Therefore. alternative education is a means of incorporating a variety of strategies and choices of environment within the school system to 'ensure that every young person finds a path to the educational goals of the community'. (Iowa Association of Alternative Education).

Three avenues for presenting alternative education can be identified across school systems:

1.  Alternative schools - both public and private
2.  Alternative programs for students using varying approaches for students to pursue common goals with the same school.
3.   Teaching strategies, beliefs and support services that facilitate growth in academic, personal/social and career development initiatives.

The REAL School represents alternative education in both the first and third of these avenues.  As a public alternative day school it has autonomy from other mainstream education institutions.  Through this autonomy it is able to present teaching approaches and support services that specifically address the needs of the students.  Features of these are described in other publications or pages of this website about the school and include:

• focus on experiential education
• integrated curriculum
• therapeutic adventure experiences
• conflict resolution/anger management skills training
• individualised programming

Types of Alternative Education Programs

From the literature on alternative education there is a general acceptance of Raywid's (1990) identification of three categories for alternative programs based on their underlying assumptions and goals.

True educational alternatives:
Based on the theory that all students can learn if provided with the right educational environment, these programs strive to meet students' needs in order to help them succeed.

Alternative discipline programs:
These 'last chance' programs for disruptive students focus on behaviour modification.  They attempt to change students by teaching compliance skills and return them to their traditional schools or classrooms.

Therapeutic Programs:
Like the previous type, these programs assume that students need to change to succeed in traditional schools.  They elicit change through counseling, rather than through behaviour modification.

From Raywid's review it was suggested that the first type of alternative program - true educational alternatives are the most successful.  In contrast, alternative discipline programs rarely lead to substantial gains for students.  Therapeutic programs have more mixed results with students often making progress while in the program but regress when they return to a traditional one.

While the REAL School does maintain some emphasis on behaviour modification and therapeutic intervention it does so within the context of a true educational alternative.  To service the diverse needs of the students the REAL School must remain flexible to all the educational possibilities available and create avenues of support to enable these possibilities to be implemented.
 

Effective Strategies for Alternative Education Programs

Aronson (1995) identifies from a number of studies the characteristics of successful alternative education programs.  The most easily recognisable aspects these programs included such features as there culture or climate, organisational structure, curriculum and instruction, and their links to other programs and services.  The creative design of programs to meet the specific needs of students and community necessitates that the way programs look may vary, however, these general features exist across the range of successful programs.  The outline developed by Aronson was identified from a variety of studies (Butchart 1986; Jacobs 1994; Kadel 1994; Kershaw & Blank 1993; Morley 1991; Raywid 1994; Rogers 1991).

Successful Features of Alternative Education Programs

Culture and Climate

• Students and teachers have the choice to participate in the program or school.
• Focus on whole student and their academic, emotional/social and behavioural development.
• Warm, caring relationships between members of the school community 
• Teachers act not only as teachers but as counselors, advisors and mentors.
• High but flexible expectations for students

Organisational Structure

• Small size - both schools and classes are small to foster a sense of community, and to enable personal interaction between teachers/students.
• Relative autonomy.  Most successful alternative education programs have some degree of freedom from standard district and mainstream school operating procedures.  Teachers and often students participate in the management and decision making.
• Comprehensive program including experiential education and vocational components to provide links between the school and the student's future life.
• Counseling programs are integrated into the curriculum of the school
• safe environment.  Clear behaviour expectations and disciple administered with fairness and consistency.
• Separation from the traditional school.  Programs achieve separation either by establishing themselves in a distinct area of the traditional school or by moving to a different location entirely.

Curriculum and Instruction

• Successful programs give teachers flexibility in designing strategies and methods that will work with their students.  Specific strategies include individual learning, cooperative ;learning, competency based learning, team teaching, peer tutoring, tutoring, teaching to multiple intelligences and an absence of tracking.  curriculum varies from a focus on basic skills to whose working on personal development and behaviour.

System-wide Features

• School linked support services with parents, communities and access to basic health and social services are important features of many programs.

