Education plays a key role in young people's healthy development. Research conducted by the McCreary Centre Society (a British Columbia non-profit organization concerned with youth health) has shown that even the most vulnerable youth who feel connected to school are more likely to report better health and above average marks, and to engage in…

Every year, "Diplomas Count" takes a careful look at nationwide trends related to high graduation. This year, they have titled their report "Graduation by the Numbers--Putting Data to Work for Student Success." This year's research shows that today's graduation climate is a tough one, particularly for minority students and…

During the past several years, there have been growing concerns regarding the effectiveness of school discipline policies, as well as their disproportionate impact on African American and Latino students. For at least a decade, questions have been raised about district-level "zero tolerance" policies that have contributed to larger…

"Changing Schools" places educational and social aims at the centre of a discussion of educational change. It draws on 14 case studies to explore school change which is oriented towards social justice and democracy. In an age of global mobility, economic polarization and unprecedented environmental and cultural challenges, the education…

Disability labels and other social categories in school arise out of an educational system which attributes learning problems, perceived weaknesses, and academic failure to individual students. Instead, this dissertation investigates how learning problems are produced and reinforced through cultural practices. Through a two-year, cross-context…

Comprehensive high schools have been unable to meet the needs of all students (Cotton, 2004). Students face challenges, and some have been labeled "at risk" for various reasons. These students constitute a unique group who often require more time, energy, and resources than large, comprehensive schools can offer. Consequently, they fall behind on…

This study examined the probability of (a) being placed in a disciplinary alternative education setting for mandatory versus discretionary reasons and (b) returning within the same year among an ethnically diverse sample (African American, Caucasian, Hispanic) of middle and high school students (N=270). Participants were compared based on…

The purpose of this mixed methods study is to ascertain how and why parents select an alternative public educational setting for secondary students in the state of Minnesota a state with school choice options. Three research questions address this purpose, including why parents do not send their children to the local public high school, why…

This research is a phenomenological study of former alternative high school students' perceptions about their educational experiences. The primary purpose of this study was to gain insight into the shared experiences of these former students. Data were gathered from a series of focus groups, individual interviews and archival data. This study…

The purpose of the present study is to summarize the research to date and report additional findings on a successful alternative model for urban middle level education that is incorporated in NativityMiguel schools. These schools, designed particularly to meet the educational and social developmental needs of young adolescents at risk because of…

Though many international schools were founded in order to educate the children of expatriates, they have often come to offer an educational alternative for local parents. This article attempts to understand why Japanese parents enrol their children in international schools in Japan. Based on interviews and responses to questionnaires returned by…

Every 29 seconds, a U.S. student gives up on school. That's 124 students every hour; 2,979 every day; and more than 1 million every year. Most dropouts interviewed later in life stated they believe they could have succeeded in school if they had been given the right opportunity, and a special report in "Time" magazine reported "a full 88% of…

American public school education was founded, in large measure, on the ideals of Horace Mann's leadership of Massachusetts schools in the 1800s. Later in that same century, private schools began to emerge and serve those disaffected with Mann's "common schools," and tension between publicly funded and privately paid education arose. This…

With student numbers decreasing and traditional teaching methods having been found inefficient, it is widely accepted that alternative teaching methods need to be explored in tertiary physics education. In 2006 a different teaching environment was offered to 244 first year students with little or no prior formal instruction in physics. Students…

RARPA, recognising and recording progress and achievement in non-accredited learning, is a wonder tool that enthuses learners, providers, inspectors and policy makers alike. The staged process or anything one wants to call it, has made a positive contribution to the work with learners who have complex learning difficulties and disabilities. There…