Alternatives of the latter type are often the result of education reform and are rooted in various philosophies that are commonly fundamentally different from those of traditional compulsory education. While some have strong political, scholarly, or philosophical orientations, others are more informal associations of teachers and students dissatisfied with certain aspects of traditional education. These alternatives, which include charter schools, alternative schools, independent schools, and home-based learning vary widely, but often emphasize the value of small class size, close relationships between students and teachers, and a sense of community.
Alternative education, also known as non-traditional education or educational alternative, includes a number of approaches to teaching and learning other than mainstream or traditional education. Educational alternatives are often rooted in various philosophies that are fundamentally different from those of mainstream or traditional education. While some have strong political, scholarly, or philosophical orientations, others are more informal associations of teachers and students dissatisfied with some aspect of mainstream or traditional education. Educational alternatives, which include charter schools, alternative schools, independent schools, and home-based learning vary widely, but often emphasize the value of small class size, close relationships between students and teachers, and a sense of community.
Terminology
Other words used in place of alternative by many educational professionals include non-traditional, non-conventional, or non-standardized, although these terms are used somewhat less frequently and may have negative connotations and multiple meanings. Those involved in forms of education which differ in their educational philosophy (as opposed to their intended pupil base) often use words such as authentic, holistic, and progressive as well. However, these words each have different meanings which are more specific or more ambiguous than the term alternative.
Origins
While pedagogical controversy is very old, "alternative education" presupposes some kind of orthodoxy to which the alternative is opposed. In general, this limits the term to the last two or perhaps three centuries, with the rise of standardized and, later, compulsory education at the primary and secondary levels. Many critics in this period have suggested that the education of young people should be undertaken in radically different ways than ones in practice. In the 19th century, the Swiss humanitarian Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi; the American transcendentalists Amos Bronson Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau; the founders of progressive education, John Dewey and Francis Parker; and educational pioneers, such as Maria Montessori and Rudolf Steiner (founder of the Waldorf schools); among others, all insisted that education should be understood as the art of cultivating the moral, emotional, physical, psychological, and spiritual aspects of the developing child. Anarchists such as Leo Tolstoy and Francisco Ferrer y Guardia emphasized education as a force for political liberation, secularism, and elimination of class distinctions. After World War II the Reggio Emilia approach was developed in Italy in the town of that name.
More recently, social critics such as John Caldwell Holt, Paul Goodman, Frederick Mayer, George Dennison and Ivan Illich have examined education from more individualist, anarchist, and libertarian perspectives, that is, critiques of the ways that they feel conventional education subverts democracy by molding young people's understandings. Other writers, from the revolutionary Paulo Freire to American educators like Herbert Kohl and Jonathan Kozol, have criticized mainstream Western education from the viewpoint of their varied left-liberal and radical politics. Ron Miller has identified five core elements common to many contemporary educational alternatives:
1.Respect for every person
2.Balance
3.Decentralization of authority
4.Noninterference between political, economic, and cultural spheres of society
5.A holistic worldview
Modern forms
A wide variety of educational alternatives exist at the elementary, secondary, and tertiary levels of education. These generally fall into four major categories: school choice, alternative school, independent school, and home-based education. These general categories can be further broken down into more specific practices and methodologies.
School choice
The public school options include entirely separate schools in their own settings as well as classes, programs, and even semi-autonomous "schools within schools." Public school choice options are open to all students in their communities, though some have waiting lists. Among these are charter schools, combining private initiatives and state funding; and magnet schools, which attract students to particular themes, such as performing arts.
Alternative school
An alternative school is an educational establishment with a curriculum and methods that are nontraditional.
Many such schools were founded in the United States in the 1970s as an alternative to mainstream or traditional classroom structure A wide range of philosophies and teaching methods are offered by alternative schools; some have strong political, scholarly, or philosophical orientations, while others are more ad-hoc assemblies of teachers and students dissatisfied with some aspect of mainstream or traditional education. In 2003 there were approximately 70 alternative schools in the United Kingdom. In the UK public funding is not available for alternative schools and therefore alternative schools are usually fee-paying institutions. In the USA an increasing number of public school systems are offering alternative streams (language-immersion, Montessori, Waldorf), but the majority of alternative schools are still independent and thus without financial support from the government.
In addition to schools providing an academic alternative, some states in the U.S. have established alternative schools for students who have had disciplinary or social challenges. In some states such schools are organized to have a strong punitive aspect emphasizing discipline and provide a greatly inferior education. It is common in those states for children found to be delinquent by courts to be sentenced to alternative school as a punishment. It is also common in the United States for public school systems to operate alternative schools as a place to segregate special needs students, such as students with emotional disabilities. In such cases they are often mixed with delinquents.
