Alternative Education. Report No. D85-4.

Overview & Synopsis

This report discusses a variety of K-12 educational programs in California that constitute alternatives to instruction at regular public schools. For each of the programs discussed, the report identifies pertinent issues and provides policy recommendations. The report contents are based on visits to 18 school districts and 8 offices of county superintendents of education, along with interviews conducted with the staff of the California State Department of Education. Separate chapters deal in turn with the following programs: (1) independent study, (2) regional occupation centers and programs, (3) work experience, (4) continuation schools, (5) opportunity schools, and (6) community schools. Subsequent chapters discuss other forms of alternative schools such as magnet schools and consider the question of funding mechanisms for alternative programs. The conclusion suggests that the place of alternatives in the overall scheme of educational reform is a topic in need of greater clarification. Three appendixes provide (1) state funding formulas for alternative programs, (2) an extensive response by the California State Department of Education to the report as a whole, and (3) comments on the Department of Education response. (TE)