Defining alternative education: a look at one Iowa school

Abstract

<p>"Alternative education has been around for many years. During the 1980s, alternative schools gained momentum and became firmly established in public school districts. Today alternative education is seen as a means of addressing the needs of youth for whom the traditional high school program is not being effective. In Iowa, there are ninety-eight alternative schools, serving over 10,000 students. School districts that establish alternative education programs, particularly at the high school level, have little guidance on how to develop an effective program that will meet the needs of the students and increase their academic achievement. The Iowa Association of Alternative Education (IAAE) developed a system called ""The Framework for Learning Alternatives Environment in Iowa."" This framework includes twelve components of a quality alternative education program; each component has a number of quality indicators that should be present in any alternative educational program in order for it to affect student achievement and success. The study was conducted at Crusade High Alternative School, which services four school districts in southeast Iowa. The research question guiding the study was the extent to which the participants in this school, teachers, students, and the director, perceive that the quality indicators are present and manifested in four specific components (philosophy, curriculum and instruction, staff, and student). Participants in the study included all three staff members and six students. All participants completed a survey. This survey included the components of philosophy, curriculum and instruction, staff, and students and the quality indicators within each component. In addition, the researcher conducted interviews with the staff and students, completed an observation in the school, and collected and reviewed appropriate documents, such as the student handbook. The results of the data collection showed some triangulation between the participants, researcher's observations, and documents collected. To meet triangulation, evidence had to be provided by all of the above components. A little less then half (46%) of the total number of indicators were considered triangulated by the data (16 out of 35). The results from this study are a beginning and further research is encouraged."</p>