This study undertook an evaluation of six alternative education programs provided by St Augustine's Education and Training in the Barwon region of Victoria. The impetus for the study has come from the staff of St Augustine's who bravely opened up their programs to closer scrutiny in order to gain a clearer understanding about the needs of the students attending their programs, the theoretical basis of their work and the outcomes of program intervention. A utilisation-focused approach was used and incorporated the following components: a needs analysis using a variety of measures to identify the characteristics of the students and to describe the experiences of students and parents, a qualitative process to articulate the model of psycho-education intervention and issues in service delivery and an impact evaluation to assess the effectiveness of intervention. There were 158 students aged between 6 and 15 years enrolled in programs over a two year period. The results of the needs analysis found that programs were appropriately targeting a marginalised and disadvantaged group of students that typically came from a low socioeconomic background, were significantly behind in their academic achievement, had poor adaptive functioning skills, exhibited a low level of social-emotional development (social-emotional competencies and negative attitudes towards learning) and a high level of psychopathology (mental health symptoms). Using the Survey of Student Assets (Bernard, 2002), the impact evaluation found that programs were successful in increasing the students' social-emotional capabilities and positive attitudes towards learning but did not impact significantly on the students' presenting mental health symptoms and adaptive functioning as measured by the Teachers Report Form (Achenbach and Rescoria, 2001). However, these results are to be interpreted with caution given the small sample sizes used in the analysis. Across the six programs it was found that a total of 89 students (56.3%) experienced a positive outcome destination immediately post-program and these students were maintained in, or transitioned back to mainstream school (n=71) or entered vocational training, education or employment (n= 18). Negative outcome destinations were experienced by 35 students (22.1 %) either because they were excluded (n=3), not engaged (n= 15) or withdrew from program (n= 17). At the end of the study, the remaining 25 students (15.8%) were either referred internally onto another program (n=16) or remained in program (n=9). In predicting outcome destinations, students with positive outcomes, were those that presented with less serious mental health symptoms, in particular they had lower rule-breaking and externalising scores on the Teachers Report Form at referral and a higher level of adaptive functioning in the area of 'working hard'. Students experiencing positive outcome destinations were also those that attended program regularly and for a fewer number of months and were involved in fewer critical incidents whilst attending. The qualitative process evaluation found that the model delivered was grounded in the principles of exemplary practice found in the psycho-educational literature and focused on building positive relationships and a sense of belonging, the provision of hands-on learning activities and rewarding individual achievement. Parents and students generally provided positive feedback however the theme analysis of staff, student and parent interviews and the case study scenarios did identify a number of critical areas to be addressed. These included clarifying the target group and the length and intensity of intervention, improving assessment, planning and transition processes, better collaboration with other services and mainstream schools, the on-site delivery of auxiliary services to meet specific student needs, work to better support and involve parents and to develop a sense of community across the school. A strategic planning process involving key stakeholders to systematically address these areas was recommended.

Despite efforts to reduce the occurrence of physical aggression in traditional school environments, some students persist in engaging in physical aggression and are assigned to alternative education programs as an alternative to expulsion. However, relatively little is known about the types of services that school counselors provide to help these students. This case study investigated the services that school counselors provide to the young children attending disciplinary alternative education programs in a public-school district in central Florida. The participants consist of two school counselors who provided services to the students assigned to the alternative disciplinary programs and two district-level administrators of the alternative programs. The school counselors provided responsive services to meet the immediate needs of the students in the alternative programs. These included individual counseling, multi-tiered systems of support and crisis intervention. The counselors also provided interventions to teach students appropriate social skills, decision-making skills, responsibility, and self-regulation. In addition, the school counselors provided indirect services to students by collaborating with parents and stakeholders which include teachers, social workers, administrators, and community agencies. This case study includes multiple sources of data: (a) face-to-face semi-structured interviews, (b) observations, (c), artifacts, (d) documents, (e) field notes, and (e) member checks. Nine descriptive categories emerged from the data analysis: (a) Reasons assigned, (b) Process of placement, (c) Counselors’ experience, (d) Services and interventions, (e) Assessments, (f) Theoretical orientation, (g) Barriers to providing services, (h) Counselors’ perceptions regarding outcomes, and (i) Counselors' recommendations for future practice. Surprisingly, the case study’s findings reveal that the school counselors believed that the services they provide do not meet the students’ needs. This case study contributes to the body of knowledge about this under-researched population of counselors and under-served population of students by examining the unique experience of school counselors providing services to students who engage in physical aggression. Implications for further research, policy, and practice are presented.

