Effectiveness of Alternative Schools At Modifying Disruptive Behavior and Improving Academic Performance

Journal One in The Alternative by Galen Leonhardy, tells the story of a teacher who helps open an alternative school in Kozol Creek, Idaho, and the struggles he faces in attempting to implement a collaborative education process. The author writes of teachers who let students run free through the halls or simply ignored kids because they did not know how to handle them. He also writes of teachers who strive for a more personalized education by learning who their students are and understanding the environment from which they come. I have also dealt with both kinds of teachers in my educational experience, as I was a student of an alternative school. Mr. Lamar, to me, represents what a teacher should be. His personal dedication to making a difference in students’ lives and his willingness to go the extra mile by empowering students to take responsibility for their education changed how I perceived my own education. Mrs. Patton, on the other hand, is a teacher I would much rather forget. Her militarized style of teaching made learning an afterthought to the daily complications we encountered in the classroom. Both Mr. Lamar and Mrs. Patton taught me the importance of being included in your own education.

The Externalizing Problems Composite measures behaviors, which are typically “under controlled” by the child and are often seen as disruptive to both peers and adults within the school or home environment. This composite was measured on the teacher rating form, which included the Hyperactivity, Aggression, and Conduct Problems scales. Mrs. Simpson reported in school, Gustave exhibits typical classroom behavior and self-control. Also, Gustave does not act aggressively or demonstrate any rule breaking behaviors. Overall, Gustave’s behavior in school is within the average Range and similar to peers his age.

In the first journal of The Alternative, Galen Leonhardy journals his daily experiences as a teacher for an alternative school is Kozol Creek, Idaho. He describes the students in his classes and discusses his teaching methods to aid these students academically and socially, in order for them to transfer back into public life. The goals that he sets for himself regarding assisting the students are encountered by obstacles such as uncooperative colleagues and a local community that is ripe with preconceived stereotypes, poverty, and systematic neglect. The stark contrast between Leonhardy’s teaching methods and those of his unaccommodating coworkers reminds me of the disparity between some of the teachers that I had in middle school, some utilizing effective methods to encourage students and others employing unproductive methods of disparaging students.

There will be one semi-instructed interview a week asking about specific situation in the classroom. During the interviews snacks and drinks will be provided for the students to enable them to feel more comfortable in the coming days. The purpose of this study is to see if there is a significant impact of African American teachers on female African American students academic achievement. The participants test scores will be recorded on a laptop. The notes from the interviews and observations in the classroom will be kept in separate notebooks. At the beginning of the research, the teachers will be asked how their teaching style differs from the normative teaching module. Also the participants will be given notebooks to record their own feelings about school and life in. Every two months the material will be collected and recorded in a laptop. Every four months the 11-15 year old participants will be given a 15-dollar gift card to the mall as an incentive to keep them interested and active in the study. After each recording, there will be member-checking and the and all three researchers will combine notes to ensure what is being recorded is actually purposeful to the intended

Within the following text, the reader will explore literature reviews on chronic absenteeism, disruptive behaviors, and successful Cognitive Behavior Therapy within middle school settings in urban America.

For reasons unknown, some students simply cannot or choose not to behave during class. Caroleo opens her article, “An Examination of the Risks and Benefits of Alternative Education”, with the claim, “One size education does not fit for all children and youth” (35). It is true that blanket instruction does not work for most at-risk students. A specialized educational setting results in an increase in supervision and guidance. Specialized settings lower the possibility of frequent outbursts; therefore, placement into a smaller class would benefit the disruptive student. In most alternative classrooms, the student-teacher ratio is low. In a local alternative school hosted by New Brockton High School, the class roster rarely reaches above ten students. Smaller settings allow teachers the chance to minimize down time and focus on individuals. Increased one on one time allows students to find more productive outlets for their excess energy. In addition to being beneficial for the troublesome student, alternative schooling would allow other members of the class a productive environment in which to learn. Students’ outbursts are detrimental to not only the other students’ education but also the education of the delinquent as well. Placement into an alternative school will allow typical students to attend class uninterrupted and encourage the cause of distraction to focus on continuing their education. If the disruptive student is removed from the classroom, then it is likely that all students’ grades will flourish accordingly in the now positive

This gives a student the opportunity to focus on their interests. Alternative schools use various teaching method that emphasize creativity and interaction with students and teachers. This can help with students who don’t enjoy sitting and taking notes all day in a classroom. There's a common misconception about alternative schools being for those students with academic and behavioral needs because they offer additional resources such as counseling and support groups for students. The reason why so many students with behavioral or emotional issues end up in alternative

