A Study of Alternatives in American Education

This report examines teachers' perceptions of and attitudes toward alternative schools, including parental choice, program diversity and quality, admission policies, and participatory decisionmaking. In short, the report (1) identifies those features of alternatives that are most significant to teachers, (2) clarifies possible relations between district policies governing alternatives and teachers' responses to those alternatives, and (3) makes recommendations based on those districts' experiences that might assist others in deciding to implement educational alternatives. Chapter 2 presents findings, discusses the major issues, and concludes with several policy recommendations. Chapter 3 describes the system of alternatives in Alum Rock, California. Chapter 4 describes the system of alternatives in Minneapolis, which was about as large as that attempted in Alum Rock. Chapter 5 describes the system of alternatives in Eugene, Oregon, which was the smallest of the four systems studied. Chapter 6 describes Cincinnati's system of alternatives, which involved a much smaller number of teachers.