Certain alternative education initiatives have been created for Alternative Schools to help students achieve. These programs are found in either separate alternative schools entirely or a separate school program within a mainstream school:
Alternative Education of At-Risk Students and Drop Out PreventionAdvocates of programs designed to prevent or discourage students from leaving school before they graduate (usually from high school) believe that leaving school without a diploma negatively impacts the lives of individuals both their professional and personal lives.
Professionally, income is a direct reflection of educational attainment, and the difference between those who have obtained a diploma or degree and those who have not is large. The average annual income of high school dropouts in 2007 was $8,358, while students with a high school diploma earned $14,601 and those with a college degree accrued close to three times as much ($24,797). Their personal lives are also in jeopardy because dropping out of high school correlates with incarceration rates. When focusing on black males in particular, around one in 10 high school dropouts enter the prison system. As a whole, high school dropouts were 63 times more likely to be institutionalized than four-year college graduates in 2006-2007.
Advocates also argue that it has a negative societal impact. The U.S. is losing economic viability from having fewer educated citizens. For example, looking at a single state impact, Georgia, losing a total of nearly $16 billion of lifetime earnings solely from the 61,500 students who did not graduate in 2010.
Possible Causes for Dropping Out
Data on determining risk factors can serve as predicting variables for students dropping out. Moreover, high risk students in alternative schools encounter formidable challenges that can further increase their risk. Finn discusses risk factors in his 1989 work, "Withdrawing from School" (as cited by Dynarski & Gleason, 2002). He creates two theoretical models in his attempt to examine the reasons students leave school without high school diplomas. In his “frustration-self-esteem model,” poor past academic performance leads to an “impaired self-view,” and "negative emotions" caused by this eventually cause the student to leave school (Dynarski & Gleason, 2002 p. 45). Other possible causes have been examined in various studies. Gleason and Dynarksi cited studies finding that a student’s family income, socioeconomic status, and parental level of schooling are correlated with early school withdrawal. Limited English ability, membership to a family which receives welfare, neglect, having caregivers with drug addictions, other family members dropping out of school, needing to support family, and personal safety issues may also be correlated with the act of leaving school without a diploma. Non-profit organizations like the Association for High School Innovation, originally the Alternative High School Initiative, and Diploma Plus, Inc. have developed as a response to the growing national trend of diminishing graduation rates, especially as they impacted the United States' low income, minority youth. Drop Out Prevention MethodsIndividual schools in the U.S. have tried to tackle the problem through their own program initiatives. Three that have been used and studied for success are: the Check & Connect program; the Career Academies initiative; and the Talent Development High School model. The Check & Connect Program This alternative is a dropout prevention model that was developed in Minnesota through a partnership with the University of Minnesota, the local public schools and community service organizations. It was used in the Minneapolis public schools, specifically focusing in on students with learning, emotional and behavioral disabilities. The “Check” portion pairs each student with a mentor, deemed a “monitor”. This mentor figure assesses attendance, academics and overall performance with regular discussions about twice a month. The “Connect” aspect utilizes this individualized attention to connect this student with school personnel, family and community service providers that can intervene to keep the student on track.
Effectiveness
A 1998 study conducted by Sinclair and colleagues shows overall positive effects on 94 high school students from Minneapolis public schools in the Check & Connect program. The study found that students enrolled in the program were significantly less likely to have dropped out of school after the end of freshman year (9% compared with 30%). This positive outcome remained after the final check-up at the end of senior year—39% of students enrolled dropped out of high school compared to 58% of those not enrolled. In addition to actually staying in school, the study also found the students’ progress in school to be positive as well; Check & Connect students earned more course credits in their night-grade year than non-intervention students.
Cost Efficiency
According to the Dakota County schools in Minnesota, the cost of implementing the Check & Connect program is around $1,400 per student in 2001-2002. This model is very cost-inefficient, and now in 2011, the total may even be costlier.
The Career Academies Initiative
This alternative intervenes to target the most at-risk students. The Career Academies is a school-within-a-school model with a career-themed approach to learning. Developed 35 years ago, this alternative has evolved and around 2,500 academies are operated nationwide. It tends to be found in larger high schools and helps create a smaller community by keeping students with the same teachers for three or fours years of high school. The program requires students to take the career-related courses with the “Academy” in subjects such as finance or technology and even partners with local employers to offer internship opportunities.