EBIs to reduce disruptive behavior and increase academic achievement can include trainings and implementation support at the school, class-wide, and individual student-level, and are often either academic or behavioral in nature. Overall, implementation of both universal (i.e. class-wide) and targeted (i.e. student-level) interventions have demonstrated positive impacts on decreasing disruptive behaviors and increasing student academic achievement (Flower, McKenna, Bunuan, Muething, & Vega, 2014; Vannest, Davis, Davis, Mason, & Burke, 2010).Ross, Romer, and Horner (2012) also found that teachers in schools implementing Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports with high fidelity

During the past decade, school safety has been at the forefront of many school districts safety polices and plans. With recent high profile school shootings, the question school districts continue to ask is how do we keep our schools safe? Administrators face heavy scrutiny when weighing approaches to school safety and student discipline. Likewise, school employees have the right to work in safe environments devoid of life-threatening behaviors (Fenning and Bohanon, 2006; Skiba and Rausch, 2006). America’s founding fathers understood the importance of a public school education. They believed educating its citizens would allow them the opportunity to learn new skills while becoming successful and productive people in society. However, our founding fathers did not predict the severe behavior changes our schools face in educating disruptive and dangerous students. America’s school districts are charged with providing solutions for disruptive and dangerous students (Fenning and Bohanon, 2006; Skiba and Rausch, 2006). School officials must address these issues with research-based interventions and collaborative resources that provide a safe learning environment for all stakeholders (Elliott and Mihalic, 2004; Schoenwald and Hoagwood, 2001). Boards of education continue to support school efforts to rethink best practices for disciplinary alternative middle schools (DAMS). Many school districts focus on research-based interventions and resources that manage aggression and

Recent research strongly suggests that well-designed programs are having significant effects on student behaviors (Learning Point Associates). Children who have too much free time after school without parental vision need to be involved in after-school programs. There are many negative influences children could be exposed to in different social environments. Drugs, alcohol, tobacco, sex, and violence are just a few examples in a large category of negative influences

The research method used for this study was a survey distributed as a self-report questionnaire. Data were collected by giving the questionnaire to 3,065 male and female adolescents attending grades 7 through 12 in three midwestern states. The sample design consisted of two parts. First, schools were chosen within a participating school district, which was representative for size and location within the area. Second, two or three classrooms per grade level were chosen among the general enrollment classes. A small subset was also added from applicants who volunteered from the districts who were interviewed a few weeks before the questionnaire was administered (Akers, Lanza-Kaduce, & Radiosevich, 1979).

In this chapter, I will describe the methodology of my case study. I will begin with a presentation of the rationale for the qualitative case study approach. Next, I will present the participant selection criteria, the design of the study, and the methods of the data collection which will include the two interviews (first and follow-up), classroom observation, videotaping the participant during instruction, and document data collection. I will also discuss the strategies I will be using to enhance the trustworthiness of the study. At the end of this chapter, I will explain the methods of the data analysis. Appendix A will be included at the end of the chapter. I will develop Table(s) of the data collection.

Responding to School Violence. NASSP Bulletin, Mar, v84 n614 p32-45 Murphy, J., Weil, M., Hallinger, R., dan Mitman, A. (1985). School effectiveness: a conceptual framework. The Educational Forum, 49(3), 361-374.

Creating a safer and more productive school environment for all students begins with the leadership of administration to create and take a proactive role in preventing problem behaviors before they manifest. The students and staff of any middle school certainly face challenges every single day that are never the same, but being able to address similar undesirable behaviors, why they occur, when they occur, and the how they are able to occur is analysis that must be done by all teacher and leadership teams. Identifying the problems from data from previous years or from schools similar in diversity to their own can help prevent proactively the behaviors schools do not want and reinforce the behaviors they do. However, bridging the gap on

The purpose of this study was to determine if switching elementary schools impacts a student’s academic achievement in high school. Further, the study examined how mobile students performed on each of the core academic disciplines – math, science, language arts and social studies – in high school. A Predictive Correlational study design was used. The predictor variable was elementary school mobility. Elementary school mobility was defined as the number of school moves over the span of the kindergarten through fifth grade years (Heinlein & Shinn, 2000). The criterion variable was final high school grade point average. Final high school grade point average was determined by computing by summing the percentage grade assigned for each class in each of the core course disciplines, and then dividing this sum by the number of courses taken per discipline.