The Alternative Education movement in American public education emerged in the 1970s as an outgrowth of the social criticism and political activism of the 1960s. Alternative Schools represented the pragmatic adoption of the least objectionable proposals which were popularized by radical school reform advocates. What began as a movement of alternatives to conventional schooling became a movement of widening options within public school systems.This study is an anaylsis of the historical roots and evolution of Alternative Education. A broad perspective is structured first by a theoretical discussion of public schooling and social reform which includes a historiographical interpretation of New Left revisionism. Next a description of selected parts of the radical movement of the 1960s is related to the political and intellectual context of school reform. This part of the study focuses on the social and intellectual origins of young radicals and the structure and ideology of SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) as illustrations.A discussion of the rhetoric of radical school reform is the next part of the evolutionary framework structured in this study. The central themes of selected spokesmen of the radical critique of public schooling, including Paul Goodman and John Holt, are briefly examined. Then the relationship between the rhetoric of radical school reform and the development of private free schools is described in the context of the political activism and intellectual radicalism of the 1960s. The progression is completed with a broad assessment of the Alternative Education movement which examines its origins in the 1960s, its popularization in the 1970s, and its evolution from radical reform to political pragmatism.Finally, a case study of an Alternative school-within-a-school, Learning Unlimited at North Central High School in Indianapolis, Indiana, illustrates the conclusions of this study and demonstrates the theoretical problems. The description of Learning Unlimited is based on observations, interviews with participants, documents, and involvement in program evaluation. The emphasis is on the role of Learning Unlimited as a model-program designed to demonstrate and encourage educational innovation.York