Alternative Education Settings Research Articles

School Psychologists in Alternative vs Mainstream Education Settings

Increasingly, students experiencing difficulties within traditional school environments are placed in alternative education settings (AES), designed to serve students whose needs are not met within traditional school environments. AES serve many students with intensive mental health needs and trauma, many of whom come from marginalized backgrounds. Given these patterns and social justice concerns, it is critical that AES provide effective student support, rather than serve simply to contain students based on convenience. School psychologists are well-positioned to provide these supports, but little is known about their professional roles and responsibilities within AES, particularly compared to traditional settings. In the current study, school psychologists in AES engaged in assessment activities significantly less often than those in traditional settings. There were no significant differences in how often school psychologists engaged in consultation, intervention, or social justice activities. However, differences emerged when examining specific services across these domains. Given the many similarities, school psychologists may already be well-equipped to provide services in alternative settings. Impact Statement Many students placed in alternative education settings are not adequately supported, representing a significant social justice concern for students and families. School psychologists have the skills to provide adequate supports. Despite working in these AES less frequently, school psychologists may find their job duties and responsibilities very similar.

Evaluation of the Collaborative and Proactive Solutions Model in an Alternative Educational Setting

The aim of this study was to evaluate the Collaborative and Proactive Solutions (CPS) intervention in an alternative educational setting for students with behavioural problems. The effect of the CPS intervention on students’ off-task behaviour was studied using a single-subject experimental design that included two students with behavioural problems via systematic direct observations and direct behaviour ratings. The usability of the CPS intervention was investigated through questionnaires and interviews with the participating students and teacher assistant. The results revealed no significant effects of the CPS intervention on students’ off-task behaviour. The students and teacher assistant viewed the CPS intervention as acceptable but the teacher assistant’s ratings of the feasibility of the intervention were lower, together with the ratings of the extent to which the intervention matched the socio-political climate of the educational setting.

Prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences in Adolescents with Special Educational and Care Needs in the Netherlands: A Case-File Study of Three Special Educational and Care Settings

AbstractTo date, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) in adolescents with special educational and care needs have received little attention as an important risk factor for their behavioral, emotional, and learning problems. This study provides insight into ACE prevalence and family risk factors in three Dutch special educational and care settings for vulnerable school-aged youth. 268 adolescents (10–18 years old) with severe and persistent problems at individual and family level, from a special educational setting (setting 1; n = 59), a residential care setting (setting 2; n = 86) and an alternative educational setting (setting 3; n = 123) were included. A retrospective cross-sectional study design was used. Data were collected between 2016 and 2019 through structured case-file analysis. A substantial proportion of the adolescents in all settings experienced at least one ACE, with 69.5% in setting 1, 84.9% in setting 2 and 95.1% in setting 3. Family risk factors were relatively common, among which a limited social network in all settings (20–50%) and debts in setting 2 and 3 (25–40%). The substantial ACE prevalence underlines the need for early ACE awareness. Trauma-informed care and education are needed to adequately understand trauma-related behaviors, prevent retraumatization, and enhance learning and healthy development. Given that ACEs regarding household dysfunction and family risk factors seem to be common in adolescents with special educational and care needs, family centered approaches should be implemented as well in the interest of lifelong health and well-being for both adolescents and their families.

Geographies of supplementary education: Private tuition, classed and racialised parenting cultures, and the neoliberal educational playing field

