The English Advanced Extension Award: the twin crossroads

English is the most popular and successful of the subjects currently offered at Advanced Extension Award, a UK examination for the ablest 18‐year‐olds. Government plans for post‐16 reform suggest that AEAs may not continue as a separate examination for much longer. This paper discusses the reasons for the popularity of AEA English, and two key issues for the future which its success raises: the way forward for curriculum reform of English subjects post‐16, and whether AEA, or AEA‐style assessment, can satisfy the demand of elite universities for a means of identifying top students.     

Distributed Departments: A New Approach to Protecting the Vitality of Small Programs

The Texas Electronic Coalition for Physics was established in 2000 as a means of demonstrating that by linking together, small programs can maintain their vitality in higher education. Using Interactive Television, the Internet, telephones, faxes, and other electronic media, five physics programs scattered across the state of Texas formed a distributed physics department. In addition to jointly offering lecture courses, the group (i) established procedures for operating as a unified entity, (ii) encouraged research regardless of location, (iii) provided a locus for professional camaraderie, (iv) created a distance-based advanced physics laboratory course, and (v) developed assessment tools for measuring success in a distance environment. Through these, the coalition demonstrated that a distributed department can carry out all of the functions associated with a traditional department.     

Student adjustment to higher education: the role of alternative educational pathways in coping with the demands of student life

The present longitudinal study measured student adjustment to higher education, comparing 50 participants from alternative schools (Steiner, Montessori, New Schools) with 80 students from the traditional school system. We hypothesized that students from alternative schools adapt better, because of greater perceived social support, academic self-efficacy, and task-oriented coping styles. Measures were taken during the last school year (baseline characteristics), and at the beginning of the first and last terms of the first year in higher education. The quality of adjustment was assessed through academic results, and physical and psychological well-being. The following instruments were used: the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory by Spielberger (1983), the 13-items Depression Inventory by Beck et al. (1961), the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations by Endler and Parker (1990), and semi-directed interviews. Results show that students from alternative schools adjust better to higher education: they report less anxiety and depression symptoms, and show greater life satisfaction and academic achievement.