Effectiveness
A 2000 study conducted by Kemple and Snipes shows overall positive effects for 1,700 high school students in nine different Career Academies. The study found that the most at-risk students participating in the program produced significantly fewer dropouts (21% compared with 32%). When assessing progress in school, the high-risk students earned more credits by their senior year and 40% had earned enough credits to graduate, as opposed to only 25% of non-intervention students, posting positive results for the program.
Cost Efficiency
According to the California Partnership Academies, average cost estimates for the Career Academies intervention are $600 more per pupil than the average cost for a non-Academy student in 2004. This figure does not include additional costs of intensive services for high-risk students.
The Talent Development High School Model
This alternative was developed in 1994 by The Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed at Risk and initiated at Patterson High School in Baltimore, Maryland. The Talent Development High School (TDHS) approach is an entire reform intervention, with dropout prevention as one component. It includes breaking the larger high school into smaller learning communities, like Career Academies, but is more extensive. There is a separate ninth grade academy, a career academy for the upper grades and an additional “Twilight School” afterschool program for those with chronic discipline and attendance issues. This model hones in on reforming students’ low expectations and schools’ poor academic preparation through a college-preparatory sequence in ninth and tenth grade as well as increased focus on English and Math courses.
Effectiveness
A 2005 study conducted by Kemple, Herlihy, and Smith, which followed 30 cohorts of participants for four years in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, shows positive effects of the Talent Development High School (TDHS) model, primarily on academic progress. The study found that students using this model earned more course credits over the first two years of high school than those not in the program (9.5 credits compared with 8.6 credits). These students were also more likely to move onto the tenth grade (68% compared with 60%).
Cost Efficiency
According to Johns Hopkins University 's Center for the Social Organization of Schools (CSOS), the developer of the initiative, average costs for a student participating in the Talent Development High School model run an additional $350 a year per student. This estimate includes the cost of materials and ongoing technical assistance. These are just three of many possible alternative education models to help at-risk students The matter has also gained national attention. On March 1, 2010, President Barack Obama called on states to identify and focus on schools with graduation rates below 60 percent. Those districts could be eligible for federal aid as his budget proposal includes $900 million in "school turnaround grants" on top of $3.5 billion in federal dollars the administration has committed to persistently low-performing schools. With respect to keeping students engaged and on-track to graduation specifically, he committed $50 million to the Graduation Promise Fund.
Popular education
Popular education was related in the 19th century to the workers' movement. Such experiences have been continued through-out the 20th century, such as the folk high schools in Scandinavian countries, or the "popular universities" in France.
Independent school
Independent, or private, schools have more flexibility in staff selection and educational approach. The most plentiful of these are Montessori schools, Waldorf schools (the latter are also called Steiner schools after their founder), and Friends schools. Other independent schools include democratic, or free schools such as Sands School, Summerhill School and Sudbury Valley School, Krishnamurti schools, open classroom schools, those based on experiential education, as well as schools which teach using international curriculum such as the International Baccalaureate and Round Square schools. An increasing number of traditionally independent school forms now also exist within state-run, public education; this is especially true of the Waldorf and Montessori schools. The majority of independent schools offer at least partial scholarships.