AbstractThis paper makes two contributions to knowledge. First, it broadens geographies of education's focal reach by concentrating attention on the consumption of supplementary education. Supplementary education markets are booming as parents seek to ensure their children have the qualifications required to succeed in knowledge economies. The paper elucidates how consumption of such commercially provided tuition—which is delivered outside of school boundaries but designed to improve performance in school—is shaped by place‐specific, classed and racialised parenting cultures. This shines an important light on shadow education market mechanics that have hitherto been hidden from geographical view, and foregrounds the significant role parenting cultures play in shaping children's educational experiences. Future research in geographies of education must attend to these parenting cultures, as interactions between the home and diverse formal, informal, alternative and supplementary education settings play an increasingly crucial role in confronting and reproducing educational inequality. Second, the paper advances the conceptual contribution of geographies of education to interdisciplinary debates about parents and education. It demonstrates that multi‐scalar geographical research makes a unique contribution to interdisciplinary theorisations of home–school links, including those utilising Bourdieu's notion of cultural reproduction, and Lareau's model of concerted cultivation. Specifically, multi‐scalar analysis demonstrates that: (i) place‐sensitive research is vital as it contextualises parenting cultures, reattaching analyses of parental habitus and capital to the field, highlighting how intersecting global, national and local processes shape parents' educational practices; (ii) previously overlooked racial differences in concerted cultivation must be analysed without being naturalised, by exploring how racialised dispositions towards education are shaped in/across place, and reproduced through global/local racialised social capital; and (iii) inter‐class differences that have dominated parenting debates remain important, but attention to inter‐class similarity and intra‐class variation, as it emerges through intersections with race and in place, is equally vital.

Self-Regulated Strategy Development: Connecting Persuasive Writing to Self-Determination for Youth in Juvenile Justice Facilities

Youth with and at risk for disabilities served in alternative education settings frequently struggle with the writing process, which impedes their ability to communicate ideas and opinions with others. Providing explicit teaching of a writing strategy is necessary for this population of youth. This study examined the effects of self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) with self-determination skills on self-advocacy-focused writing probes (e.g., persuasive) for adolescent female youth in a juvenile justice setting. Emphasis was placed on teaching youth how to use persuasive writing as a tool to self-advocate for things they want or need. The SRSD instructional approach was investigated using a multiple-probe-across-participants design to evaluate the effects. Visual analyses indicated a functional relation between SRSD with self-determination instruction and youth’s writing skills. All youth demonstrated an increase in organizational quality and self-advocacy in writing from baseline to independent practice. Limitations to the current study and future directions are discussed.

Integrating Trauma-Informed Practices Into Check-In/Check-Out for Use in Alternative Education Settings

A majority of students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD), particularly those served in alternative educational settings, have a history of trauma exposure before placement. Evidence-based interventions such as Check-In/Check-Out (CICO) may be more effective for these students if the interventions are systematically adapted to include trauma-informed principles within intervention features. In this article, adaptations to CICO to benefit students with EBD with a history of trauma exposure are presented.

Clinicians’ perceptions of the mental health needs of young people in alternative provision educational settings: An exploratory qualitative analysis

ABSTRACT It is estimated that 1 in 2 young people who are educated in Alternative Provision (AP) educational settings have social, emotional and mental health difficulties. However, the extent to which the mental health needs of these young people are currently being met by Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) is less clear. In this qualitative study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 CAMHS practitioners who had worked with young people educated in AP settings to explore secondary health care service engagement. We analysed the data using thematic analysis. Findings suggest that young people educated in AP settings have complex mental health needs for which they are currently not receiving adequate support, due to shortcomings within AP schools and numerous external barriers to care. Implications for clinicians and service commissioners include a need for further integration between CAMHS and education services, and better quality support across AP settings.

The role of relationships, curriculum design, and program culture in improving academic and behavioral outcomes in a disciplinary alternative education program: A photovoice study

The literature on “what works” in disciplinary alternative education is inconclusive. Our current understanding of effective disciplinary alternative education programs is based primarily on quantitative data collected for administrative purposes. The voices of youth directly affected by disciplinary alternative education programs are often excluded from the conversation. To fill this gap in the literature, our study utilizes Photovoice methodology with 11 youth in disciplinary alternative education programs in the Midwest. The findings suggest the importance of positive relationships with adults, having tailored educational curriculum delivery, and addressing punitive elements of program culture for the academic and behavioral outcomes for youth with moderate to high-risk behaviors in a disciplinary alternative education setting. Youth recommend modification of the curriculum, increase in socialization activities, and improvement of disciplinary and incentive procedures.

