Alternative Education Programs
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| Sue Foxx, Consultant Email: sufoxx@doe.in.gov Phone: 317-233-3598 Fax: 317-234-2121 |
Alternative Education is designed to meet the needs of at-risk students who are not succeeding in the traditional setting. Students are provided with a variety of options that can lead to graduation and are supported by services for the student and their immediate family that are essential to success. While each of Indiana’s alternative education programs is unique, they share characteristics identified in the research as common to successful alternative schools.
- Maximum teacher/student ratio of 1:15
- Small student base
- Clearly stated mission and discipline code
- Caring faculty with continual staff development
- School staff having high expectations for student achievement
- Learning program specific to the student's expectations and learning style
- Flexible school schedule with community involvement and support
- Total commitment to have each student be a success
Alternative education types include but are not limited to: alternative classrooms, school-within-a-school programming, separate alternative schools, and second or last-chance schools for disruptive students. Just as there are many types and settings for alternative schools, there are many delivery models based on the programs’ philosophy and the needs of the students they serve. Some follow a school community partnership model that features collaboration with the larger community. Others may combine academics with a vocational intervention that focuses on making school meaningful while preparing students for the workforce. Still others employ a behavioral intervention model. In Indiana, the programs and models designed to meet the needs of disaffected youth are as diverse as the students themselves. Despite this diversity, however, all alternative education programs are held accountable for helping students master the Indiana Academic Standards and must comply with educational laws and rules or seek appropriate waivers. In 1997 the legislature passed alternative education legislation and funded it so that school corporations could obtain up to $750 per full-time equivalent student to cover additional expenses inherent in alternative education. To qualify as an alternative education program, the program must "be an educational program for eligible students that instructs the eligible students in a different manner than the manner of instruction available in a traditional school setting". To obtain alternative education funding based on the formula established in the legislation, public school corporations must:
- Submit an approved grant for an individual or joint program
- Serve eligible students. Eligible students are students who:
- Intend to withdraw or havewithdrawn from school before graduation.
- Have failed to comply academically and would benefit from instruction offered in a manner different from the manner of instruction available in a traditional school.
- Student is a parent or an expectant parent and is unable to regularly attend the traditional school program.
- Student is employed and the employment is necessary for support and interferes with a part of student's instructional day.
- Student is disruptive (as defined in IC 20-10.1-4.6-1.6).
- Develop written individual service plans
- Employ the teachers providing the academic instruction
- Conduct program sessions for a minimum of two hours
- Examples of Program Documents
- Surveys
- Grant Information
- Program Websites
- Directory of Approved Alternative Education Program Grants for 2009-10
- Data
- Program Profiles
- 2007-08 Summary Report New
- State Goals
- 2006-2007 Summary Report
- 2005-06 Fact Sheet
- 2005-06 Outcomes by County
Outcome data includes all students who participated in the program. Students may be reported in only ONE category. Therefore, while students may have outcomes that could fit into more than one category (for example, a student who graduated may also be considered to have attained and made progress toward meeting goals), programs are asked to place students in the category that BEST represents that student's outcome. Percentages across all categories (excluding % of 12th graders earning HS diploma) may not equal 100% due to rounding. The category "withdrew from the alternative program" may include students who withdrew from school altogether, transferred to another school or district, returned to the sending school, or were expelled from the alternative program.
- Reports
- Memos
- Conferences New
Alternative Educators looking for professional development are encouraged to check out the following conferences. You might also check into the possibility of presenting and sharing some of the great things going on in Indiana.
- Grant Opportunities
- Resources New
- Hot Links
Please direct comments and suggestions about the website to Sue Foxx.
