When Tom Keating was named Minnesota's 2004 Teacher of the Year, it was a proud moment not only for Keating, his school district, and the school where he teaches (Turning Point Alternative Learning Program in Monticello), but for Minnesota's alternative education programs as well. "One of the great blessings of this year is the spotlight that was shone on alternative education," Keating says. He makes a good point; while the relatively small numbers of students who attend charter schools or are homeschooled get quite a bit of media attention, there isn't much public attention paid to alternative education, despite the fact that one in four public school students in Minnesota attends an alternative program part- or full-time.
Although the students who attend alternative schools are considered to be "at risk," they graduate from high school or get a GED at nearly as high a rate as other students, according to Glory Kibbel, alternative program specialist at the Minnesota Department of Education. "About 80 percent [of alternative program students] graduate or get their GED, compared to 88 percent of nonalternative students," Kibbel says.
It may take them longer, or their education may be interrupted-but by and large, these are motivated students: 72 percent of the boys and 83 percent of the girls would like to pursue some form of postsecondary education.
Southside Family School
About two-thirds of the 174,000 Minnesota students who attended an alternative education program last year did so part-time-most commonly after school two or three days a week or in the summer. Almost all of the students who attended an alternative program full-time were in grades 8-12. Minneapolis' Southside Family School, which serves 86 children in grades K-8, is a notable exception. Like other alternative education programs, Southside boasts lots of individual attention, achievable in part by the school's enviable 11 or 12:1 student/teacher ratio, says Executive Director Eliza Goodwin.
Students at Southside learn the basics, but there's also an emphasis on "extras": twice weekly, students either hear a guest speaker or go on a field trip. There's also a social justice emphasis. And according to Goodwin, the word "family" in the school's name is taken seriously. "All of the teachers know all of the kids," she says. "There is a real sense of community, with connections between the staff, kids, and their families. We look for opportunities to bring the families into school. We get to know each other pretty well, and we enjoy each other's company." At the same time, she adds, "Teachers hold students accountablekids get away with less." Another advantage to the school's small size: "When there are issues and problems, they get noticed a lot more quickly than in a larger school." Goodwin says that 95 percent of Southside's students finish high school.
35 kids in Buffalo
After working with troubled kids in a variety of settings, Gretchen Lieb says she knew her heart. It was with "kids who are down and out but aren't quite to the point of giving up." Lieb founded the tiny Phoenix Learning Center, part of the Buffalo-Hanover-Montrose School District, seven years ago. The program is amazingly successful: 90 percent of its students graduate, and 13 of the 14 students who graduated last year are in postsecondary programs.
"One of the things that's probably been the program's greatest success is that we have the same standards as a functional family or employer. Attendance, commitment-we say, 'no, this isn't good enough'-we are about education. We require 80 percent of each assignment to be correct; you won't pass with a D-."
Along with academics, Phoenix stresses:
– Life skills.
Students learn how to balance a checkbook, plan their finances, search out car insurance, and fill out a housing application.
– Volunteerism.
"Sometimes the community will call to see if we can help out with a project," Lieb says. "We may cancel school for the day and go help out." Students have worked with the Heifer International Project, the American Cancer Society, and Caring and Sharing Hands.
– Recreation.
"At-risk kids don't know how to play. They loiter in parking lots, find activities that are hard on other people." Lieb teaches them to play-bowling, sledding, ice skating, yoga, softball, and kickball, to name a few of the games. They learn good sportsmanship, and she finds it gratifying when she overhears that five students got together and went bowling over the weekend.
– Postsecondary planning.
Lieb takes her students to meet with postsecondary admissions officers to demystify the process. Kids also learn about the financial aid process, investigate careers, and undergo aptitude testing. "They learn what they're good at, and what they like," she says. They also research the availability of jobs in a given field. "And they start considering how much money they want to make, how hard they want to work, how long they're willing to go to school."
It's not easy to get into the Phoenix program. Lieb, who's determined to keep it small, requires that prospective students complete an application process that involves much more than the dotting of I's and crossing of T's.
Lieb knows that one-size-fits-all education doesn't work for everyone; she doesn't think it should have to. "A community would never accept having only one choice in a church, restaurant, or gas station. Why should there be only one choice in education?"
Who is an "at-risk" student?
Under Minnesota law, students in alternative programs must be under the age of 21 and be failing or at risk of failing in a traditional program. This includes students who:
– Perform substantially below grade level in a standardized achievement test;
– Are at least one year behind in class work or credit standing;
– Are pregnant or a parent;
– Are chemically dependent;
– Have been expelled;
– Have been referred by a school district;
– Have been abused;
– Have had mental health issues;
– Have been homeless within the past six months;
– Are limited in English language proficiency or speak English as a second language; and/or
– Have dropped out of school or been chronically truant.
Why are they at risk?
A look at the backgrounds of alternative high school students gives you a good snapshot of why these kids don't succeed in traditional programs. According to the 2004 Minnesota Student Survey, an average of 64 percent of traditional high school students live with both parents; among alternative-school seniors, just 32 percent of boys and 25 percent of girls do. Twenty-seven percent of alternative-school senior girls and 20 percent of senior boys report, "My father is not around"; among students in traditional programs, this number is just 9 percent for girls and 7 percent for boys. Drug and alcohol abuse by family members is common in among alternative-school students. Forty-six percent of boys and 71 percent of girls say that alcohol or drug use by a family member has caused family, health, job, or legal problems. The numbers are lower for traditional high school seniors; just 24 percent of boys and 33 percent of girls report serious drug or alcohol abuse by a family member. And finally, alternative school students have less access to health care and come from lower-income families with parents who are less educated than those of their traditional-school peers. "Most of our students' parents haven't had a successful school experience," says Anne Little Long, executive director of Plymouth Christian Youth Center, which runs an alternative program in North Minneapolis. Long notes that her students are often the first members of their family to earn a high school diploma.