A Systematic Review of Group Contingencies in Alternative Education Settings

A Systematic Review of Group Contingencies in Alternative Education Settings

Creative thinking and brain network development in schoolchildren.

Fostering creative minds has always been a premise to ensure adaptation to new challenges of human civilization. While some alternative educational settings (i.e., Montessori) were shown to nurture creative skills, it is unknown how they impact underlying brain mechanisms across the school years. This study assessed creative thinking and resting-state functional connectivity via fMRI in 75 children (4-18 y.o.) enrolled either in Montessori or traditional schools. We found that pedagogy significantly influenced creative performance and underlying brain networks. Replicating past work, Montessori-schooled children showed higher scores on creative thinking tests. Using static functional connectivity analysis, we found that Montessori-schooled children showed decreased within-network functional connectivity of the salience network. Moreover, using dynamic functional connectivity, we found that traditionally-schooled children spent more time in a brain state characterized by high intra-default mode network connectivity. These findings suggest that pedagogy may influence brain networks relevant to creative thinking-particularly the default and salience networks. Further research is needed, like a longitudinal study, to verify these results given the implications for educational practitioners. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Most executive jobs are prospected to be obsolete within several decades, so creative skills are seen as essential for the near future. School experience has been shown to play a role in creativity development, however, the underlying brain mechanisms remained under-investigated yet. Seventy-five 4-18 years-old children, from Montessori or traditional schools, performed a creativity task at the behavioral level, and a 6-min resting-state MR scan. We uniquely report preliminary evidence for the impact of pedagogy on functional brain networks.

Characteristics of youth in alternative education settings: A scoping literature review

Youth who attend alternative education are often labelled as ‘youth at risk’ or ‘marginalized youth’. These general labels do not do justice to the different facets in the lives of these youth. Having a clearer view of who these youth are, and what characterizes them, is necessary to be able to better tailor alternative education to their needs. Therefore, this scoping literature review investigates different characteristics of youth who attend alternative education. It provides information on demographic characteristics, physical and mental health, social functioning, school trajectories and academic skills in youth attending alternative education. The results show that there is not one distinguishing feature for youth in alternative education, but that many of these youth encounter challenges on many domains. Implications of the findings for prevention of school disengagement, alternative education provision and research are discussed.

Adaptation of Universal Behavioral Supports Within an Alternative Education Setting

Alternative education (AE) settings support students with significant social–emotional and behavioral needs. Such settings often implement individualized programming; however, this presents challenges with staffing resources and training. Application of systems to address behavior on a schoolwide level could simplify training, increase staffing flexibility, and decrease use of crisis response procedures. This 2-year, descriptive case study provides an implementation example of universal behavioral supports based on a Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) framework within an AE setting. Over the course of the study, a reduction in staff use of restraint and seclusion procedures was observed. Additionally, staff perceived the framework favorably. Implementation steps are described, along with differentiation of the framework to meet the needs of a heterogeneous student population within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Variations of I: Setting the Poetic Tone for Student-Voiced Action Research

In this article, we explore how the poetic rendering of an initial focus group transcript with five secondary school students in an alternative education setting in Aotearoa, New Zealand, set the tone for an entire action research. Each year, approximately 3,500 secondary school students are referred to alternative education provisions due to suspensions, exclusions, and truancy. Two-thirds of these students are rangatahi Māori (Māori young people). Alternative education teachers, however, know little about their students’ schooling histories. Using participatory action research, teachers explored critical moments from young people’s education journeys. Found poems created from the first focus group with students, including the creation of I poems, set the tone for action research. These poems exposed more widely the twofold I-Thou/I-It attitude that has shaped the students’ lived experiences, and as a response, researchers gave heed to I-Thou as they shaped the research approach.

