Education Commons^™

K-5 Elementary Alternative Program: A Case Study, William E. Scheuer Iv

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this case study was to examine how the K-5 elementary alternative program All Students Can Thrive (ASCT) used student-centered learning practices to influence the whole child. There is a lack of research on K-5 elementary alternative programs, such as ASCT, and specifically those that integrate student-centered learning practices to influence the whole child. Literature does not contain universally accepted interventions that are effective in the elementary alternative setting to help students return to the mainstream classroom setting better prepared to display appropriate behaviors when a student is removed from a mainstream classroom setting due to disruptive behaviors. …

Disrupting The School-To-Prison Pipeline : Implementing Alternative Education Programs To Reduce Student Disciplinary Issues, Michael M. Burns

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Conventional punitive detention- and suspension-based correctional approaches to student disruptive behavior are widely considered ineffective and counterproductive. Instead of offering opportunities for change and growth, they punish students they deem incorrigible by excluding them from instruction. While effective alternative approaches and programs exist, their use is far less widespread than would seem indicated. The purpose of this study is to explore how schools with successful alternative educational and disciplinary programs manage to overcome resistance to change and create settings that sustain the education for these students who through repeated disruptive behavior tend to fail in conventional punitive disciplinary programs. Three …

Creating Systems Of Shared Accountability For Early Leaver Students: Perspectives Of Principals, Lorna Kay Fast Buffalo Horse

Dissertations and Theses

Alternative high schools in the United States perform a significant role for students who drop out, are pushed out, or fall out of conventional high schools. An essential function of alternative high schools is to support some of the most underserved students in the country to graduate from high school. High school graduation is a major factor associated with higher incomes, better health, longer life expectancy, and less involvement in the criminal justice system. It also positively impacts local, state, and national economies. Despite these positive impacts, many alternative high schools are stigmatized as low-performing and even "drop-out factories" by …

Disconnected Youth: The Journey To Educational Re-Engagement: The Alternative Education Experiences Of Black, Indigenous, People Of Color (Bipoc) Youth, Latoya L. Brown

Theses and Dissertations

Over 2.5 million youth remain disconnected from education or the workforce well into their adult lives. Nearly one-third of youth who remain disconnected are Black, Indigenous Persons of Color (BIPOC) from low-income communities. The purpose of this research study was to gain an understanding of what systems and processes support re-engagement for formerly disconnected, and subsequently re-engaged, BIPOC students from alternative high school programs in the State of California. The following research questions guided this qualitative narrative study: How do former disconnected youth ages 19-26 years of age describe their experience in traditional public schools compared to that of alternative …

Pushing Back On School Pushout: Youth At An Alternative School Advocate For Educational Change Through Youth Participatory Action Research, Jessica Hopson Burbach

Dissertations and Theses

In the United States, a staggering four thousand students drop out every school day. Moreover, in 2016, the graduation rate in Oregon was only 74.8%, one of the lowest in the nation. Research shows that a disproportionate number of youth leaving school are from historically marginalized communities. Many of these youth resiliently return to education at alternative schools. This research sought to explore the educational experiences of youth in alternative schools in their own voices and perspectives. From a theoretical framework based in sociocultural theory, cultural capital, and critical theory, this study underscored the importance of youth voice in changing …

Organizational Improvement Plan For Eliminating A Need For Alternative Programs By Way Of A Paradigm Shift, Sam J. Oh Neill Mr

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

The problem of practice in this organizational improvement plan (OIP) is that the existence of Alternative Programs impedes progress to meaningful school change. The school board is moving toward a paradigm shift as indicated through a number of initiatives discussed in this OIP. This OIP was developed through a review of the literature on: Alternative Education, attitudes toward students labelled at-risk and through an examination of documents produced and disseminated by the Ministry. This OIP takes social critique perspective (Furman, 2004; Starratt, 2004) to understand purposes for referring students to Alternative Programs within the current paradigm. This OIP also explores …

Evaluating Alternative High Schools: Program Evaluation In Action, Drew Samuel Wayne Hinds

Dissertations and Theses

Alternative high schools serve some of the most vulnerable students and their programs present a significant challenge to evaluate. Determining the impact of an alternative high school that serves mostly at-risk students presented a significant research problem. Few studies exist that dig deeper into the characteristics and strategies of successful alternative schooling. Moreover valid program evaluation methods to identify successful alternative school practices are hit and miss. As a result, public policy and systems of accountability have either disregarded information relating to alternative high schools or unjustifiably included them in comparisons with traditional high schools.

This dissertation studied the issue …

Alternative Education Completers: A Phenomenological Study, Becky Lynne Murray

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Billy is a bright, wide-eyed, little boy with bounding enthusiasm and wonder as he enters the doors of school on his first day of kindergarten. When the school doors open in Billy's sixth grade year the wide eyes and bounding enthusiasm have diminished only to leave behind dread and dismay at the thought of confronting yet another abysmal nine months of failure. How can we, as educators, better serve the needs of at-risk students like Billy? Shouldn't we ask them? What elements of the alternative education experience were significant to successful completion of the alternative education program? The phenomenological paradigm …

A Study Of The Effectiveness Of Two Alternative Middle Schools: How Prepared Are Students For High School Success?, Theresa Kilmer

Theses and Dissertations

This study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of alternative middle school programs utilizing a longitudinal, mixed methods design and was driven by research questions which analyzed trends in attendance, discipline, and Standard of Learning test pass rates in history and science for 8th, 9th, and 10th grade. It also examined student perceptions concerning preparedness for high school, skills previously taught, transition to high school, and relationships with peers and adults. Data on attendance, discipline, and SOL scores were collected from 34 students from the 2009-2010 8th grade cohort who attended one of two alternative middle schools. Attendance data indicated …