High Schoolsand Alternative Education

							IALA
The International Association for Learning
Alternatives

March 07, 2005
New Schools to Bypass Traditional High Schools
Jobs for the Future will open schools that accelerate high school and college by
compressing grades. Early College High Schools are small schools from which
students leave with not only a high school diploma but also an Associate's
degree or two years of college credit toward a Bachelor's degree. Several
foundations will provide major funding for the creation or redesign of 70 Early
College High Schools in the next five years for underserved and low-income
young people.




--------
Posted by Wayne Jennings at 09:01 PM

February 22, 2005
Youthbuild USA, An Exciting Alternative
Youthbuild USA works with low income youth in 200 communities. Young people
growing up in poor neighborhoods desire skills to help them move forward in
life. However, they are often discouraged by an education system that fails to
recognize their intelligence, fails to help them overcome learning difficulties,
and fails to make learning a meaningful and exciting part of their lives.
YouthBuild offers a dynamic educational alternative. Its personalized, self-
paced educational program is a powerful blend of experiential and academic
learning that frees students' innate intellectual and creative abilities. They
soon see math and reading as practical skills needed to accomplish real tasks in
their daily lives. Teachers work closely with each student to ensure that no one
is overlooked. At the same time, YouthBuild's philosophy of peer-assisted
learning builds trust and confidence among trainees. More on the program
philosophy.
YouthBuild receives Congressional funding through several agencies and is
partially self-supporting by its physical community building activities. This is a
powerful and effective alternative!




--------
Posted by Wayne Jennings at 09:32 PM

January 28, 2005
High School Redesign
A new report, State Strategies for Redesigning High Schools and Promoting
High School to College Transitions by the Education Commission of the States is
the latest in a long saga of reports from various sources calling for significant
reform of high schools. This brief (6 pages) describes the problem, suggests
changes and outlines the initiatives in several states. It also provides valuable
links to other studies and reports. Lynn Olson in a related article, "Calls for
Revamping High Schools Intensify" pours on more fuel and provides additional
articles on the topic.




--------
Posted by Wayne Jennings at 02:52 AM

December 11, 2004
Changing High School
Because high schools have been so resistant to change, educational choices
have expanded enormously. Why can't high schools change? A provocative
essay, "The Blind Men and the High School" descibes six strategies to change
school. Each states a strategy, problem definition and theory of action. Here is
one of the stategies as an example:
Strategy: Devise new institutional forms for secondary education: "Early
college" high schools, small high schools, schools-within-schools, charter
schools, "KIPP" high schools, virtual high schools. Much has been said and done
on this front, and the innovations take many shapes, as do the choice schemes
whereby young people and their parents can access the version that works best
for them.
Problem definition: The circa-1950s, one-size-fits-all, "comprehensive high
school" is dysfunctional and off-putting for many, besides being an inefficient,
out-moded vehicle for teaching them what they need to learn.
Theory of action: Create new options for delivering and receiving secondary
education, using technology, modern organizational theory, out-sourcing and
the like, then give young people choices.




--------
Posted by Wayne Jennings at 02:29 PM

November 02, 2004
High School: Crisis or Possibility
A new report, Crisis or Possibility Conversations about the American High
School (downloadable) by James Harvey and Naomi Housman for the National
High School Alliance began with the assumption that something needed to be
done. Some 40 organizations participate in the Alliance for this important and
well-funded study about the need to "reinvent the American high school." Read
the executive summary for the key information. This is the latest item about
the need for learning alternatives!
                                   --------
Posted by Wayne Jennings at 08:17 AM

September 27, 2004
Advanced High School
The Providence, RI Metropolitan Regional Career and Technical Center, or MET
school for short, was created as a high school taking advantage of best
practices in school reform and therefore departs significantly from the norm. A
strong advisor program, small school size, and tremendous amount of
community based learning are among its features. Dennis Litkey, one of the
founders, writes of their hughly successful venture, one that has attracted
considerable foundation support for replication. The parent organization, The
Big Picture Company provides considerable detail about its programs. A new
book, The Big Picture: Education is Everyone's Business provides further detail
into the philosophy and operation of this advanced school.




--------
Posted by Wayne Jennings at 01:59 PM

May 10, 2004
Create New Schools
Community Based Organizations (CBOs)have entered the education scene by
sponsoring new charter schools. The YMCA of America, YouthBuild and the
National Council of LaRaza are examples. YouthBuild received a $5.4 million
Gates Foundation grant to establish 10 new schools to add to the network of 23
Youthbuild schools. How National Organizations and Their Affiliates Can
Support the New Schools Strategy describes the backgound of this movement
and provides details.




--------
Posted by Wayne Jennings at 12:07 PM

March 17, 2004
Another Alternative: Career Academies
From an article: Established more than 30 years ago, Career Academies have
become a widely used high school reform initiative that aims to keep students
engaged in school and prepare them for successful transitions to post-
secondary education and employment. Typically serving between 150 and 200
high school students from grade 9 or 10 through grade 12, Career Academies
are organized as small learning communities, combine academic and technical
curricula around a career theme, and establish partnerships with local
employers to provide work-based learning opportunities. There are estimated
to be more than 2,500 Career Academies across the country according to their
network.
--------
Posted by Wayne Jennings at 12:36 PM

March 03, 2004
Breaking Ranks II Calls for Major Reforms
Breaking Ranks II: Strategies for Leading High School Reform published by the
National Association of Secondary School Principals reaffirms and strengthens
recommendations in the earlier 1996 addition. A free copy of the report is
being sent to every high school principal in America with the support of the Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation. The recommendations are bold and systemic but
in my view are as unlikely to come to fruition as they were when published
earlier. That unhappy outcome simply shows again the difficulty of making
major reforms in well-established institutions.
Hence, the need for alternatives and the power of starting schools from
scratch.




--------
Posted by Wayne Jennings at 11:41 AM

December 19, 2003
High Schools: Need for Alternatives
Indicators of serious problems in high schools continue to pop up like secrets
that cannot be suppressed. Now the National Research Council of the National
Academies (probably the nation's most prestigious and unbiased organization)
has published, Engaging Schools: Fostering High School Students' Motivation to
Learn, a report showing a grim picture of high schools unlikely to surprise
teachers in even the best of schools that high school students lack any sense of
purpose or real connection with what they are doing in the classroom. You can
order the book or read it on line.
This is mindful of a book, Another Planet by Elinor Burkett descibing an
existing successful suburban high school in which the author spent a year
documenting that for students, high school is another planet.




--------
Posted by Wayne Jennings at 08:28 PM

November 28, 2003
Schools within Schools
A long standing practice to provide choices is the practice of creating schools
within an existing school. For example, a large high school might have several
subunits that serve as alternatives for students and staff. The Gates Foundation
funds a large number of projects to carve large schools into smaller units, for
example $55 million for Texas schools. A recent study by the Consortium for
Policy Research in Education examines this movement in Cincinnati and
Philadelphia for its effect on school culture, instruction and student
performance.
For the most authoritative coverage of schools within schools, see Educational
Alternatives for Everyone by Don Glines, specifically chapter 18. Don has been
the voice for how schools can change for 40 years. Check him out!
--------
Posted by Wayne Jennings at 10:41 AM