Home-based education
Families who seek alternatives based on educational, philosophical, or religious reasons, or if there appears to be no nearby educational alternative can decide to have home-based education. Some call themselves unschoolers, for they follow an approach based on interest, rather than a set curriculum. Others enroll in umbrella schools which provide a curriculum to follow. Many choose this alternative for religious-based reasons, but practitioners of home-based education are of all backgrounds and philosophies. OtherThere are also some interesting grey areas. For instance, home-educators have combined to create resource centers where they meet as often as five or more days a week, but their members all consider themselves home-educated. In some states publicly run school districts have set up programs for homeschoolers whereby they are considered enrolled, and have access to school resources and facilities. Also, many traditional schools have incorporated methods originally found only in alternative education into their general approach, so the line between alternative and mainstream education is continually becoming more blurred. There are a number of education-based after school options, which can also referred to as out of school learning, which are available to students. For example, Policy Debate, or a number of other types of debate, offer students the opportunity to learn skills which are not taught in classrooms. In debate, students are taught how to read and think critically, how to analyze books, newspaper and magazine articles, and how to speak persuasively. Students are also exposed to politics, world news, public policy, philosophy, economics, and international relations. Alternative schooling in different countries Australia Preshil, in Kew, Australia, was established in the 1930s. Alia College, in Hawthorn East, Australia, was established in 1999. They are two of the few alternative schools in Australia that are unaffiliated with any doctrinal or theological movement. Preshil's primary school has run since established by Margaret Lyttle in 1931, and the secondary school since the late 1970s. See also Village School, Vic; Currambena School, NSW; Melbourne Community School, Vic; Collingwood College, Vic; Fitzroy Community School, Vic; Lynall Hall, Vic; Berengarra, Vic Candlebark School, Vic; Brisbane Independent School, Qld; Pine Community School, Arana Hills, Qld. The Pavilion, West Heidelberg, Vic
India Further information
Homeschooling and Alternative Education in India
In India, from the early 20th century, some educational theorists discussed and implemented radically different forms of education. Rabindranath Tagore's Visva-Bharati University, Sri Aurobindo's Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education and Mahatma Gandhi's ideal of "basic education" are prime examples. In recent years many new alternative schools have formed including Kanavu in Wyanadu, Kerala, Timbaktoo Collective, and The Peepal Grove School (Andhra Pradesh). A traditional system of learning in India is now regarded[by whom as a basis for developing new methods of alternative schooling. Students used to stay in Gurukulas, where they received free food and shelter, and education from a "guru" ("teacher" in Sanskrit). Progress was not based on examinations and marks; tests were given by the gurus but not ranks. This system aimed to nurture the students' natural creativity and all-round personality development. While the mainstream education system in India is still based on that introduced by Lord Macaulay, a few projects aim to rejuvenate the early system, Some students in these and similar projects take up research work in the field of Sanskrit studies, Vedic studies, Vedic science, Yoga and Ayurveda. Others after completing their education in a Gurukula continue into regular mainstream education such as Bachelor degrees in Commerce, Science, Engineering etc. Japan Meiji, Taisho, Showa eras (up to World War II)Japan’s first law on the school system, modeled after France, was proclaimed in 1872, but the word “compulsory education” did not appear in the law until 1886.
"The New Education (Neue Erziehung) movement" started at a British school Abbotsholme (founded in 1889) reached Japan, where it turned into "Taisho-era Free Education Movement" (Taisho Jiyu Kyoiku Undo. They tried to establish a system focusing on children’s interests and to provide a liberal learning environment instead of the standardized inflexible system. Schools were founded, both public and private, based on this concept.
All public schools built under this new movement were subjected to the Militaristic and Nationalistic government control and turned into National Schools (Kokumin Gakko) in 1941, modeled after Nazi’s primary education system. Many private schools survived and still exist today. Almost all of them maintain the Western influence, however some have lost its roots and enthusiasm. Others are still strongly known as a “unique school” such as Jiyu Gakuen for its high student-autonomy, Tamagawa Gakuen as the only Round Square member school in Japan, and the Rudolf Steiner School Fuji, the oldest of the Waldorf schools in the country.
After World War II Japan’s recovery efforts from World War II and the subsequent so-called post-war economic miracle encouraged the mass production of educated work force and the highly competitive entrance exams, which gave little space for alternative education. All children with disabilities, regardless of the severity, were finally allowed to Special Schools (Yogo Gakko) in 1979.
To this date Japanese education has been run as a nation-wide standardized system under the full control of the Ministry of Education. The only alternative option has been accredited private schools that have more freedom to offer different curriculum including the choice of textbooks (public schools can use only the government approved textbooks) and foreign languages, teaching methods, hiring guidelines. However, almost all of these private schools require competitive entrance examination and tuition with very few scholarships available.
In the 1970s and early 1980s school violence was the major problem. Private non-accredited Totsuka Yacht School , one of such schools for correctional education, had multiple deaths and missing incidents.
Some public and private schools, usually non-competitive ones, had been functioning as American-equivalent of alternative schools to accept "at-risk” students, though most of them never claimed themselves as one. A private boarding High school, Hokusei-Gakuen Yoichi , being one of the few exceptions, admitted its status as the alternative school and started to accept High school drop outs from all over the country since 1988.
1980s to present Since 1980s the problem shifted from violence against people and property to ijime (bullying by peers) to drive the victim into School refusal, Hikikomori (acute social withdrawal) and the worst case, suicide. It is 1980s that the second wave of alternative education movement came in.
There exist two different forces that triggered the interest in alternative education: Ijime and Globalization.
