Bibliographical Information

Title of Source: The International encyclopedia of education

Full Name of Author: B.S. Cooper

Subtitle: Alternative Schools and Programs

Journal Name/ Series Name/ Multi-volume Work/ Page Numbers: Second edition/ volume one/ pages 260-265

City and State of Publication: Oxford, England

Publisher: Pergamon, Elsevier Science

Date / Year of Publication: 1994

Citation in APA style: Cooper, B.S. (1994). Alternative Schools and Programs. In The International Encyclopedia of Education. (Vol. 1, pp 260-265).

Interpretation of the Article

What is the author's main point?

The author’s main point in this article is to inform his or her readers about the alternatives to state funded and formed education.

What does the author say?

The author begins by explaining that one reason that someone may want to go to an alternative school is because the public school system is a failure in the minds of some. Alternative schools help children bring forth their creative sides and thus will perform at a higher level. He then goes on to explain that alternative schools fall under three categories: independent, religiously affiliated (parochial), and government run schools. Schools that are run by religious groups are usually run at “the margin”. The group doesn’t have the strictest control over the educational methods of the school. The independent schools usually have a more traditional curriculum but a different way of teaching that curriculum. There are two well known examples of these schools: Waldorf and Montessori schools. Waldorf schools are based on spiritual learning. Their classrooms have a set program and all the students do basically the same work. Montessori schools are more individualized and allow the students a lot of room to explore. There are also fundamentalist alternative schools that teach fundamentalist religion very strictly. Home schooling is also an option for parents looking for alternative schooling.

What do I think?

I enjoyed this article. It was fairly objective and gave good information on the different types of alternative schools. The only biases that I found in the article were pushes from the author to send children to alternative schools. The article also could have been structured a little better. The author seemed to jump from school to school and it became confusing about which school fit into which category. A little bit more information would have also been helpful when the author was talking about each school. Overall, the author presented information on the different types of alternative schools well and in a fairly unbiased fashion.

Bibliographical Information

Title of Source: Encyclopedia of Education

Full Name of Author: Robert D. Barr and William H. Parett

Subtitle: Alternative Schooling

Journal Name/ Series Name/ Multi-volume Work/ Page Numbers: second edition/ volume 1/ pgs 82-87

City and State of Publication: N.Y., NY

Publisher: Macmillan Reference USA

Date / Year of Publication: 2003

Citation in APA style: Parett, W.H. and Barr, R.D. (2003). Alternative Schooling. In Encyclopedia of Education. (Vol. 1, pp82-87).

Interpretation of the Article

What is the author's main point?

The authors’ main point is to inform the reader about the many types of alternative schools available. The authors provide the readers will many facts about alternative school and information about the variety available to the public.

What does the author say?

The author defines alternative schooling as, “nontraditional public and private educational approaches available by choice to parents and students”. The author then goes into the history of traditional and alternative education. It wasn’t until the 1960’s that people began to look toward other schools for their children’s education. From 1993 to 2000, students enrolled in alternative schools rose 26%. Though this increase has taken place pretty much across the entire United States, Minnesota and Arizona have felt substantial growth in the enrollment of alternative schools. Not only alternative schools are feeling a surge, but also home schooling is increasing. Alternative schooling tries to meet the needs of all children, not just the average child. There are five components of alternative schools: “voluntary participation, small school size, caring teachers with high expectations, customized curriculum/ personal instruction, and safe learning environment”. The authors then go on to explain the many different types of alternative school available to students. From at risk students to high achieving students, there is a school to meet everyone’s needs. The authors conclude their article by explaining that they believe that alternative schools will continue to grow and develop.

What do I think?

I really enjoyed this article. I found it very informative and full of statistics and useful information. I liked how this article focused mainly on the United States and not alternative schooling around the world. The authors also left their biases out of the article as much as possible and simply reported the facts of alternative schooling. They explained the different types of schools in a well organized fashion and used well placed diction. This article was easy to read and understand and gave me a good preliminary understanding of alternative schooling. The article was well researched and put together in a coherent fashion and I would highly recommend this article to explain alternative schools.

Bibliographical Information

Title of Source Philosophically Based Alternatives in Education

Full Name of Author: Robin Ann Martin

Date / Year of Publication: 2002

Journal Name/ Series Name/ Multi-volume Work/ Page Numbers: 17-28

Date Retrieved from the Web: 9/16/04

URL: www.Pathsoflearning.net/library/aera2002.cfm

Citation in APA style: Martin, R.A. (2002). Philosophically Bases Alternatives in Education. Retrieved on September 16, 2004, from  www.Pathsoflearning.net/library/aera2002.cfm

Interpretation of the Article

What is the author's main point?

