Alternative Schools in the Era of School Choice: National Trends in Enrollment Over Three Decades

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 11:45 am - Gold 3
  In Roundtable Session: Governing Innovation and System Change in an Era of Choice

Abstract

The alternative school sector is an underexplored area of school choice that serves distinct student needs with a focus on “at-risk” youth. We examine the growth of the alternative school sector and changes in the demographic composition of various types of alternative schools across three decades of national data extending from 1992 to 2024. We find that while the alternative school sector has grown, the growth was outpaced by the expansion of mainstream public schools. Additionally, Black students are consistently overrepresented in the alternative sector while White student representation has grown in some types of alternative schools. This study provides one of the first large-scale, longitudinal examinations into who attends alternative schools and which types of alternative schools they attend.

Authors

• Adam Kho, University of Kentucky

• Shelby Leigh Smith, University of Southern California

• Nicolas Pardo, University of Southern California

• Sarah Rabovsky, Tennessee Department of Education