Discusses 15 effective strategies for dropout prevention identified by the National Dropout Prevention Center, plus a specific set of six program solutions and strategies as alternatives to grade retention. Describes the center's promotion-with-purpose policy, along with exemplar programs for school leaders to use in designing alternatives to…

This article discusses the community-based vocational rehabilitation (CBVR) of persons with disabilities. In 1991, a pilot project was instituted by the International Labour Organisation and the United Nations Development Programme in conjunction with Oyo State Government in Nigeria. The aim was to facilitate the reintegration of persons with…

Although dropout rates in virtual school courses are typically quite high, some virtual programs have very low course dropout and failure rates and better passing rates on key criterion tests (e.g., AP tests) than do traditional school programs. Directors of five successful virtual schools agreed to share their "formulas for success" in…

This study examines how care exists in one alternative high school for students at risk of dropping out. Specifically, this article empirically explores who is involved in caring relationships at the school, what those relationships look like, and how the organization of the school affects the existence of care. Data were collected during the…

Good, T. L., Bidle, B. J., and Goodson, I. F. [1997. The study of teaching: Modern and emerging conceptions. In B. J. Bidle, T. L. Good, & I. F. Goodson (Eds.), International handbook of teachers and teaching (Vol. II, pp. 671-679). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers] have referred to "the recent flowering of works on…

Concerns about the effectiveness of traditional preparation programs have yielded a wide-ranging debate about new approaches to recruiting and preparing leaders. The resulting policy debate features two general camps: those who wish to refine and bolster the existing system of preparation and licensure and those who advocate a move away from…

Educational practices focus on institutional structure, be it high school or college. No matter how closely the career education with business and industry, that is not enough. The career path for the student should begin in high school and seamlessly continue through college. In this article, the author discusses how this could become possible.…

With gym time getting squeezed out by standardized tests and extracurriculars, schools are beginning to digitize physical education. This alternative method is first being offered by Minneapolis public schools in spring of 2005. In digital physical education, students can perform physical activities like they would in a traditional PE class but…

In this paper I focus on the narratives of youths who attended an alternative school after engaging in the street culture. Based on retrospective narrative stories I examine the ways in which returnees? returning decision stimulates reflections on their past experiences, both in mainstream schools as well as in the street, and the way in which the…

Increasing availability of funds for development, design, and evaluation of alternative learning environments has challenged educational researchers to develop and validate innovative and effective interventions. The focus on accountability has resulted in an accelerated effort to record events, activities, and participation in substantive ways…

The first generation of distance education professionals, largely ignored even on their own campuses, created and sustained correspondence study--an innovative and controversial teaching format that provided an alternate and more democratic form of access to higher education than had previously existed. They most often did this in the service of…

Small high schools organized around themes are distinguished by engaged students and collaborative faculties. Ms. Raywid describes schools that have adopted a variety of themes, all of which have resulted in student success. (Contains 5 endnotes.)

In recent years, the number of alternative schools has continued to grow and an increasingly large number of students at-risk for school failure have been enrolled in alternative settings. Critics blame this increase on the fact that the school-aged population has become increasingly diverse, presenting a broad range of issues that the schools…

This article reports how students at Seattle's public Alternative School #1 carved a long lasting connection with the native Haida people of Alaska. These students created a 40-foot canoe with the guidance of Robert Peele, an artist and a descendant of Haida royalty, whose ancestors once carved a 63-foot canoe now on display at the American Museum…

Rehabilitating the troubled boys who attend the Penikese Island School in Massachusetts is no easy task. One teacher remembers his time there as the most rewarding of his career. In this article, the author recounts his experiences as a shift leader at the Penikese Island School, a school for juvenile delinquents on a small island off the coast of…