Alternative American Schools: Ideals in Action is a book for parents and teachers, for education professors, researchers, and students--indeed, for everyone who wants to understand the daily practices and philosophies of schools where awakening interests and learning how to learn is more important than content mastery. Drawing upon years of research and personal experiences, Korn clearly discusses fundamental contemporary educational issues through an analysis of seven long-lived, open, alternative schools, preschool through high school, public and private. This clearly written book explores the cooperative (and sometimes confusing) roles of teachers, students, and parents in these schools of choice; it also discusses their philosophical, financial, and physical survival needs. Once popularly dismissed as failed dreams, today these open learning environments continue to flourish and provide educational options to many enthusiastic learners.

An examination of the growth and development of alternative schools in American society and their role in the public school environment. In Alternative Schools: A Reference Handbook, educator Brenda Edgerton Conley surveys the emerging alternatives to our conventional educational system—a system that is not only costly, but ineffective for many children. In a resource aimed at a broad audience—school administrators, politicians, and, most important, parents—Conley offers both a historical and a present-day perspective on alternative educational programs. What sets the alternative education movement apart, she argues, is its acknowledgment that we all learn differently. That knowledge has given rise to an explosion of exciting alternatives—from open schools to home schooling, from charter schools to church schools. These alternative schools are smaller and less bureaucratic, more responsive to the community, and more receptive to change.

Alternative American Schools: Ideals in Action is a book for parents and teachers, for education professors, researchers, and students—indeed, for everyone who wants to understand the daily practices and philosophies of schools where awakening interests and learning how to learn is more important than content mastery. Drawing upon years of research and personal experiences, Korn clearly discusses fundamental contemporary educational issues through an analysis of seven long-lived, open, alternative schools, preschool through high school, public and private. This clearly written book explores the cooperative (and sometimes confusing) roles of teachers, students, and parents in these schools of choice; it also discusses their philosophical, financial, and physical survival needs. Once popularly dismissed as failed dreams, today these open learning environments continue to flourish and provide educational options to many enthusiastic learners.

This book describes the fifteen strategies identified through research reviewed by The National Dropout Prevention Center and Network at Clemson University. Each chapter in this book was written by a nationally recognized authority in that field. Research has shown that these 15 strategies have been successfully implemented in all school levels from K - 12 in rural, suburban, and urban centers; as stand-alone programs or as part of systemic school improvement plans. Helping Students Graduate: A Strategic Approach to Dropout Prevention also covers No Child Left Behind and its effects on dropout rates; Dealing with Hispanic dropouts; Differences and similarities between rural and urban dropouts. These fifteen strategies have been adopted by the U.S. Department of Education. They are applicable to all students, including students with disabilities.

Intersectional Care for Black Boys in an Alternative School is an exploration of the possibilities that exist within educational spaces for Black male students when teachers care for these students while also acknowledging the intersectionality of Black male identity and the potential oppression and resilience that they experience as the result. Through examples from adolescent Black males and their teacher in an urban alternative school for those pushed out of traditional high school settings, ways that teachers can embody and enact intersectional care are revealed. This book explores the importance of the ethic of care in teacher student relationships for young Black men and the influence of identity constructions that produce positive and negative educational experiences of Black boys who are outside of traditional schooling. The voices of the young Black men are centered in this story as they describe experiences of marginalization in traditional high schools prior to attending their alternative school, which for them was a caring space. Cultivating positive environments and student teacher relationships with intersectional care represent important strategies to engage young Black men in education.

More than 2,500 programs that call themselves "alternative" have been identified throughout the United States. Administrators of these programs admit that the vast majority of them are alternative in name only and serve instead to isolate, segregate, and warehouse youth who can be difficult. How to Establish an Alternative School provides a comprehensive plan for anyone interested in creating truly alternative programs and schools that can dramatically redirect the lives of at-risk youth. Kellmayer outlines the key characteristics of successful alternative programs, describes alternative models, and tells you how to set up and effectively manage an alternative program that fits your needs and the needs of your students. He also provides strategies to help you empower teachers, involve students in their own education, and evaluate alternative programs. Kellmayer also offers all the help you'll need in overcoming the pernicious Not in My Backyard (NIMBY) syndrome that has historically prevented alternative schools from locating in desirable locations such as college campuses and shopping malls. This book is sure to become the bible of program planning for at-risk youth.

This is a unique collection of leading examples of education grounded in alternative philosophies and cultures – from initiatives to create more democratic schools, through Quaker, Buddhist, Islamic, Montessori and Steiner/Waldorf schools, to Maori and First Nations education in Canada and Palestinian Jewish schools in Israel.