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National Examination of Alternative Schools: Characteristics, Special Education Issues and Students with Disabilities

Purpose. Although research suggests that about 20,000 alternative schools exist nationwide, the definition of “alternative” is illusive and has been a matter of controversy since the early seventies (Barr & Parrett, 2001). In 1994, Raywid noted the variety of definitions of alternative schools, and proposed categorizing them into three major types. However, alternative schools continue to evolve, and with the implementation of IDEA (1997), there is a need for research on the variety of alternative schools and programs in operation.

Study 1 will gather information about:

• defining characteristics of alternative schools across the country.
• the characteristics and variety of students attending alternative schools.
• the extent to which students with disabilities are attending alternative schools.
• the provision of special education services within alternative schools.
• policies governing student entrance into and exit from alternative schools.
• whether and how outcomes are measured for students with and without disabilities.

Activities:

Two major activities during the first year will be conducted in order to answer questions for Study 1.

Activity 1. Interviews with State Directors of Special Education across 50 States will be conducted to gather information about types of alternative schools across the nation, issues for students with disabilities attending alternative schools, and issues for State Education Agencies.

Activity 2. Surveys will be administered to individuals who have expertise and are knowledgeable about issues related to alternative schools and the students they serve (e.g. public officials at the State Department, Directors of Alternative School Associations) in each of the 50 States.

As these project activities are completed, findings and products will be posted on this Web site.

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