High School Students That Drop

¶ … high school students that drop out of school each year. Some students eventually receive GEDs while others do not receive a high school diploma at all. Still others are able to attend alternative schools. The purpose of this discussion is to examine alternative Educational Resources for Dropout Risk Students in American Public High Schools. More specifically the research will focus on the characteristics of programs that fail and the characteristics of those that succeed. Let us begin our discussion by defining alternative education.

Alternative Education

According to Sekayi (2001) the idea of alternative education quite often has a negative connotation. It is often believed that such an education is only for delinquent students. However the author points out that the concept of alternative education dates back to the philosopher John Dewey and his progressive ideals of education ( Sekayi 2001). However an organized move towards the proliferation of alternative schools did not occur until the 1960's and 1970's (Sekayi 2001). During this time definitions of alternative schools began to arise. In most cases "alternative schools generally have in common is "the centrality of the learner and his or her experience, the importance of personal meaning, and a repudiation that there is one best way to educate all students" (pg. 548). In fact, as Sanoff (1994) writes, "the very high rate of high school dropouts each year supports the assertion that standard offerings do not meet the needs of all students" (pg. 97)."

The author further asserts that Alternative education can differ greatly in structure from one place to another. For instance, in some locations alternative education consists of separate schools, part time schools and schools within schools. In addition, alternative schools have developed differing philosophies as it relates to the curriculums utilized (Sekayi 2001). For example some schools are theme-based or centered around a certain culture, while others have religious affiliations (Sekayi 2001). The author also points out that in some cases alternative schools are designed to encourage a certain philosophy; however in most cases the schools are centered on assisting students that have been unsuccessful in mainstream classrooms or students that are believed to be at risk (Freisen, et al., 1999).

At risk students are those that are likely to drop out of high school (Dunn, 2004). Most school districts want to ensure that as many students as possible graduate from high school. Graduating from high school is critical because not doing so is an indicator of many negative consequences in the future. Research has shown that people that do not receive a high school diploma are more likely to live in poverty, commit crimes and have shorter life expectancy. As such educational systems around the country have created alternative schools to encourage at risk students to complete high school.

Examples of Alternative schools and resources for at risk students

One program that exists in the suburb of a mid west city is the Branton Institute. The Branton Institute is a full day, one year program that works in conjunction with Baldwin High School (Sekayi 2001). The author explains that although Baldwin High School is half African-American and half Caucasian, most of the students as that Branton Institute are African-American males (Sekayi 2001).

This particular school is designed to meet the needs of student that are Underachieving in the regular school environment but capable of achieving more form an academic standpoint (Sekayi 2001). In most cases students are invited to attend the Branton Institute from the eighth grade (Sekayi 2001). In addition students can also be invited for the ninth and tenth grade of Baldwin High School (Sekayi 2001). According to Duke and Canady (1991) there are four types of programs for "at risk" students, Branton is a remediation program. The author further asserts

"The purpose of a remedial/compensatory programs is to intervene in the regular educational program of at-risk students in order to correct learning deficiencies and increase the odds that students will improve their performance in conventional classroom settings" (pg. 58). The mantra of Branton Institute community is "a second chance." This program is viewed as providing a second chance to experience academic success at Baldwin High (Sekayi 2001)."

Sekayi (2001) conducted a study of this particular school. The author also explains that even though students are invited to attend the school, families decide whether or not the child actually enters the school (Sekayi 2001). This particular school has a capacity of 75 students and during the time of the study Sixty-four students made a decision to come to the school. At the end of year 57 of these students had remained at the school. The author asserts that one of the main purposes of the study was to determine what made this alternative school so different from traditional schooling. Some researchers have suggested that alternative schooling must consist of choices and that the community of an alternative school must differ form the community of a traditional school.

Over the course of the study the researcher found that difference in the school community were most related to class size, physical space and teachers' attitudes.

However, the researcher found that the actual curriculum w as very conventional and so was the approach to teaching, with the exceptions of some of the instructors. The researcher also found that even though there has been a great deal of research conducted about educating African-American Children, the Banton Institute had not adopted a teaching model which explicitly addressed the vast majority of the students that attend the alternative school which are African-Americans (Sekayi 2001). The research also found that the students were resistant to the conventional approach of teaching because they had the expectation that the alternative school would be different in terms of what was being taught (Sekayi 2001).

Throughout the time that the researcher spent at the Banton Institute he found that many of the students had no desire to be there (Sekayi 2001). The researcher also found that the whole atmosphere of the school was filled with resistance (Sekayi 2001). The author explains that "This resistance, and the adult response to it, would threaten the creation of a strong positive ethos, which Grant (1988) argues can be the difference between a school that works and one that does not (Sekayi 2001)."

Although the researcher found that the Banton Institute experienced some problems with actually performing as an alternative school (it seems that the institute was simply a smaller version of a traditional school) other alternative schools have embraced curriculum and learning styles that truly reflect an alternative learning environment for students.

Such an alternative school exists in Brooks County. This school is called the Center for Alternative Learning. Part of the reason that the school has been effective in assisting alternative students is the emphasis that is placed on understanding the different types of dropouts. According to Kennedy et al. (1999) many alternative schools must adopt a new mindset as it relates to how to meeting the needs of at risk or dropout students. According to Kronick and Hargis, (1990) there are four types of dropouts

The manner in which students respond to frustration and failure in school is the foundation for defining differing types of dropouts. The types of dropouts are as follows:

1. Quiet dropouts -- these are low-achieving students who fail over a period of time, and as such they tend to, drop out of school when they become of legal age to do so (Kennedy et al. 1999).

