Date of Award

4-1991

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Department

Educational Leadership

First Advisor

Dr. Edgar A. Kelley

Second Advisor

Dr. Kirk Nigro

Third Advisor

Dr. Charles Warfield

Abstract

In this study, the curriculum offerings available to students attending 50 of the 54 high schools in Michigan's Upper Peninsula (U .P .) that responded to the survey were compared to the offerings identified as requisites of a modern comprehensive Michigan high school, particularly in the areas of English and communications skills , social studies, mathematics, science, and foreign languages. Upper Peninsula student enrollment levels in those core curriculum areas in 1989-90 were analyzed to determine the impact the adoption of the course study recommendations in the Michigan K-12 Program Standards of Quality (Michigan State Board of Education, 1987) throughout the region would have.

Survey findings were (a) that staffing in U.P. high schools would change dramatically as enrollment patterns shifted from those of 1989-90 to the new areas of emphasis, and (b) that many of the region's schools would find providing fully certified teachers for those classes difficult or even impossible due to small school size and geographic isolation . In particular, access to foreign language study and Advanced Placement Program classes were identified as critical areas of need.

A distance education model was developed that would improve the quality of the curriculum and the equity of access to it for all U.P. students, using a fiber optic network that would link a ll of the region's high schools, community colleges, and universities. Residents of the U.P. would thus enjoy true "schools of choice"--that is, access to the combined curriculum and life long learning resources of all educational institutions, in their own local high school.

Access Setting

Dissertation-Open Access

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