Alternative Schools

In the 1830s the first system of public education in the United States was organized to provide a common educational experience for all children. But from the very beginning, groups of parents and educators refused to take part. For whatever reason, be it religious, cultural, or personal, they chose alternative ways to educate their children. Alternative education is, quite literally, as old as the American educational system.

The majority of children in the United States are educated in traditional public schools. Although this system works for most, the number of youth at risk of school failure has increased and the need for alternatives to public education is growing.

Alternative schools have been created to meet the needs of students whose parents are looking for enhanced or unique learning experiences for their children. Alternative education, therefore, can be described in a broad sense to include educational programs or activities that take place outside the traditional K–12 school.

There appear to be two distinctive groupings of alternative schools. First, there are schools for students who have great difficulties in traditional public education as evidenced by their failure to learn in, or their unwillingness to attend, traditional schools. Second, there are schools for students whose parents have chosen, for a variety of reasons, an alternative to traditional public education.

Of particular importance is the realization that it is not necessarily the child's fault if he or she cannot function in a traditional school setting. Poverty, minority status, and family characteristics are frequently blamed for a child being at risk, while the climate and condition of the school and societal factors are ignored. Some of these factors are inequities in school funding, low teacher quality, differentiation in curriculum, and school tracking. Students are often considered at risk if they have not mastered the basic academic, social, and behavioral skills required to function in school.

Alternative schools were abundant in the late 1960s and in the 1970s. The belief that one way of schooling was not adequate for all children helped spawn a movement of “alternatives” that changed basic education in the United States. Although well intentioned when they were created, many of these schools did not survive because of structural or financial mismanagement.

Alternative schools struggle with negative stigmas. Because the schools were created to address the needs of students who struggle academically or students who are disruptive in traditional classrooms, they are often considered as “dumping grounds” or warehouses for students who cannot function in regular classrooms.

Public school districts began experimenting with remedial schools for at-risk basic education students in the early 1980s. The intent was to provide small and supportive learning environments to stimulate academic, social, and personal growth. These schools were intended to return students to regular, traditional school programming where they would have less support.

With the introduction of charter schools and vouchers, coupled with a growing disenchantment with traditional schools, alternative schools began to flourish again in the 1990s. School buildings no longer defined where learning would take place. Teaching and learning might occur online, at home, in juvenile corrections centers, in hospitals or treatment centers, on college campuses, in business and industry, or in the greater community.

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