Alternative Education for at-risk students
I have recently completed my exit paper for my M.Ed (Leadership) at Memorial University. I chose the topic of alternative education as a result of my experience working with Thrive's education programs in St. John's and my teaching experience in the public school system. Not all students fit into the education system as it currently exists for a number of reasons. I decided to explore what the other options are for these students for my final exit paper. I have identified the main ideas of this paper on this website.
"The idea that all students can be successful if they work hard is inaccurate. It dismisses the systemic barriers that some students face, such as mental health issues, homelessness, low socioeconomic status, and learning disabilities."
Intro to Non-Traditional/Alternative Schools
- Exist to service many different groups of students
- Students at-risk of dropping out of school are one group alternative schools serve
- Students who are at-risk of dropping out of school include:
- students with behavioural or mental health issues
- who are pregnant or parenting
- who are chronically disruptive
- who have learning and/or cognitive disabilities
- who are at risk of academic failure (Caroleo, 2015, p. 36)
- who experience homelessness (Lagana-Riordan, 2011, p.105)
- who have low or sporadic attendance (Foley & Pang, 2006, p.11)
- who come from from families living in poverty (Flennaugh, 2018, p. 118)
- 3 types of alternative schools(Raywid, 1994):
- Progressive Innovation - attempts to makes school more fulfilling and challenging
- Last chance - for students who are sent to an alternative school instead of being suspended from a traditional school. Attempts to modify and correct disruptive behaviours.
- Remedial intervention - students who are at risk of failure in traditional school as a result of academic, social, or emotional issues. (as cited in Caroleo, 2015, p. 27)
Arguments for Alternative Schooling
What is necessary for an effective alternative school?
- flexible scheduling
- caring and supporting teachers and staff
- low student-teacher ratio
- highly structured classrooms
- avoiding punitive discipline methods
- positive discipline approaches
- highly academic instruction
- involving parents
- using Positive Behaviour Interventions and Supports (PBIS) (Tobin & Sprague, 2000, p. 177, 240).
- look and feel different than traditional school (Caroleo, 2015, p.40)
- high quality teachers with specific training in subject area and working with at-risk youth
- teachers with a desire to work in an alternative setting and with at-risk students
- teachers with high expectations, but also compassion for students (Lacey & Sobers, 2005, p. 34).
- Alternative schools differ from traditional schools in structure and staffing. They also include specific programming for students who have had repeated struggles in traditional schools (Burnett, 2010, p.105)
- Traditional schools often lack the resources and support to provide a similar experience for students at-risk within the school (Burnett, 2010, p. 106)
- Good candidates for alternative schools are not necessarily those with learning disabilities but those who could benefit from different approaches to learning (Lacey & Sobers, 2005, p.33)
Examples of Alternative Schools
The Twilight Academy, Pennsylvania:
- Research by D'Angelo and Zemanick (2009) concludes that schools are often "one size fits all" (p.211) which is not always conducive to learning for every student
- Alternative schools have created an appropriate alternative for students dropping out of school, which has helped decreased the drop out rate (p. 212)
- 12 students eligible to graduate from Twilight Academy in first year, 11 did and one did after completing summer school.
- Operated from 3PM-7PM daily to help accommodate students who traditionally had trouble attending school during regular operating hours and those who had academic difficulty.
Prince William Country School Board, Virginia:
- night school option for students having difficulty passing their courses during traditional school day or for students who had dropped out of school for a period of time
- traditional high school classes OR GED prep courses offered
- Over a two month period, students attended three hour classes in a particular subject, twice per week. In the next two month period, a different course is offered.
- In English 11, pass rate for end of course state test in first year was 15%, but it skyrocketed to 69% within a two year period and up to 78% in another two years.
- In GED program, the pass rate in the first year was 46% and within 6 years, it had increased to 98%.
- Available supports include: online instruction, in-person teachers in small groups or one-on-one, career counseling, specialized subject teachers, and additional staff to provide instructional assistance or vocational or career advice.
Texas (Moger, 2010)
- Examined one alternative school of choice, one district alternative placement school, and one traditional school
- Looked at students who were considered at-risk in at least three categories
- Some at-risk factor examples are: course failure, chronic discipline issues, student parents (p.58)
- End of the year state tests indicated that reading scores were highest at the alternative school of choice, followed by the alternative placement school. Math scores were not statistically different.
- Attendance was lowest in the alternative school of choice (p.72)
- Moger deemed alternative school of choice a positive option for students as it is flexible and helps students graduate on time who may otherwise be late completing their high school education (p. 77)
Loughshore Educational Resource Centre, Belfast, Northern Ireland
- high quality of care and support for students from staff is beneficial to engagement (Gallagher, 2011, p. 457)
- All schools provide core subjects but some able to go beyond and provide additional courses with focus on employment, careers, conflict resolution, mediation (Guerin & Denti, 1999, p. 77).
Caroleo (2015) has reported:
- positive impacts on self-esteem, academic performance, autonomy, attendance, and coping strategies
Goals of alternative education:
- to help students be successful academically
- to help them believe that they can learn and become positive contributing members of society (Caroleo, 2015, p. 43)
Features of Alternative Schools
- online learning
- project-based learning
- internships
- mentoring
- dual enrollment at community college (Genao, 2014, p. 434)
- wraparound services for students and their families (Foley & Pang, 2006, p. 20)
Arguments against Alternative Schools
- Brown vs. Board of Education (1954) - United States: If schools are separate, they are inherently unequal
- Can possibly further isolates already vulnerable students and separates them from their friends and peers (Rotberg, 2014, p. 26)
- Moger (2010) identifies negative association that may be attached to students who attend alternative schools (p. 1)
- Often seems as if students who go to alternative schools are from marginalized groups (e.g. low socioeconomic class or ethnicity) (p. 39)
- Some say alternative education schools are inferior to mainstream schools due to isolation so low educational standards may go unnoticed (Caroleo, 2015, p. 38).
- Students may have difficulty transitioning back to traditional schools (Foley & Pang, 2006, p. 18).
- Curriculum, facilities and equipment may be inferior (Moger, 2010, p. 39).
- Not often extra money for additional school facilities (Foley & Pang, 2006, p. 17)
- Necessary to have certain mindset when teaching at-risk students, which not all educators have (Flennaugh et al., 2018, p.114).
Conclusion
- There are limited studies on alternative education effectiveness and specifically achievement statistics
- The current research shows that alternative schools are effective in meeting various needs of an at-risk population.
- More research is necessary to determine exactly how alternative schools help at-risk students achieve when traditional schools have failed (Lagana-Riordan, 2011, p. 106).
- Students are not only students, often there are many other circumstances within their lives that make it difficult for some to want to learn, or to attend school on a daily basis.
- Offering a high-caliber, alternative form of education, particularly for at-risk high school students is worth the investment.
- While there is mixed evidence of how effective alternative schools are in terms of data for achievement, it presents other options for students to get the same education but in a space with additional resources and a different structure and approach.
- The other option for students who do not succeed at school is to drop out and not complete their high school education.
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