Class size and seminar-style discussions encourage debate and critical thinking.

Class size and seminar-style discussions encourage debate and critical thinking.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- Students sit in law chairs, read existential literature and hear lectures in rooms painted with cartoon murals.
Linworth Alternative High School in suburban Worthington has continued to thrive while other schools that adopted informal and self-guided learning methods in the 1970s have folded.
The school's 180 students, each who applied from other Worthington high schools, can help determine in a democratic process which classes are offered and when.
"We were always focused on what's essential in education -- it's never been a fad," said Larry Gay, who teaches social studies in a room filled with hanging plants.
"I've always been uneasy that people thought we were doing something unusual. We're not. But it's not for every kid, and not for every teacher."
Linworth program director Wayne Harvey said the school prepares its students for college by making them responsible for their own learning. Classes encourage debate and critical thinking with their small size and seminar-style discussions.
The school maintains the type of structure and course work required by state education laws, but does so in an environment like few other high schools. Classrooms are populated with lawn chairs, castoff living-room furniture and folding tables. A mural of cartoon characters from "The Simpsons" television show splashes across the wall of one classroom.
Participants
Students have an average 1190 SAT score and 26 ACT score. About 85 percent of students say they're going on to college, including such elite schools as Amherst College, Harvard University and Vassar College.
A lot of schools started during the 1970s heyday of self-guided and alternative learning haven't survived. This year, a district near Lincoln, Neb., changed the format of an open classroom-style school built in 1974.
Waverly schools Superintendent Dan Ernst said the district added walls to the elementary schools because the open format wasn't working. Before, only wheeled supply carts marked the boundary between rooms.
"We just wanted to enclose that and provide a more focused learning atmosphere," Ernst said.
New York University education expert Diane Ravitch said changing times led to the downfall of the schools.
"Mainly, these schools haven't survived because many are not successful teaching kids the skills and knowledge that society expects," the fellow at the Brookings Institution said in an e-mail.
However, one Linworth student explained why the concept is still appealing:
"This looks much more attractive than your home school when you're in eighth grade," said senior Michael Petrick, 17. "High school seems more frightening."