Purpose: The expansion of alternative education, globally, has coincided with a shift towards greater accountability for ensuring educational access and opportunity, high academic standards and increased graduation rates. While studies suggest the pervasive influence of accountability may be redefining how school leaders provide meaningful…

Alternative breaks represent a new tradition in collegiate service learning (Campus Connect, 2011), wherein students forego traditional break activities (e.g., vacations) to participate in community service with their peers through university sponsored programs. Despite their growing popularity these programs are understudied. Research that has…

Every child has a right to a free public education. However, once students violate school board policies their right to a free education is threatened. With the implementation of zero-tolerance policies, students are expelled from schools for incidents that would have resulted in suspensions in the past and a gap in their education is created…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate two alternative programs in a North Carolina and South Carolina (SC) public school district to determine if they are effective in delivering constructive interventions that modify student behavior once students have left the programs and have returned to their regular learning environments. This…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the factor structure, internal consistency, and reliability of the Readiness to Respond to Intervention Scale (RRIS), which is designed to assess adolescents' readiness to change. This measure is based on the Stage of Change Scale and assesses three stages of the Stage of Change Model (i.e.,…

Alternative education programs are one way of responding to the disengagement of young people from mainstream schools. While there are a great variety of programs, those where young people experience success have incorporated a number of elements of best practice (Mills & McGregor 2010). This article reviews the attributes of effective…

In 2003, the Ontario Government undertook a comprehensive multi-year Student Success Strategy to keep more young people learning to age 18 or graduation. This followed the release of a Ministry commissioned research report showing that Ontario's graduation rates lagged behind other provinces in Canada, and that up to 30% of students did not…

The purpose of this research was to examine the vocational programs available to female inmates incarcerated in the only female prison in a southern state, to explore these inmates' thoughts, feelings and perspectives about the programs available to them, and to determine whether these programs are unintentionally gender-biased or…

The Center for Authentic Science Practice in Education (CASPiE) is a National Science Foundation funded initiative that seeks to introduce first- and second-year undergraduate students to research in their mainstream laboratory courses. To investigate the effects of this research-based curriculum, a longitudinal study was initiated at Purdue…

Alternative programs in the nation are faced with the responsibility of meeting the needs of the students removed from their home school for various infractions. Current legislation (IDEA, 2004) holds educators legally responsible for providing all students, including those with disruptive behaviors, a free and appropriate education in the least…

While alternative educational settings in Australia have expanded over the past two decades, there has been little formal research into teacher perceptions of what it means to teach outside the mainstream. This paper outlines part of a longitudinal study involving the School for Student Leadership (SSL), an alternate educational setting in…

The dominant PDS models described in research literature are all based upon the pairing of traditional, college-based teacher education programs with traditional public schools. Though these PDS models have proven very successful in such contexts, there is significant question as to whether they can be successful when comprised of nontraditional…

This randomized controlled study examined disciplinary outcomes for 201 students who made threats of violence at school. The students attended 40 schools randomly assigned to use the Virginia Student Threat Assessment Guidelines or follow a business-as-usual disciplinary approach in a control group. Logistic regression analyses found, after…

Objective: To examine physical activity self-efficacy as a mediator of the association between perceived barriers to PA and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) among alternative high school (AHS) students. Methods: Students (N = 145) from 6 AHS completed self-report questionnaires. Results: Mediation analyses revealed partial mediation…

Non-formal learning for urban youth has a long history in the United States; it remains a source of innovation. This essay draws on literature about organizations that use community ties to encourage cognitive development and identity formation. It then describes how one youth organization in Camden, New Jersey uses presentations to the community…