The topic of alternative schools is widely available in the literature; however, once a student has been labeled a "troublemaker" and has been placed in a District Alternative Education Program (DAEP), a Type II setting, there is limited information about the overall success of students upon their return to the mainstream. This study compared the success of students formerly placed in a modified disciplinary Type II setting, once they have returned to the mainstream, with their success prior to disciplinary placement. The purpose of the study was to examine if disciplinary measures that remove students from the mainstream environment negatively impact the variables that measure school success, despite legislative mandates such as No Child Left Behind, which advocates success for every student. The population for this study was 86 7th- through 11th-grade students assigned to a DAEP in Texas during the spring of 2003. A comparison of pre- and post-placement dependent variables measuring school success-attendance, passing core courses, behavioral achievement, standardized test score achievement, recidivism, and dropout rates-comprised this study. The independent variables-gender, ethnicity, grade level, socioeconomic status, and disciplinary offense-were used to compare and analyze each dependent variable. The dependent variables of attendance, passing core courses, and behavior demonstrated a decline in the measurement of school success across time. The only dependent variable that demonstrated improvement between the pre- and post-placement periods was achievement on standardized test scores. From the number of students who withdrew from the mainstream during the post-placement semesters, large recidivism and dropout rates were determined, which reflected the large percentage of students who were not successful in the district's mainstream. The comparisons of dependent variables by independent variables resulted in significance only in the analyses of attendance by grade level. This interaction was determined to be significant since p < .05. During both post-placement semesters, 11th-grade attendance increased by 20.2 points. Students in the 7th, 8th, and 9th grades maintained a slight increase in attendance between the pre-placement and first post-placement semester yet experienced an attendance decline in the second post-placement semester. This decline was seen in all three grade levels between the pre-placement and the second post-placement semesters. Attendance among tenth graders declined throughout all semesters of the study. The comparison of attendance by disciplinary offense resulted in a large effect size (eta2). The eta2 reported within 29.8% accuracy in variability when attendance was compared by disciplinary offense. Students placed for assault demonstrated a 27.7 point increase in attendance by the second post-placement semester. Despite the comparison of attendance by the grade level of students being the only significant result, and the comparison of attendance by disciplinary offense resulting in a large effect size, several specific conclusions were drawn from the analyses of the pre- and post-placement data measuring school success. All dependent variable measurements, with the exception of standardized test score achievement, resulted in an overall reduction of mean scores across time. This decline indicates that students do demonstrate a decline in school success following a removal from a mainstream setting.

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship (predicative capability) between selected variables, specifically, African American student enrollment, teacher ethnicity, and urban or rural district classification and the number of African American student placements in a disciplinary alternative education program (DAEP). The study used a non-experimental ex post facto design. Archival data from the Texas Education Agency were used to identify Texas schools that sent African American students to a DAEP during the 2013-2014 school year. Archival data from the Texas Education Agency were also used to identify African American student enrollment and teacher ethnicity for the selected school districts. Finally, archival data from the Texas Department of Agriculture were used to identify district classifications of urban or rural. Participants in this study consisted of 187 school districts that placed African American students in a DAEP during the 2013-2014 school year. Based on the findings, teacher ethnicity and African American student enrollment are statistically significant contributions to African American student placement in a DAEP. Urban or rural district classification is not a statistically significant predictor in the same placements. Results of this study add to existing literature by confirming that there is an overrepresentation of African American student placements in DAEPs and suggesting possible ways to combat this epidemic.

The purpose of this research was to ascertain the characteristics of dropouts, their rationale for reentry, and what constituted effective practices within a Texas alternative education program (AEP). While, a number of studies have been conducted to explain why students drop out of school, more research was needed in the area of students that reenter to complete their studies (Fernandez, Paulsen & Hiranko-Nakanishi, 1996; Krashen, 1998; NCES, 1981; Pirog & Magee, 1997; Ramsey, 1988; Rumberger, 1995; Warren, 1996; White & Kaufman, 1997). The study utilized qualitative methodology with a case-study approach by utilizing small groups within the context of an organization (Miles and Huberman, 1994). The study site was purposely selected (Kuzel, 1992; Morse, 1989) using low-socio-economic criteria, ethnic representation, an AEIS rating of Commended, and a high graduation rate. Site participant selection included comprehensive sampling (Goetz and LeCompte, 1984) of the AEP personnel and random sampling of the student participants and their respective parents. The primary data was collected using a modified three-interview method (Dolbeare and Schuman, 1982) with corroborating document review and focus groups. Findings indicated that research participants could identify seventeen different characteristics for returning high school students. Some of the characteristics describing these students also reflect their motivation or rationale for returning back to complete their high school studies. The study revealed four major practices within the AEP that supported the program and its students towards their mission of graduating. These were: hiring the right personnel, monitoring academic progress, providing student support services, and maintaining a safe school climate. A resultant theme indicated that there was a need to promote a positive image of the value of the AEP. Since only ten participants and five students were included in the study, the findings can only be tentatively generalized. Finally, suggestions are made for AEP programs to be designed to entice students not only to return back to school, but to remain until their goal to graduate is realized. / text

This thesis develops a critical realist explanatory critique of alternative schooling programs for youth at risk taking place at three case study sites. Throughout the thesis the author pursues the question, \Are alternative provisions of schooling working academically and socially for youth at risk?. The academic lens targets literacy learning and associated pedagogies. Social outcomes are posited as positive social behaviours and continued engagement in learning. A four phased analysis, drawing on critical realism, interpretive and subject specific theories is used to elicit explanations for the research question. An overall framework is a critical realist methodology as set out by Danermark, Ekstrom, Jakobsen and Karlsson (2002, p. 129). Consequently phase one describes the phenomena of alternative schooling programs taking place at three case study sites. This is reported first as staff narratives that are resolved into imaginable historical causal components of \generative events., \prior schooling structures., \models of alternative schooling., \purpose., \individual agency., and \relations with linked community organisations.. Then transcendental questions are posed about each component using retroduction to uncover structures, underlying mechanisms and powers, and individual agency. In the second phase the researcher uses modified grounded theory methodology to theoretically redescribe causal categories related to a \needed different teaching and administrative approach. that emerged from the previous critique. A transcendental question is then applied to this redescription. The research phenomena are again theoretically redescribed in the third phase, this time using three theoretically based constructs associated with literacy and literacy pedagogies; the NRS, the 4 Resources Model, and Productive Pedagogies. This redescription is again questioned in terms of its core or \necessary. components. The fourth phase makes an explanatory critique by comparing and critiquing all previous explanations, recontextualising them in a wider macro reality of alternative schooling. Through this critical realist explanatory critiquing process, a response emerges not only to whether alternative provisions of schooling are working, but also how they are working, and how they are not working, with realistically based implications for future improvement.