Summarize a definition of alternative education schools
Define Alternate Education
Alternatives to traditional schools are often defined by the elements that make them effective. Whether they are called alternative, charter, magnet, or something else, such schools come in a wide array of configurations and organizational models.
Read Alternative Schools: The State of the Art (Raywid, 1994) to identify types of alternative schools in the U.S.
View If Students Designed Their Own Schools (Tsai, 2013) to see an example of what an innovative alternative to traditional school looks like.
Summarize a definition of alternative education schools. Read pages 1-8 (Chalker, edition 2006).
Consider these questions in your post:
What elements or qualities make an alternative school different from a traditional school?
What do alternative schools and traditional schools have in common?
Note: This discussion is not a political conversation or debate, but rather an analysis of alternative schools and their qualities and effectiveness. No peer responses are required for this discussion, but please read your groupmates’ definitions and consider them as you develop your individual and group thinking maps, due Thursday and Saturday, respectively.
Support your statements with evidence from the Required Studies and other research. Cite and reference your sources in APA style.
WELCOME TO REIMAGINING THE EDUCATIONAL ENTERPRISE
In this course, you will begin to reimagine schools and programs that are offered using alternative settings and delivery models. You will first read about alternative education through a historical background overview, followed by an exploration of the various types, settings, and delivery models that are warranted for alternative education schools or programs. This course is not just about learning about a school or program design process, however, but also about the framework of developing an innovative approach to learners who need a different type of learning environment. The primary goal of this course is to deepen and extend your knowledge of the strategies needed to design new and innovative alternatives to traditional schools. Planning is one phase in the process of developing an alternative education school or program. This course primarily focuses on school design where the blueprint for an alternative education school is planned and created, but this course will also consider an alternative education program which underpins continual school improvement.
Table 1. Best Practices for Designing an Alternative School or Program (Chalker, 1996/2006)
| Planning | Development | Implementation | Evaluation |
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Before designing an alternative education school or program, it is critical to read about the various alternative education schools or programs that already exist. During the first week of the course, you will read the historical background to alternative education and alternative education programs, which include the types, settings, and delivery options. By collaborating with a peer group, you will be able to brainstorm about an innovative alternative education school or program that your group will design and create throughout the course and present in Week 7. You and your group will then organize and construct a thinking map of your innovative approach to alternative education to be submitted at the end of the week.
Alternative Education Programs
Educators today are realizing there is more than one way to educate a student—whether it is through small group, 1:1 instruction, or as a whole group—students need alternative ways to learn. How many conversations have you had as an educator in reference to students’ needs and the way they learn material today? Make a mental list of all the reasons students are unsuccessful in your local school. Thinking about new innovative alternative education schools or programs, what would alternative education look like to you?
Traditional American education—especially in the form of comprehensive urban public high schools—emphasized mass production, batch processing, scientific management, and concepts imported from business and industry (Tyack, 1974). The need for new and innovative alternatives to traditional schools has never been more critical than it is today. In the past, schools were designed to graduate every student, but statistics indicate that comprehensive high school dropout rates have remained essentially the same for the last 30 years despite significant increases in resources (Heckman & LaFontaine, 2007). Although three million students graduate from traditional high schools each year, one million students fail to graduate (NCES, 2009). Another example of the need for changing schools worldwide is that although Chinese students outrank their peers in the United States and Europe on standardized tests, Chinese intellectuals now see education among the biggest problems facing their country, with students in trite, empty, and deadlocked schools (Johnson, 2014). Changing schools by design for all children and youth is a worthwhile social and educational objective.
What is alternative education? Barr and Parrett (1997, 2008) assert that it is the search for ideal schools that will meet student educational needs and interests. Alternatives to traditional schools should be built upon Dewey’s (1923) premise, “What the best and wisest parent wants for his own child, that must the community want for all of its children” (p. 3). In the context of this course, you should echo Dewey’s belief that you would send your own children to the school you design for your community. Another conviction that helps to define an alternative school or program is that historically, we have tried to change students to fit the schools we have rather than change schools to fit the students we will have. Alternative education is most certainly predicated on the belief that there has to be more than one best way to become educated and that all children can learn (Morley, 2002). Sizer (1997) also argued we should “devoutly believe there is no one best model” (p. 7).
