comprehensive reports on their proceedings. The first conference was in 1993 and most recent was in Vancouver, Canada, August, 2008 and John did his usual thorough report. You can find his previous reports and other information on IDEC at the home website using IDEC as the search term.

Posted on September 12, 2008 at 10:22 am under Choices, Community schools, Democratic schools, IDEC, International Educ, Loflin, John, Reports, Small schools | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Courses Available on Alternative Ed and Starting a School by Wayne Jennings

The Alternative Education Resource Organization (AERO) is providing courses on how to start an alternative school and on the history of alternative education. Start a School 101 begins September 15, 2008 and is taught by Jerry Mintz among others. The Theory and History of Educational Alternatives is taught by Ron Miller and will also start September 15, 2008. Both are experienced educators well versed in alternatives. You can enroll online or request information at amkaero@gmail.com. Scholarships are available.

Posted on August 26, 2008 at 11:10 am under AERO, Alt, Ed. Res. Org., Alternatives, Conferences, Democratic schools, Mintz, Jerry, Training | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Democratic Education Resources and IDEC Conference by Wayne Jennings

Dana Bennis has started a website specifically devoted to promoting democratic education  and can be reached personally at dana.bennis@yahoo.com. Dana has a long standing interest in democratic education having studied it in several countries and being part of a democratic school. He advocates giving students voice in decisions about their education and their school’s operation. You will find much useful information and news at the site.

Another important development in democratic education is the annual meeting of the International Democratic Education Conference, held this year August 11-18 in Vancouver. Jerry Mintz provides a write up in his free newsletter under item #2. John Loflin provides a detailed account (IDEC 2006) of the conference. DVDs are also available

Posted on August 26, 2008 at 10:00 am under Choices, Democratic schools, Reform, Research, Students | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

IALA Resources by admin

At the home page, people can subscribe to this monthly newsletter (if your received this in your email, you are already subscribed). If you wish to unsubscribe, send an email to Contact Us and you will be removed.

At the home page, you can search on the 100s of past notes and other resources at the site.

The numerous articles and material on alternatives, legislation are all freely available to you.

Other items available to you: Store has the Glines powerful book, Educational Alternatives for Everyone and the DVD on Wilson Campus school; Books by Glines and others, information About Us; and how to Join and Support the choices in education movement.

Posted on July 31, 2008 at 7:42 pm under Alternatives, Choices, Ed Alt for Everyone, IALA, Intern. Ass. Lrng Alts, Reports, Research, Uncategorized | Tagged | Comments (0)

IALA is a Great Resource for You! by Wayne Jennings

If you think our website has changed, your perceptions are correct. We’ve changed our platform to WordPress for an update and better control. Please have patience as we work out some bugs.

We emphasize that the same huge body of resource material is still available on this website. You will notice that the left panel (at the website www.learningalternatives.net) contains topics to search for and the top beige band here leads to a variety of sections such as interesting articles, items about alternatives, how to order materials, laws, and more.

You can subscribe (left side of website). That’s free and confidential. We do not share names with anyone, ever. Just enter your email address in the yellow band and hit Go. About once a month we send out this email with news on educational alternatives. This helps keep you up-to-date on this topic.

Be sure to use the search engine. It works just like Google only is restricted to our resource goldmine. You are free to use any of the materials on the site!! We work as volunteers with the goal to inform others about educational choices. We receive funding from state alternative education associations to pay  overhead costs.

Posted on July 24, 2008 at 11:30 am under Database, IALA, Intern. Ass. Lrng Alts | Tagged , , , , | Comments (1)

Online Learning: Growth and Evaluation by Wayne Jennings

In a certain to be much talked about book, Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns by Clayton M. Christensen, Curtis W. Johnson, and Michael B. Horn describe how a majority of students will use online learning within a decade. They suggest we must disrupt, that is change, thinking about individualizing learning and schooling. This provocative book follows in the path of earlier “disruptive” and innovative thinking about society and business.

Virtually.jpgWe’ve addressed online learning as the fastest growing section for education change in past entries. You can access this topic by searching our previous entries.

The U.S. Dept. of Education produced Evaluating Online Learning: Challenges and Strategies for Success to address the challenge of meeting diverse needs of online learners and how to assess their learning. This 80 page guide (free online) delves into the technical aspects of data gathering and organizing information for arriving at both formative and summative conclusions about program effectiveness using real school examples.

Posted on July 10, 2008 at 7:46 pm under Alternatives, Charter schools, Choices, Online learning, Personalized Educ, Reports, Virtual schools | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

Radical New Kind of School Proposed by Wayne Jennings

SchoolhouseMassachusetts Governor Deval Patrick proposed Readiness Schools, as a radical departure from conventional district schools according to an article in the Boston Globe. Officials said these schools would be “freed from many constraints imposed by unions, school districts, and the state. The readiness schools would adapt to community needs and offer new alternatives in school systems across the state.” Readiness schools were described as a hybred of charter schools and Boston’s Pilot Schools.

The Governor will attempt the legislation in January, 2009 with the aim of opening schools by fall, 2009 and 40 within four years. “Readiness schools would be allowed to deviate from state curriculum guidelines and experiment with teaching practices.” The schools would be a choice for parents, students and staff.

This kind of innovation typifies the ferment and impatience about over-regulated schools and the difficulty of reform efforts.

Posted on July 4, 2008 at 1:08 pm under Alternatives, Charter schools, Reform, Reports, Statutes | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Democratic Schools Paper by Wayne Jennings

Arising from discussions with Politeia, Brazil’s democratic education institute, at the 15th International Democratic Education Conference last summer in Sao Paulo a new work “A History of Democratic Education in American Public Schools” by democracy advocate and IALA member John Harris Loflin is now available.

Supported by IALA, this comprehensive 161 page paper aims at persuading American urban public classrooms and schools to become more democratic. In doing so, he encourages public schools to enter solidly into the 21st century by questioning, rethinking and providing alternatives to 20th century concepts particularly for under-served children and youth.

Posted on July 3, 2008 at 12:58 am under Alternatives, Articles, At risk programs, Democratic schools, IDEC, International Educ, Loflin, John, Reports, Research | Tagged , , , | Comments (2)

Singapore: Teach Less, Learn More! by Wayne Jennings

Students in Singapore.jpgThe Singapore Ministry of Education says, “Teach Less, Learn More is about teaching better, to engage our learners and prepare them for life, rather than teaching more for tests and examinations.” Their website contains such refreshing gems as:
-TLLM aims to touch the hearts and engage the minds of our learners, to prepare them for life.
-It is about shifting the focus from

Posted on June 22, 2008 at 8:40 pm under International Educ, Part 21st Cent Skills, Personalized Educ, Reform, Students | Comments (0)