Understanding and Addressing the Issue of the High School Dropout Age
Appendix B: Alternative Education Programs
Changing the compulsory attendance age generally has a better chance of producing successful results when enacted in conjunction with alternative education programs. There are several programs that have proven successful in providing alternative means to reach at-risk students.
The Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District in Michigan has implemented a program that incorporates all sectors of the community to improve the social climate of local school districts. The Search Institute has created a developmental asset framework that identifies 40 positive building blocks—called the GivEm 40—that its research indicates provide the resources necessary for young people to succeed. The data indicates the role assets play in protecting young people from risky behaviors (including dropping out) and promotes behaviors that lead to future success. The GivEm 40 coalition was founded by the local United Way chapter and is a multiorganizational partnership that includes over 25 school districts. The fundamental goal of GivEm 40 is to build a more supportive school and community environment for healthy youth development. School-based mentoring programs, increase in community involvement, rise in student participation, and the resurgence in individuals committing time and personal assets to students are all successful outcomes of the program. According to the GivEm 40 Web site, "The positive and uplifting approach provided by assets builds powerful bonds between the efforts of educators, parents, citizens, and community organizations" (GivEm 40 Coalition, 2003).
Kansas has created an initiative called the Diversified Educational Experiences Program (DEEP). This program allows instructors to create academic environments that emphasize success for every student while decreasing student hostility to educational institutions. DEEP offers a new way to bridge the gap between the students and the institution for Grades 9–12. Students enrolled in DEEP identify their own needs, formulate objectives, develop tasks based on those objectives, present group and individual projects, receive teacher reviews, and participate in their own evaluations (U.S. Department of Education, 1995). Teachers are trained as learning facilitators, and the conflict-management process is based on consultation and peer group interaction as well as on teacher-student interaction. Classrooms are highly structured, but teachers have the flexibility to change the methods of instruction to engage the needs of their students. Developmental funding for DEEP was through the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Title III (U.S. Department of Education, 1995).
New York has created a program called City-As-School (CAS) that combines academic learning with real-world experiences in the workforce. The U.S. Department of Education has approved this program and classified CAS as a successful alternative educational program. CAS connects students directly with learning experiences throughout the community, specializes in small class sizes, and provides weekly forums for discussion on a wide range of topics that range from social to academic to guidance. The results of this program include improvements in attendance; increases in the course completion rate of students; and better student attitudes toward schooling, career, and adults (U.S. Department of Education, 1995). This program allows students to be engaged in the world around them and to continue in school at the same time. CAS combines both academic and community experience, so students are ready to enter the job market well prepared and with a high school diploma. The program was funded through the National Diffusion Network at the U.S. Department of Education (U.S. Department of Education, 1995).
Iowa created a program called the DeLasalle model, which is an individualized program of special services grouped with a core academic curriculum for students who have dropped out of Grades 9–12 to help them improve their academic skills and complete their high school education (U.S. Department of Education, 1995). The goals of the program are to increase school attendance, improve academic skills, and enhance self-esteem and educational attitudes in students who have dropped out of high school. "DeLasalle employs a variety of programming features and services in a comprehensive model to allow every student to be successful in his or her education" (U.S. Department of Education, 1995). The DeLasalle model provides a supportive, nontraditional school structure; a small student-teacher ratio; individualized learning; student contracting; intensive counseling; vocational skill training; and a diagnostic, prescriptive teaching process. The cost of this program is similar to costs in a public school system. According to the U.S. Department of Education (1995), estimates are that this program can serve up to 160 students, and financial support for teachers, materials, office space, and so forth is generated through a combination of private and public funding.