Practitioner Review: Signposts for Enhancing Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for School Refusal in Adolescence.

Factors associated with adolescent development influence the occurrence and presentation of school refusal (SR). Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) manuals for the treatment of SR account for these developmental issues to varying degrees. Some multimodal treatments aim to address the complexity of adolescent SR by incorporating interventions alongside CBT, such as medication, inpatient treatment, and educational support in a special setting. However, CBT manuals and multimodal treatments appear to fail to help approximately one-third to two-thirds of adolescents, with respect to achieving regular school attendance. This paper provides an overview of suggestions in the literature for improving treatment for SR, with a focus on adolescent SR. Seven signposts emerge from the literature, namely, increased number or frequency of sessions, greater attention to social anxiety disorder and social functioning, greater attention to depression, greater attention to emotion regulation, careful consideration of the role of parents, greater attention to parent-adolescent communication and problem-solving, and the use of alternative educational settings. Professionals may find these signposts helpful when planning and delivering treatment for SR in adolescents. Research is needed to determine the benefit of including one or more of these adaptations alongside an existing SR treatment.

Building student-teacher relationships in an alternative education setting: a qualitative interview study

The aim of the present qualitative interview study was to explore how teachers working at an alternative education setting serving students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) build relationships with their students. In-depth interviews with five instructors resulted in the development of seven interrelated themes concerning the key attitudes, process, context, and outcomes associated with developing quality relationships with students with EBD. The authors present and thoroughly describe each of these themes. They then discuss how the study adds to the limited knowledge about the student teacher relationship for students with EBD and how practitioners working with this population of students can use this knowledge. Finally, they address what next steps are needed to improve this influential aspect of the learning environment for these students.

Evaluating an ACT-Based Brief Intervention for Educators Treatment Package on Reported Well-Being and ACT-Consistent Language in the Classroom.

Educators continue to experience stress and burnout, both of which have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and there continues to be a need to develop interventions that support not only educators’ well-being, but a climate within school buildings that fosters psychological well-being for students and school staff alike. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is one promising approach to interventions for both educator and student psychological well-being. The present study sought to evaluate the effect of a low-dosage, online, and remotely delivered ACT intervention for educators on self-reported burnout, psychological flexibility, ACT knowledge, and frequency of use of ACT-consistent language while teaching in an alternative educational setting. The ACT-based intervention targeted the development of educator psychological flexibility, but the analysis provided an evaluation of non-targeted participants’ use of ACT-consistent language in the classroom, as well. Results suggest an overall improvement in participants’ self-reported burnout and psychological flexibility, an increase in participants’ ACT knowledge following each phase of the study, and an increase in the frequency of ACT-consistent language for all participants following the onset of a feedback component. We discuss potential implications of practical ACT-based interventions for educators in an applied setting and related increases in ACT-consistent verbal stimuli within the classroom setting.

Time–space paths and the experiences of vulnerable young people in alternative educational settings

ABSTRACT We use the concept of time–space paths (Gordon, Holland and Lahelma 2000) to explore how young people negotiate manageable educational pathways and experience educational engagement in alternative educational settings. For many young people in alternative settings, tight time–space paths (e.g. attending school on time) led to their disengagement from mainstream school settings, as mainstream schools did not accommodate the lives and needs of these young people. We draw on interviews with young people in alternative educational settings in Finland and Australia. We extend the discussion to two alternative time–space paths to explore how young people in alternative educational settings, while expressing a like and need for looser time–space paths to accommodate their difficult life circumstances, still need aspects of tight time–space paths to engage with education. We discuss strategies used in the alternative educational settings that enable the young people to develop a rhythm within their own time–space paths and a sense of agency and control in their learning environment. These strategies enabled communication and the development of positive relationships with teachers that led to a sense of belonging and their engagement with education.

