Caring Is Not Enough: A Critical Systematic Review of Research on Alternative Education

• In Event: Poster Session 2
  In Poster Session: Division G Section 4 Poster Session: Social Contexts of Educational Policy, Politics, and Praxis

Abstract

The achievement gap is not just a gap in standardized test scores. It is a graduation rate gap, a discipline gap and a data gap. Alternative schools play a pivotal role in all of these gaps. This paper is a critical, systematic review of recent alternative education empirical research in the United States. After a rigorous selection process, current research is synthesized to (a) define alternative schools, (b) describe the students who attend them, (c) document their systemic role and the impact of suspensions and expulsions; (d) identify characteristics of effective programs. The research indicates that alternative education is growing and operating as a hidden, parallel system, providing a separate and unequal education to many “at-risk” students.

Author

• Susan Glassett Farrelly, University of California - San Diego