The author’s main point is that there are many alternatives to “traditional” educational schools. She provides a detailed explanation of many different types of schools including history and the philosophy behind the schools. The author “provides a backdrop for anyone who wishes to examine the diversity of educational alternatives available today”.

What does the author say?

The author takes a different approach to what an alternative school is than most people. She believes that alternative schools should be separated from special needs, at-risk, and subject-matter alternative schools. The author then goes on to explain the alternative schools that she categorizes as alternative. Free schools and democratic schools focus on the child’s role as a learner and that they will follow their own interests in learning. Folk education is common in Denmark and has everything to do with “emotionally charged issues directly relevant to the lives of participants”. Friends (Quaker) Schools are centered upon community and creating community oriented people. Home schooling helps to go beyond traditional methods of teaching. Unschooling and deschooling have derived from home schooling. The author also mentions that although home schooling is so untraditional, many home schooled students are admitted into good universities. Krishnamurti schools take a “method less” or “pathless” approach to learning. Montessori schools focus upon the children’s ability to lead the lesson themselves. Progressive schooling focuses upon projects that children can do in order to learn related ideas. Open Schools involve the children’s abilities to move about as they wish and use the materials of their choosing. Waldorf schools focus on creating free, responsible human beings. Although this is an alternative school the teacher still focuses the lesson.  

What do I think?

I agree with most everyone else who has an opinion on alternative schooling. I believe that at-risk, subject-matter, and special needs schools do fall under the category of alternative schools. These schools do not fit the “norm” of public schooling and this should be considered alternative. This article had a multitude of information on the schools that were thought to be alternative. The article was very well researched and very well set up. It was fairly easy to understand and presented the information very well to the readers. Another thing that bothered me about the article was the fact that the author did present a lot of her own biases when explaining the facts. Other than my two discrepancies I thought the article was very informative and presented the information well.

Bibliographical Information

Title of Source: Alternative schools serving students with and without disabilities: what are the current issues and challenges?

Full Name of Author: Camilla A. Lehr and Cheryl M. Lange

Date / Year of Publication: 2004

Journal Name/ Series Name/ Multi-volume Work/ Page Numbers: Preventing School Failure/ Vol. 47/ pp. 59/ issue 2

Date Retrieved from the Web: 9/16/04

Citation in APA style: Lehr, C.A., Lange, C.M. (2003). Alternative schools serving students with and without disabilities: what are the current issue and challenges? Preventing School Failure, 47 (2), pp 59+. Retrieved September 22, 2004 from Academic Search/ EBSCO database.

Interpretation of the Article

What is the author's main point?

The author’s main point is to present evidence that she has found to the reader about the successes and hardships of alternative schools. The author doesn’t seem to have an overwhelming opinion about alternative schools, but she seems to believe that they are worthwhile despite certain criticisms. The author mainly gives the readers facts about the topic.

What does the author say?

The author begins by defining the term, alternative school. She believes that the most common definition for alternative schools is, “a school that addresses the needs of students that typically cannot be met in a regular school”. No matter how alternative schools are defined, the fact is that they have increased in number substantially over the past five years. The positive characteristics that stand out about alternative schools are, “small enrollment, one-on-one interaction between teachers and students, supportive environments, opportunities and curriculum relevant to students interest, flexibility in structure, and an emphasis on student decision  making”. The author characterizes alternative schools into three categories: schools of choice, last chance schools, and schools designed “with a remedial focus on academic issues”. One of the main reasons why alternative schools have been thriving is because many more students are at risk of dropping out of the education system. The rest of the article goes on to present the research done by the University of Minnesota on alternative schools. Research has shown that despite new legislation of states, alternative schools still have a lot of flexibility on the local level. Along with this flexibility comes challenges. A lack of legislation also leads to a lack of funding and proper support needed. This increases the risk of poor programs. Schools that are “choice” schools tend to be more flexible and have programming that is more individualized. Schools that are forced schools tend to be more structured and focus on skill building. Alternative schools seem to be successful in keeping students in school and also help with self-esteem. Another disability that alternative schools have is finding teachers with the correct licensing for positions that are needed.

What do I think?

I believe that all the information presented in this journal is very accurate. The author stated her sources and focused largely on research done by the University of Minnesota. I think that it’s sad that these schools have such difficulties, but that these difficulties will be hard to fix. To find proper funded the schools would have to go to the government and the government wouldn’t give them the funding needed unless they had some control over the schools. Government control over alternative schools would, in a sense, be counterproductive because the schools would cease being alternative, they would be like the other schools in the public education system. For the schools to be helped the in the long run, public awareness about alternative schools probably needs to be raised. When the public is informed about the schools, legislation may be altered for the good of the schools.