A Solution-Focused Approach to Student Reintegration into the Traditional School Setting after a Disciplinary Alternative School Placement

Abstract

ABSTRACT Students who exhibit behavioral problems may be placed in temporary disciplinary alternative education placements (DAEPs). According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, in the United States, 64% of districts report having at least one disciplinary alternative school for at-risk students. However, information available to school counselors regarding how to assist students in their reentry into the traditional school environment remains limited. The purpose of this article is to (a) highlight behaviors, practices and policies that contribute to students’ placement into alternative schools, (b) outline barriers that hinder, and strategies that help, students transition and reentry and (c) present a six session intervention strategy and integrated case illustration that fuses current literature and SFBT to create an intervention that can be used to assist students’ with successful reintegration into the traditional school setting after a disciplinary alternative school placement.