Alternatives for Whom? Trends in Alternative Charter Network Enrollment and Student and Staff Characteristics

• In Event: Problems of Practice in Research on Educational Inequalities: Lessons From the Los Angeles Region

Abstract

Purpose
We add insight into the development of the alternative charter school sector—an avenue for providing equitable educational opportunities for students struggling in traditional settings—and the characteristics of students, teachers, and administrators within these schools. We ask, for alternative charter schools:
1) What annual enrollment patterns do we observe?
2) What are the characteristics of students and staff?
3) What student and staff characteristics predict retention?

Perspectives
For students struggling in mainstream public schools, alternative schools offer another route for academic progress (Carr, 2014; Wilkerson, Afacan, Yan, Justin, & Datar, 2016). These schools typically serve students at risk of dropping out (Barton, 2005), including students experiencing academic, behavioral or emotional challenges (Wilkerson, Afacan, Perzigian, Justin, & Lequia, 2016), parenting demands (Foley & Pang, 2006), or bullying (Collier, Van Beusekom, Bos, & Sandfort, 2013; Grossman & D’augelli, 2006; McGuire, Anderson, Toomey, & Russell, 2010). The alternative sector has grown rapidly in recent decades, including a jump in the number of alternative charter schools, with nearly 500,000 students currently in alternative schools across 2,000 districts (Vogell & Fresques, 2017).

Concerns about alternative schools’ capacity to provide equitable education have accompanied this growth. With little evidence around alternative schools’ effectiveness (Barton, 2005; Flower, McDaniel, & Jolivette, 2011; Quinn, Poirier, Faller, Gable, & Tonelson, 2006; Warren, 2016); allegations that low-performing students are being pushed into alternative schools to boost mainstream school performance (Vogell & Fresques, 2017); and a limited understanding of the extent to which race (Booker & Mitchell, 2011; Tajalli & Garba, 2014), socioeconomic status (Wilkerson et al., 2016), gender (Booker & Mitchell, 2011), special education status (Foley & Pang, 2006), and sexual identity (McGuire, Anderson, Toomey, & Russell, 2010) influence decisions around alternative school placement, many researchers, reporters, and parents have demanded better insight into who alternative schools serve and the quality of education they provide (Vogell & Fresques, 2017; Warren, 2016).

Data
Partnering with an alternative public charter network operating over 60 schools, we access an extensive dataset of student, teacher, and administrator characteristics and student enrollment records from school years 2016-17 through 2018-19.

Methods
We use descriptive statistics and OLS regression to investigate patterns in enrollment and student and staff characteristics.

Results
Preliminary results reveal increasing alternative charter enrollment as the school year progresses, perhaps as academic challenges are identified. In line with limited existing research (e.g., Vogell & Fresques, 2017), we also find that minority and free and reduced-price lunch (FRL) eligible students are overrepresented in alternative charters. Following students, teachers, and administrators through our data panel, we provide further evidence about characteristics, including race, gender, grade, FRL eligibility, and special education eligibility, predicting length of student enrollment, and teacher and principal demographic characteristics and experience associated with retention.

Significance
Our findings provide policymakers with an enhanced understanding of alternative charter school students and staff. This evidence allows for better evaluation of future needs to meet equity and accountability concerns.

Authors

• Sarah Rabovsky, University of Southern California

• Adam Kho, University of Southern California

• Morgan S. Polikoff, University of Southern California