From this short review of the literature on alternative education it appear that the REAL School is incorporating the major features characteristic of successful programs. It fits into Raywid's definition of a true education alternative based on the underlying philosophy of the program.

Evidence of this 'fit' can be found in the following characteristics which define the operation of the REAL School:

• Autonomy through independent funding through tuition and a policy for alternative education with the school district which allows for flexibility and special consideration in programming.
• Small size - maximum of 42 students within the school with a teacher/student ratio of 7:1, and a student to support staff ratio of 8:1.
• Focus on the whole student with curriculum that considers the academic, social, behavioural, emotional and vocational needs of the student.
• Student attendance of between 80% to 100% on any given day.
• Team teaching structure to provide strong staff/students relationships and support within staff.
• Use of treatment team meetings and teacher training to develop an active role for teachers as counselors, mentors and advisors.
• Whole school meetings and activities to foster a sense of community within the school.
• High expectations for students to maintain attendance, participate in school activities and make an improvement in their social/emotional/behavioural skills.
• Strong experiential education component in curriculum and counseling approaches through therapeutic adventure activities.
• Clear bottom line discipline guidelines to provide a safe environment for staff and students.
• Separate location with clear identity separate from other schools and district programs.
• Strong links with parents, sending school districts. schools and community agencies such as substance abuse agencies, justice department, family therapists and social service providers.
• Integrated curriculum allowing flexibility with course content and a focus on learning styles and the individual needs of students.
• Provision of school administrators, counseling, clerical and educational technician (teacher's aide) positions to provide support to teachers and independence from in the management of funding and alternative education programs.
• Active involvement in the community through community service and academic programs that involve members of the community in the classroom and students working in the community.

While these characteristics provide a strong framework for the success of the REAL School, further evaluation of the outcomes of the program would be beneficial in further defining the success of the program.  Indicators that could be considered in this evaluation include:

• Attendance rates
• Dropout rates
• Completion of courses
• Parental involvement
• Attitudes towards the school both during and after attendance
• Productivity in the community after school
• Higher satisfaction of social needs, self esteem, security and self actualisation
• Rate and level of behaviour problems

The REAL School continues to generate a strong model for programs looking to use a model of alternative education as the basic for meeting the needs of students with special needs.  From the summary of the literature provided and the brief outline of how the REAL School is situated within the characteristics of alternative education, it is hoped that a clearer understanding of the assumptions driving the operation of the REAL School is evident.

References

Aronson, S.R.  1995  Alternative Learning Environments: (Insights on Education Policy, Practice, and Research, Number 6).  Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, Texas

Butchart, R.E.  1986  Dropout prevention through alternative high schools: A study of the national experience.  New York: Elmira Board of Cooperative Educational Services. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 273 872)

Iowa Association of Alternative Education  1990  Brochure available from Kathy Knudtson, 1212 7th St. S.E., Cedar Falls, IA 52401

Jacobs, B.  1994  Recommendations for alternative education.  A Report to the joint Select committee to Review the Central Education Agency.  Texas Youth Commission.

Kadel, S.  1994  Reengineering high schools for student success.  Hot topics: Usable research.  Palatka, Florida: SouthEastern Regional Vision for education.  (ERIC Document Number 366 076)

Kershaw, C.A. & Blank, M.A.  1993  Student and education perceptions of the impact of an alternative school structure.  Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Research Association, Atlanta, GA.

Morley, R. E.  1991  Alternative Education.  Dropout prevention research reports.  Clemson, South Carolina: National Dropout Prevention Center.  (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. 349 652)

Raywid, M. A.  1990   Alternative Education: The definition problem.  Changing Schools, 18, 4-5, 10.

Raywid,  M.A.  1994  Focus schools: A genre to consider. New York:  ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education, Institute for Urban and Minority Education.

Rogers,  P.C.  1991  At-risk programs: Assessment issues.  Center for At-Risk Students, 2, 1-4.  Newsletter from the former Center for at-Risk Students housed at La Guardia Community College, Long Island City, New York.