The Department for Education (DfE) is committed to minimising the use of reasonable force, including physical restraint and other restrictive practices in all schools in England, including special schools and alternative provision. This work programme will include updating the 'Use of reasonable force' guidance (2013) to provide school staff with…

For many years a leading approach to teaching at-risk students and reducing school dropout has been the use of alternative schools. There are unique challenges to providing educational services in alternative schools and teachers in those schools need specialized knowledge and skills to address these challenges. The same can be inferred for…

Out-of-school time (OST) is a growing field that includes afterschool, evening, weekend, summer, school-age care, childcare, positive youth development, and workforce development programs (NIOST, 2000). Research demonstrates that OST professional development is critical to program quality and student impact (Weiss, 2005/2006). In an effort to…

Proactive instruction and alternative education have progressively become the schooling of choice for many non-traditional learners in Ireland. Community training, probation and Traveller support centers endeavour to take an existing curriculum and tailor it to such learners' needs. One community based education and training centre funded by the…

Purpose: The paper aims to explore the stages involved in the school establishment phase and detect differences between new and innovative schools startup. Design/methodology/approach: The exploratory study was conducted on the creation phase of two Israeli elementary schools: one new and one innovative. The data were collected through interviews…

One method, among others, to improve the school curriculum is having teachers and supervisors visit innovative school-class settings. These innovative schools must exemplify quality teaching-learning situations. (Author)

One approach to student behavior that may be particularly useful in exclusionary settings is school-wide positive behavior supports (PBS). Increasingly, evidence shows that PBS is an effective approach to student behavior in regular public schools (Sugai & Horner, 2005). While the data on behavioral systems in exclusionary schools are…

Described in this article are the unique staffing needs of alternative schools and the use of job candidates' personal choice in selecting staff members. (Editor)

This qualitative report examines the role of the paraprofessional. The 2004 reauthorization of IDEA, explains that paraprofessionals who are appropriately trained and supervised (in accordance with state law, regulation, or written policy) are recognized as personnel who may assist in the provision of special education and related services to…

The paper is an exploration of how a group of tutors involved in a major e-learning project reacted to developing and teaching in this environment for this first time. All were experienced face-to-face teachers but had different levels of experience in using technology. Our aim was to capture their individual views on working in an online…

Pupils can learn better from each other than in some normal classrooms. This article explores current knowledge about "peer tutoring" and suggests how peer tutoring can help special groups of students and how it can be organized. (Author/TE)

City-as-School (CAS) is an alternative high school linking students to various out-of-school learning experiences throughout New York City. In 1985, the CAS was awarded a National Diffusion Network (NDN) four-year replication grant, given to exemplary programs to enable them to disseminate their model to other interested schools and districts…

The project reported on in this paper involved the implementation of systematic interpersonal skills training in empathy for the staff members of a community based, vocational development program developed to promote the career development of black youth. The design was to raise 12 black staff members level of skill functioning to an adequate…

The Maine Adult Education Directors' Handbook offers a basic overview of the Adult and Community Education system in Maine. The information is general and intended to provide a background to the person initially becoming involved in adult education--director, teacher, school board member, advisory council member or superintendent. The Handbook is…

A project aimed to identify the staff development needs of tutors involved in the OWTLET (Other Ways To Learn--Educational Technology) open learning scheme and to pilot supportive strategies. To ascertain a broad view of inservice tutor training requirements, the first phase of the project was devoted to a literature review, student and tutor…