Ijime and Free Schools
Free school is the term used in Japan to describe a non-profit groups or independent schools specialized in the care and education of children who refused to go to school. Tokyo Shure founded in 1985, modeled after the American democratic school) was the beginning of the Free School emergence in Japan. It started as a shelter for children who avoid school environment, then introduced homeschooling in 1998, creating several branches around Tokyo. It was approved as a Non-profit organization in 2000 to run a college, Shure University. Japanese free schools have various policies and curricula. Though most of them are democratic schools, there are Jukus (cram schools) that house school-refusal children.
Learned from China’s Special Economic Zone policy, Japan introduced Special Zones for Structural Reform in 2003, which enables to open a government-accredited school that provides alternative education. The first school founded in 2005 under the new law was a charter school called Gunma Kokusai Academy , an English immersion school for grades 1 through 12. Tokyo Shure also started a free school-based junior high school in 2007 in the special zone of Katsushika, Tokyo.
Globalization and International schools
More and more parents are interested in sending their children to International schools to acquire native-level command of foreign language (English mostly), with a possible plan of higher education outside of Japan. Although International schools are not legally certified by the Japanese government, many of them are approved by its home country such as US, Canada, Germany, France, Korea and China, and some offer the International Baccalaureate program. For the past two decades or so, International, especially American or English-based, schools have been very popular in spite of its costly tuition, however the new trend in the early 21st century is Chinese schools. In expectation of China’s rapid economic growth, many think knowledge of the Chinese language and culture will be valuable. Compared to American school, which covers all the materials in English only, Chinese schools teach Chinese, Japanese and English for only a 1/8 to 1/4 of what an American school charges for a tuition.
United Kingdom In the United Kingdom parents have a right to educate their children outside school. Education Otherwise is a charity set up to support those who educate their children outside school.
Summerhill School, established by A.S. Neill in 1921 is known for its alternative approach to education. It is a boarding school (although it also takes day students) where students choose whether or not to attend classes. It is run as a democracy with children and teachers having equal voting rights at school meetings which are held 2-3 times a week.
There are a number of Steiner-Waldorf schools in the UK.
Sands School is an alternative school in the UK. It has only 65 students, with a high ratio of teachers. The students learn at their own pace in a supportive environment. The school is run democratically, with the students having as much say in how the school is run as the staff. Decisions are made by voting in a weekly school meeting, where matters ranging from what colour the new carpets should be, to the employment of new staff. The school offers a full range of subjects, and attendance to lessons is negotiated, not compulsory. The school also educates students on a larger range than most schools, and gives students choice in what they can learn. Their interests form a large part of what is offered in the curriculum.
United States New Vista High School in Boulder, Colorado is a small public high school that "emphasizes project learning, multi-cultural perspectives, active involvement in the community." Open since 1993, the school helps a wide variety of students find their passions, through focused and unique classes, off-campus activities, and a supportive school community. Serving a heterogeneous student body, the school not only educates students in the conventional subjects and prepare them for a variety of post secondary programs, but also "helps each student identify and pursue interests or talents at which they are genuinely motivated to excel."
Another example of an alternative high school in the United States is Holden High School (California) in Orinda. Holden is a part of the National Coalition of Alternative and Community Schools (NCACS) and is accredited by the NCACS's legal counter-part, the National Association for the Legal Support of Alternative Schools (NALSAS).
Another example of an alternative high school is the Fusion Academy in California. Fusion operates on the philosophy of Caring, Acceptance, Tolerance, and Empathy (CATE) and is accredited by Western Association of Schools & Colleges (WASC), National Independent Private Schools Association (NIPSA), and National Council for Private School Accreditation (NCPSA).
At the level of higher education several alternative practices have arisen, especially since the late 20th century. Colleges such as Bennington College, Evergreen State College, Goddard College, Union Institute & University, Hampshire College, Johnston Center at the University of Redlands, and New College of Florida have no grades, for instance, and use only narrative evaluations for assessment. Other colleges, such as Bard College at Simon's Rock, Marlboro College, Antioch College, Antioch University, and Shimer College do not have traditional academic departments and are instead organized around interdisciplinary units.
In regard to graduate education, there is Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center, Fielding Institute, Union College and University, the California Institute of Integral Studies and The Institute of Transpersonal Psychology.
There are also several consciousness-based education alternatives, including LEAPNOW and Maharishi University of Management.
The Netherlands At the level of higher education there is Intercultural Open University a leading alternative education provider for person centered graduate education. In keeping with the philosophy of alternative education, the university does not use grades, and uses only narrative evaluations for assessment. There are no traditional academic departments and learners develop a self-directed individualized curriculum under the guidance of a core faculty advisor.
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