This case study focused on the understandings of the administration and teaching staff with regard to the implementation and student academic growth of the B-L Upward program. The understandings were formed from data collected through structured, face-to-face interviews. The questioning of the staff members assisted in determining an understanding…

Students who attend alternative schools are disproportionally at risk for adverse environmental, familial, and personal experiences that can lead to unrecognized learning problems, low academic achievement, mental health concerns, substance abuse, and legal involvement. Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) programs include evidence-based…

California's alternative education options for youth vulnerable to dropping out of school have been established at different historical points and for different student age and target populations. For purposes of this brief, "alternative school" is defined as belonging to one of six legislatively authorized types of public (non-charter)…

Using secondary analysis, the author examined outcomes of academics, attendance, and discipline problems for 999 students placed in disciplinary alternative education programs (DAEPs) during the 2005-06 academic school year utilizing the Boys Town Educational Model as the intervention. Surprisingly, academic averages decreased, average attendance…

In 2007, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) funded 22 colleges to establish developmental summer bridge programs. Aimed at providing an alternative to traditional developmental education, these programs involve intensive remedial instruction in math, reading, and/or writing and college preparation content for students entering…

This issue brief is part of a larger study of California continuation high schools begun in 2007. While the first phase of the study examined various alternative education options throughout the state, this second phase focused on 23 higher performing continuation high schools in California selected based on multiple student outcome measures. This…

Contracting out public schools to private institutions is an instrument for reforming public education as it may facilitate academic innovation and improve student academic performance through higher school accountability and autonomy. The degree of autonomy that different providers have may vary substantially depending on the contractual and…

In June 2007, the Educational Policy Improvement Center (EPIC) was awarded a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to develop the College Ready School Diagnostic, a web-based diagnostic instrument. The purpose of this tool is to provide individual school profiles and customized recommendations, enabling each institution to make…

This paper describes an alternative approach to educating high risk youth, developed in Omaha, Nebraska, and known as the Boys Town Urban (BTU) Program. The BTU Program includes four components: (1) a normalized school setting; (2) a concretized credit system; (3) a focused discipline policy; and (4) a responsive services approach. A rationale for…

The objective of the magnet schools concept is to create quality educational programs with distinctive features which can attract or retain pupils of various ethnic types, and thereby contribute to racial balance in the schools. Magnet schools are intended to promote desegregation by permitting parents to make voluntary choices among schools,…

The accountability program of North Carolina's 67 alternative schools was studied after its first year of implementation. North Carolina State Board of Education adopted a policy requiring alternative schools to participate in its ABCs Accountability Program during the 1999-2000 school year. The ABCs program is based on Accountability, Basics, and…

Examined educational attitudes of 168 students and their parents in the first year of a primary level multiage program. Found that although the majority of parents and students considered the experience positive, their principal concern was that older students did not appear to be sufficiently challenged academically, suggesting the need for…

Findings of the evaluation of New York City's Project SAIL, an ungraded primary unit, located at Brooklyn's Public School 41, District 23, and intended for children 5-8 years of age, this report. Teachers reported that they found the first year of the program to be simultaneously exciting and frustrating. Over 80 percent of the teachers involved…

The School Alternative Vocational Education (SAVE) project is directed at unsuccessful, but not disruptive, students who have sufficient cognitive ability to complete the school program. The program attempts to stimulate a level of motivation sufficient to produce positive behavior while increasing the students' degree of basic skills attainment.…

Outcome-Based Education (OBE) has become one of the most misunderstood efforts in school reform. This brochure sets forth the philosophy of OBE and responds to 25 commonly held concerns. "Outcome-based" means deciding which results the education community wants and then taking the necessary steps during instruction to achieve them. The brochure…