"Making a place in the world: Experiences of those who took less conventional paths from school" is the latest report from the NZCER longitudinal study "Competent Learners" that has followed young New Zealanders from their final months in early childhood education to age 26. This research aimed to find out how those who leave…

This study explores how two schools serve students who are in danger of or have already experienced the school-to-prison pipeline. The majority of students at these schools faced significant setbacks in traditional settings (e.g., truancy, poor grades, suspension, expulsion, incarceration). At each charter school, the free and reduced lunch…

Charter school Alternative Education Campuses (AECs) leverage the nimbleness of the charter school model to create unique learning opportunities nationwide for students who experience challenges that make it difficult to excel academically. Some of the challenges include homelessness, pregnancy, parenting while in school, or interaction with the…

It has been said that education is the key to success, and today's youth are tomorrow's human resources. This is the 21 century; and students, who will be the human resources of tomorrow, are being prepared for jobs that may not even exist today. Legislators, policy makers, and researchers have encouraged methods to ensure teachers deliver high…

Alternative Education Settings (AES) aim to provide active and inspiring instructional strategies that would reengage students at-risk in learning and improve their academic achievements. Classwide Peer Tutoring (CWPT) is an evidence-based instructional method that when combined with behaviorally oriented procedures yields positive effects on…

This paper, based upon our experiences starting a school, is part dialogue and part theory. The three authors have all played important roles in the design, creation, and ongoing support of an innovative public elementary school. The first part of the paper describes the impetus behind the creation of this "buildingless," environmentally…

This literature review discusses the intersection of the educational and the juvenile justice systems. Specifically, it outlines the academic characteristics and challenges of youth in the juvenile justice system (including those in detention and long-term secure residential facilities, and under probation supervision) and interventions aimed at…

In an attempt to improve training and development of principals, the General Assembly in North Carolina established a competitive grant program to transform the way principals are certified. This qualitative study aimed to inform principal preparation practices by examining the initial, critical steps of recruitment, screening, and selection of…

This study provides nationally representative information about the qualifications and preparation of secondary content and special education teachers in special education and alternative school settings, as compared with teachers in regular schools. Findings demonstrate that a statistically significant relationship did not exist between school…

This article reports on one teacher's journey, Nan's, as she struggled to provide appropriate instruction to low-literate day laborers in an English as a second language (ESL) class for adult learners. In her efforts to do so, Nan became inspired to implement alternative pedagogy based on a culturally responsive approach that resonated strongly…

Between 1983 and 1993, grade 7/8 to grade 12 apparent retention rates more than doubled and secondary schools developed vocational education and training (VET) programmes as alternative pathways through secondary school. Previous research indicates that participation in VET programmes is associated with having low-educated parents and/or attending…

The purpose of this Mixed Methods study is to conduct a full quantitative and qualitative research methods on a hypothetical K-12 Alternative Education program, wherein ten students have had poor grades and are at-risk of withdrawing. Within a six-part action plan on the quantitative side, students were tested twice, before and after a two-paired…

We believe that the ideas associated with the Maker Movement have profound implications for teacher education. We have isolated the pedagogical principles of hack, adapt, design, and create as central to exploring how they work with teacher candidate participants in a maker pedagogy lab. We frame these ideas as Maker Pedagogy, which is the…

After nearly a decade of political polarization and deepening conflicts, Thailand is embarking on yet another cycle of reform and democratization project. While one of the proposed reform and democratizing strategies is to strengthen civic education curriculum and value inculcation, there has been a limited critical understanding on how…

An educational intervention using forgiveness as the goal was implemented with 10 at-risk adolescents attending an alternative school in a Midwestern city. The adolescents ranged in age from 15 to 19 years of age. A randomized experimental and active control group pre- and post-test design was used. Twenty-one participants were randomly assigned…