Abstract
Many students struggle with success in a traditional school settings. For that reason, alternative education programs exist to support these students through high school graduation and to post-secondary endeavors. Students in alternative education come from varying backgrounds and have differing needs; therefore, programs targeting these students need to meet each individual's needs. Students may have behavioral or emotional concerns, academic deficits, be pregnant or parenting teenagers, or have severe trauma backgrounds. Alternative education needs to focus on school culture, student engagement, academic interventions, behavioral interventions, and social-emotional learning. The ultimate goal of alternative education is to help all students succeed no matter their needs and ease their transition to a traditional school, post-secondary education, career, military, or other ventures. This chapter will outline alternative education and how to implement strategies in all settings.
What Are Alternative Schools?
The goal of alternative education is to provide equitable access to education, while also meeting students’ basic needs. In whatever setting the alternative education occurs, it should feel like a safe and secure “home.” As of 2014, forty-three states and Washington, D.C. had formal definitions of alternative education but these definitions varied state to state. However, in reviewing all definitions, “alternative education programs—broadly defined as educational activities that fall outside the traditional K-12 curriculum—frequently serve students who are at risk of school failure” (Porowski et al., 2014). Another definition of alternative education is “schools or programs that are set up by states, school districts, or other entities to serve young people who are not succeeding in a traditional public school environment” (Aron, 2006, p. 6). Alternative schools and programs can be administered or funded by state or local educational agencies, charter school companies, mental health institutions, juvenile justice agencies, federally funded programs, and private companies (Porowski et al., 2014). Therefore, alternative education is a program, public or private, that supports students who are at risk of school failure academically, behaviorally, emotionally, or socially.
Hefner-Packer (1991) identified five different models of alternative schools. The first is the alternative classroom. This is a self-contained classroom designed for alternative education within a traditional school setting. While these classrooms may have the same programs and school-wide expectations, delivery within these classrooms may be different. The second is a school within a school, which is similar to the alternative classroom, but the entire program falls under an alternative set of guidelines. The third is a separate alternative school, which keeps students away from traditional school and has its own unique program. This category also includes juvenile detention centers and medical or mental health facilities (Porowski et al., 2014). Fourth, the continuation school is for students who no longer attend traditional schools, such as job training and parenting centers. The fifth type is a magnet school, a self-contained program offering intensified curricula in one or more subject areas. There can be overlap among these programs; for example, job training centers and parenting centers may be integrated into a traditional or alternative school. This chapter focuses on the first three types of alternative schools identified above.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Student Engagement: A student’s willingness to invest/participate fully in academic or social tasks required for academic success.
School Culture: The “feel” of the school setting and the provisions contributing to that feeling.
Dropout: To leave school prior to receiving a high school diploma; or a person who has left school prior to receiving a high school diploma.
Trauma-Informed Practices: Practices that take into account a student’s trauma history, in which staff members are trained to identify symptoms and signs of trauma in their students. Interventions used in trauma-informed practices are evidence-based and geared towards not triggering a trauma response in students.
Secondary Students: Students in middle and high school.
Restorative Practices: A social science that aims to strengthen relationships, communication, and social connections between individuals and communities. Restorative practices developed from the concept of restorative justice used in the criminal justice system.
Social-Emotional Learning: Curricula designed to teach students prosocial skills and contribute to positive emotional status; abbreviated SEL, it also teaches self-awareness and how to handle emotions.
Alternative Education: Any educational program outside of the traditional setting designed for students who are not successful in a traditional school setting.