2. Disruptive dropouts- these tend to be students that are low-achievers and have the tendency to act out their frustration at not succeeding in school (Kennedy et al. 1999). In many cases this type of student is suspended for substantial periods of time or expelled from public school (Kennedy et al. 1999). This type of student is often labeled a pushout (Kennedy et al. 1999).

3. High academic achievers -- these are usually students that are high achievers and are not being challenged in the traditional classroom setting (Kennedy et al. 1999). Most often these students dropout or are pushed out because of boredom and conflict to inflexible school rules (Kennedy et al. 1999).

4. in-school dropouts- most often these are students that are perceived to be nonachievers or minimal achievers who do not display disruptive behaviors (Kennedy et al. 1999).

The Center for Alternative Learning found that it could best assist student were disruptive dropouts (Kennedy et al. 1999). It is important to note that the school understood that is did not have the capacity or the expertise to assist every type of dropout (Kennedy et al. 1999). As such the school chose to focus on the dropout that it could help.

According to the author the Center for Alternative Learning was developed by a small group of educators led by Dr. Janet Dale (pseudonym), who had also served as the superintendent of Brook County Schools (Kennedy et al. 1999). Under her leadership the Center for Alternative Learning was developed as a grant-supported, nonprofit public school for senior students who had been expelled from the public school (Kennedy et al. 1999). The purpose of the school was to allow these students to earn their high school diploma (Kennedy et al. 1999). The board of directors for the school included administrators who were teachers at the time or retired teachers (Kennedy et al. 1999). For researchers, the purpose of studying this particular school was to examine the manner in which the school evolved over a ten-year period and to see what educators learned as a result of teaching this particular population of students (Kennedy et al. 1999).

The school began in 1980 and was contained in a single room of an elementary school with two teachers and an office. Consultants of the program went to nearby schools to make administrators and students aware of the program that would allow at risk students and drop outs to receive their high school diplomas (Kennedy et al. 1999). Initially the program was designed so that no student admitted to the alternative school could be suspended (Kennedy et al. 1999).

The creators of this school believed that these particular students needed to learn social interaction and how to deal with the rules of society (Kennedy et al. 1999). The program was also designed to have small class sizes and each class featured an assistant and a counselor. Eventually the school grew in popularity as students began to graduate from the school. Eventually there was a waiting list to enter the school. Once students had enough credits to graduate they actually returned to their high schools to graduate with their class (Kennedy et al. 1999). In addition the alternative school always celebrated the accomplishments of students.

A great deal of the success that this school realized had to do with the strategies that were created to teach dropouts. According to the authors the administrators understood that the school would be the last chance for many students. They also recognized that conventional schooling had failed these students. One administrator explains

"We assumed that students were given work to accomplish in public school that they were incapable of doing. Therefore, we began with an individual education program (IEP) for every student as though each was a special education student. We might have a student who was performing at second-grade level in math and at tenth-grade level in English. Although it seems logical that teachers would be sensitive to the abilities of their students when they assign work, they are sometimes, for several reasons, not able to meet the needs of individual students who have fallen behind (Kennedy et al. 1999, pg 103)."

The author points out that the tracking system in public schools places students on an educational path that moves forward very quickly. In addition, the goal of public school curriculum is to cover the mandatory material instead of monitoring the ability of students to understand the material (Kennedy et al. 1999). In addition, the daily class changes mean that some students do not get the attention that they need. Also some students fall through the cracks because teachers do not communicate with one another (Kennedy et al. 1999). In addition, students often believe that if they lack the skills needed to complete a task it is the teacher's duty to teach them how to complete the task. On the other hand, teachers believe that their purpose is to teach the lesson and that it is up to the student to accomplish the task, or to seek help if they are having difficulty completing the assignments (Kennedy et al. 1999). The author insists that this disagreement about who is responsible is the root of the problem in many traditional classrooms (Kennedy et al. 1999).

The Center for alternative learning understood that this conflict existed and needed to be addressed in the educating of drop out students (Kennedy et al. 1999). The administrators and teachers of the alternative school also recognized that students needed to experience academic success and that such success needed to be acknowledged (Kennedy et al. 1999). Therefore the students at the school that only had the capacity to complete second-grade-level work were given that level of work and carefully guided through the work (Kennedy et al. 1999). In addition, teachers at the alternative school made certain that the work that was assigned was also work that the students had the capacity to complete (Kennedy et al. 1999).

The author points out that such a strategy seems so practical but it is a difficult strategy to implement at the public school level because teachers are responsible for so many students (Kennedy et al. 1999). As such students get lost in the system and end up dropping out of school. In addition many students that have dropped out of the public school system have asserted that teachers often show favoritism. The author explains "The most frequent comment from at-risk students about public school teachers was that they showed favoritism. Teacher favoritism results when some students acquire the social skills that a business expects from its workers. Those students coming from business-oriented families or from academic families have a far greater advantage in our public school system than do those students coming from poverty-stricken homes (Kennedy et al. 1999, pg 104)."