Much confusion exists when considering what type of alternatives may be suited to particular students’ needs, and school leaders should become familiar with the historical debate as to the typology or taxonomy of alternative schools. Raywid (1994) conducted a well-known synthesis of research of alternative schools that defined three types of alternative schools: innovative, last-chance, and remedial. All three types have been in existence for at least the past two decades and are still commonly found in school systems (Foley & Pang, 2006). As you read about the different types, settings, and delivery models of alternative schools, ask yourself which of these you would have preferred to attend if you had been offered the chance as a student.
This week, use scholarly definitions of alternative education as the background to discuss your own definition of alternative schools in the effort to understand the various types, settings, and delivery models of alternative education schools to traditional schools. You will collaborate with a peer group to construct a thinking map of the new innovative alternative education school or program that you each will bring ideas to brainstorm and to discuss. There should be no less than two members and no more than four members in each group. Each week will build upon the previous week until the new innovative alternative education school or program is constructed by you and your group.
References
Barr, R. D., & Parrett, W. H. (1997). How to create alternative, magnet, and charter schools that work.Bloomington, IN: National Educational Service.
Barr, R. D., & Parrett, W. H. (2008). Saving our students, saving our schools. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
Dewey, J. (1923). The school and society. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.
Foley, R. M., & Pang, L. (2006). Alternative education programs: Program and student characteristics. The High School Journal, 89(3), 10-21.
Heckman, J., & LaFontaine, P. (2007). The American high school graduation rate: Trends and levels. Bonn, DE: Institute for the Study of Labor.
Johnson, I. (2014, February 3). Class consciousness: How China’s new bourgeoisie discovers alternative education. The New Yorker, 34-39.
Morley, R. E. (2002). A framework for learning alternatives in Iowa. Iowa Association ofAlternative Education Journal, 3(1), 16-19.
National Center for Education Statistics. (2009). High school dropout and completion rates in the United States: 2007. Washington, DC: United States Department of Education. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2009/2009064.pdf
Raywid, M. A. (1994). Alternative schools: The state of the art. Educational Leadership, 52(1), 26-31.
Sizer, T. R. (1997). Horace’s school: Redesigning the American high school. New York, NY: McGuffy.
Tyack, D. (1974). The one best system: A history of American urban education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
WEEKLY OBJECTIVES
Through participation in the following activities, the candidate will:
Interpret the definition of alternative education.
Group Introductions
Define Alternative Education
Construct a Thinking Map
REQUIRED STUDIES
The following materials are required studies for this week. Complete these studies at the beginning of the week and save these weekly materials for future use.
Effective Alternative Education Programs: Best Practices From Planning Through Evaluating (Chalker, 1996/2006)
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Alternative Education Programs
Read
Alternative Schools: The State of the Art (Raywid, 1994) [Web page]
Title I, Part D, Program Administration Planning Toolkit (NDTAC, 2011) [Web page]
Methods for Conducting an Educational Needs Assessment (McCawley, 2009) [Web page]
Developing a Vision and a Mission (Gabriel & Farmer, 2009) [Web page]
Vision Statement Definitions and Examples (McGowan & Sykes, n.d.) [Web page]
View
If Students Designed Their Own Schools (Tsai, 2013) [Video] [Closed captioned]
Design Frame Template (Concordia University, 2017a) [PPT]
RECOMMENDED STUDIES
These resources are provided to enhance your overall learning experience. For deeper understanding of the weekly concepts, review these optional resources.
Carpenter, D. (2006). Modeling the charter school landscape. Journal of School Choice, 1(2), p.47-82. Retrieved from http://cupdx.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://dx.doi….
Lange C., & Sletten, M. (2002). Alternative education: A brief history and research synthesis. Alexandria, VA: National Association of State Directors of Special Education. Retrieved from http://alternatyvusisugdymas.lt/uploads/2009/12/al…
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