A Midwestern state allocated grant funding to encourage more accessible alternative programming at the middle level. Seventeen schools were approved for this grant and used the funds to supplement the operation of a new or existing program. This study provides policymakers and educators with an overview of the various types of alternative middle…

Graduation from high school is now more important than ever because of fewer opportunities in the blue collar work sector or within family businesses. Students with behavioral or emotional disorders may not be able to perform in the traditional work setting as they do not meet an acceptable level of achievement in the regular classroom and…

The purpose of this quantitative comparative study was to evaluate the Positive Alternative Credit Experience (PACE) Program using an objectives-oriented approach to a formative program evaluation. The PACE Program was a semester-long high school alternative education program designed to serve students at-risk for academic failure or dropping out…

The Oregon Statewide Report Card is an annual publication required by law (ORS 329.115), which reports on the state of public schools and their progress towards the goals of the Oregon Educational Act for the 21st Century. The purpose of the Oregon Report Card is to monitor trends among school districts and Oregon's progress toward achieving the…

An alternative program, the authors believe, can be successful only with the full support of the principal. Charts the attitudes of 63 Philadelphia principals toward their city's alternative schools. (Editor/RK)

Three major stages are outlined for conducting evaluations of nontraditional programs: the preoperational stage, the implementation stage, and the post-operational stage. Utilization of the model in evaluating the Master of Liberal Studies Program at the University of Maine is described. (Author/MLW)

The purpose of this study was to determine if students presently attending continuation schools believed that their classes have helped them to achieve educational objectives specified for continuation education in California. (Author/RK)

Using Terrence Deal's four developmental stages of alternative schools, the authors analyze the development of two Lansing, Michigan, alternative schools (the Capitol Alternative Education Program and the Re-Entry Program). Deal's four stages are the euphoric stage, the psychic upheaval stage, the dissatisfaction stage, and resolution (either…

This newsletter comprises four sections: (1) the educational philosophy and objectives of Shanti, a public alternative school in Hartford, Connecticut; (2) Rosen's statements about the difficulties of finding an evaluation model for alternative schools and the implications of the methodology that he later used in evaluating the Shanti school in…

The Early College High School Initiative (ECHSI) launched in 2002 with the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The ECHSI provides funds for the development of Early College Schools (ECSs) that serve students who traditionally are underrepresented in postsecondary education and offers them the opportunity to simultaneously pursue a high…

Reports of fourteen program descriptions and evaluations are presented. All but two were produced by the Department of Federal Evaluation Resource Services, a model state evaluation project. The projects varied in purpose; budget; grades served; and number of students, teachers, and administrators participating. Reports vary in detail from one to…

The purpose of this document is to focus on the problem of the appropriate and efficient evaluation of innovative, nontraditional institutions of higher education. The applicability of the traditional standards of an academic self-study to the Walden experience is described and assessed. Information was gathered on the Walden alumni, the…

In New Haven, parents and students join with teachers and administrators in examining options to traditional education and deciding what may work best for them. (Editor)

Attempts to formulate basic criteria for assessing educational proposals which offer alternatives to the regular and traditional secondary school programs. (Author/RK)

Our Lady of the Lake College (OLL) has been engaged since early 1974 in coordinated development of a competency-based learning program. After tracing the program's evolution from its beginnings in 1971, described are: (1) competency formulation, evaluation and curriculum; (2) experimental programs - the Mentor Program and the Personal Development…