"This Is Not Gym": Enacting Student Voice Pedagogies to Promote Social and Emotional Learning and Meaningful Physical Education.

The purpose of this study was to explore learners' experiences enacting youth/student voice pedagogies (SVP) to promote Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) and meaningful physical education (MPE) in an alternative education setting. Drawing on social constructivist learning theory in understanding and implementing a MPE approach, and a systemic framework for SEL, two research questions guided the research process: (1) How did students interpret and enact these pedagogies? (2) What contribution did the enactment of these pedagogies have in promoting SEL and MPE? This study implemented a qualitative case study design framed by a participatory action research (PAR) approach spanning 12 weeks from February to May 2021. Participants in this study included 16 ninth grade alternative high school students (eight girls/eight boys) aged 14–15 who had just returned to face-to-face learning in January 2021 for the first time following COVID-19. A range of traditional and innovative participatory qualitative research methods including focus group interviews, students' personal biographies, timelines, digital and written reflections, photovoice, and class artifacts were utilized. The Miles, Huberman, and Saldana Framework for Qualitative Data Analysis was implemented involving both deductive and inductive combinations of comparative and thematic analysis. The following themes were constructed: Making responsible decisions; unearthing and sharing mixed emotions; picturing physical activity beyond the classroom; recognizing the role of relationships; considering challenge and competence; and, pursuing meaning. Findings demonstrate how enacting SVP can lead to the development of students' SEL and MPE experiences complimenting multiple learning domains. We call for further embedding of SVP capturing students' physical activity and movement experiences inside and outside of PE in teacher education and professional development that helps teachers and their students make sense of, shape, influence, and enact more MPE and physical activity learning experiences.

“We Respect Them, and They Respect Us”: The Value of Interpersonal Relationships in Enhancing Student Engagement

Attempts to understand the patterns behind student disengagement and early school leaving have traditionally focussed on early school leavers’ individual characteristics. More recently, however, studies have begun to focus on the extent to which early school leaving is shaped by school-level factors, and in particular the central role of teachers and pedagogy, in (dis)engaging students. Studies have consistently shown how negative teacher–student relations can dominate the lives of young people, leading to poor attendance and behavioural issues which often culminate in them disengaging, leaving or being expelled from school. Furthermore, there is a growing interest in the role of pedagogical strategies in enhancing teacher–student relations, increasing student engagement and bringing about more socially just systems of education. Using in-depth qualitative interviews with staff working in a school engagement programme aimed at preventing early school leaving (the School Completion Programme) and young people who have left school early and who are now participating in an alternative education setting in Ireland as well as staff in those settings (the National Youthreach Programme), this paper provides a unique comparison of two approaches to learner engagement. Findings highlight the centrality of caring and respectful relationships between teachers and students across the two programmes. This paper suggests that aspects of the ‘productive pedagogies’ framework are being used to overcome barriers by placing equal emphasis on student wellbeing and formal learning. However, both programmes operate outside ‘mainstream’ education, with little scope for integration with the mainstream system. This paper concludes that at the micro level, the programmes are effective in re-engaging young people with education but argues that this has little impact at a broader level, where mainstream school practices impacting on student disengagement and early school leaving remain unchanged.

A systematic review of social, emotional, and behavioral interventions and outcomes for students in alternative education

Alternative education settings (AES) educate many students with social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) challenges. However, there is limited synthesized research available on how to best support students’ SEB functioning. This systematic review examined SEB intervention and outcome research conducted in alternative schools between 2010 and 2020. Sixty-eight peer-reviewed journal articles met the inclusion criteria. Results discuss demographic characteristics of participants (e.g., age, school type), frequently studied interventions (e.g., group contingencies, Check-In/Check-Out), tiers of intervention (e.g., universal, targeted), SEB outcomes (e.g., externalizing behavior, discipline), and data collection methods (e.g., school records, self-report). Practical implications for mental health practitioners and educators in alternative education settings, limitations, and future directions are also discussed.