Many universities are providing video content such as lectures on the Web. The trend away from strong restrictions on instructional content toward more open-access policies offers exciting possibilities for extending classrooms beyond the campus but also brings new management challenges. This article describes some of the opportunities and…

When students at Prescott High School sign up to take math as seniors, not all of them will be wading into precalculus or calculus, with in-depth explorations of derivatives and trigonometric functions. Some will instead end up using mathematics to study the Electoral College, or the security of Internet passwords, or how delivery companies ship…

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…

The purpose of this research was to examine the effects of online education on the at-risk student in an alternative school setting. The factors considered were: student and teacher perceptions, success rate, grade point average, behavioral referrals, and suspensions. The fundamental components included learning environment, online courses, and…

Purpose: This article examines the impact that a principal's community-leadership has on school-community relations and student outcomes. Comparisons are drawn between leadership behaviors that emphasize school-centered approaches and community-centered approaches. Research Methodology: Ethnographic research methodology was conducted over a 2-year…

President Obama's Educate to Innovate initiative has provided billions in additional federal funding for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education programs across the country. The Administration's recognition of the importance of STEM education-- for global competitiveness as well as for national security--is good and…

The purpose of this quantitative, causal comparative study was to examine the extent to which attending an alternative educational program at some point during high school could likely influence the graduation rate of at-risk students in an urban school district in the state of Missouri. Four years of nonrandom samples of graduation data from 2006…

The authors have been investigating universities in their own countries for many years and are now turning their attention to exploring alternatives to current reforms. As part of these investigations, they spent two days of interviews and meetings at Mondragon, a town in Gipuzkoa in the Spanish Basque Country. Mondragon is at the centre of one of…

Student behavior affects teacher stress levels and the student-teacher relationship. In this pilot study, teachers were trained in Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS), a cognitive-behavioral model that explains challenging behavior as the result of underlying deficits in the areas of flexibility/adaptability, frustration tolerance, and problem…

A variety of alternative programs are being implemented in Canada and the United States for students who have exhibited conduct problems and who are suspended or expelled from their schools. Given the complexity of issues that these students frequently face, treatment must be multifaceted, wrap-around, delivered by trained professionals and be…

This study examined behavior modification programs in schools designed to focus on discipline and that aim to reform disruptive behavior in students, usually over a limited period of time. This was a comparative case study of two type II alternative schools in the Upstate of South Carolina. The findings contributed to the research base regarding…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify the expectations and perceptions of respondents assigned to a Disciplinary Alternative Education Program (DAEP). The focus of the study was the experiences of adolescent Hispanic males and their parent(s)/guardian(s) upon being assigned to the DAEP. Findings from this study indicated aspects…

Public schools in the United States are predicated upon some common, albeit contested, understanding of a "normal" child. Such an identity comes with corresponding rules of behavior. In this study, we use identity politics as the primary lens through which to interpret the experiences of students at an alternative middle and high school. Through…

In 2008, 41 states in the United States had created charter school laws. Charter school laws provide the guidelines for creating independent public schools by educators, parents, community leaders, or educational entrepreneurs. The basic goal of charter schools is to create better educational opportunities for students. These schools provide an…

Effective intervention procedures are essential to breaking the cycle of school failure. Tobin and Sprague (2000) conducted a review of strategies that have shown to be effective with youth served in alternative education settings. Among those were instructional strategies, including tutoring. ClassWide Peer Tutoring (CWPT) is a well-researched…