The purpose of study was to identify the perceptions of school leaders regarding the effectiveness of an alternative education transformative day program following the first year of implementation. While some divisions were dissolving their alternative education programs, the school division highlighted within this study prioritized and revitalized the division's alternative education program from a behavior-based night program to a transformative-based day program. The goal of this study was to collect and analyze data that could present next steps for the transformative-based alternative education program in order for division and school-based leaders to continue refining and improving upon the existing foundation established during its inaugural implementation year.
The selection of a purposeful sample was used to meet the objective of the study. The sample size for this study included a combination of up to 15 alternative education teachers, principals, and central office leadership members. The research interventions and investigational agents for this study included approved web-based surveys via Qualtrics and virtual interviews for data collection. The study's survey instrument included one twenty question survey session, and voluntarily respondents participated in a ten-question virtual interview via Google Meetings. Interview questions probed beyond the survey questions in order to provide qualitative data obtained from division and school-based alternative education leadership.
The findings of this study, which include the value of stakeholder perception, alternative approach, climate and culture, and alternative course offerings/credit recover, could provide alternative education leaders with tangible next steps for program development by identifying elements necessary for growth and program success as noted by the stakeholders themselves. By analyzing the perceptions of alternative education teachers, principals, and central office leadership, data presented can lead to intentional measures for revising, growing and furthering the existing success of the transformative-based program. Additionally, recommendations for future study, such as how to increase the program's perception to stakeholders of the transformative-based program, could be used to inspire subsequent studies and to support division leadership when finalizing decisions regarding funding, program implementation, and professional development. / Doctor of Education / By prioritizing alternative education, a small rural school division has reconstructed its former behavior-based night program into a transformative-based day program in order to best combat the difficulties that plague the alternative population in America today. The history of alternative education in contrast to the needs of today's alternative education learners has been presented within the Literature Review. The perceptions of the transformative-based alternative education program were the target audience for this research study. This study was designed to examine the perceptions of alternative education teachers, principals, and central office leadership regarding the development of a transformative, alternative education day program in a small rural Virginia school division. These data were obtained throughout the survey completion and virtual interviews of 15 stakeholders of the transformative-based program. The study revealed four findings and four implications. One limitation to the study was the small sample size. A suggestion for future study would involve obtaining permission to conduct student research participants in order to explore data from the student perspective for the purpose of restructuring the program's needs as based upon student data.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/105407 |
| Date | 18 October 2021 |
| Creators | Clements, Alecia Dawn |
| Contributors | Counselor Education, Brinkmann, Jodie Lynn, Cash, Carol S., White, David Owen, Price, Ted S. |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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