Annotated Bibliography
Aron, L. (2009). Alternative schooling in the USA. In Kitty te Riele (Ed.), Making schools
different (pp.10-19). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Incorporated.
This book chapter provides an overview of the need for alternative schooling in the
United States. The author conducts studies for U.S. and federal agencies and provides
an ongoing report to the nation on public mental health service systems. This chapter
also explains the term alternative schools and reviews the typologies of those schools.
Characteristics of high quality programs were addressed. The outcomes of alternative
schooling was discussed. This author pointed out that many students who qualify for
alternative schooling may be being pushed out of schools because they do not perform
well on high stakes tests. It is a “quiet crisis” our schools are facing. The alternatives
for these students are largely of unknown quality and too few in numbers and types of
facilities. This book chapter will be valuable to my research by addressing some basic
terminology and reviewing the basic types of alternative schools. This will add to my
discussion of the literature in my literature review section.
Booker, K., & Mitchell, A. (2011). Patterns in recidivism and discretionary placement in
disciplinary alternative education: The impact of gender, ethnicity, age, and special
education status. Education & Treatment of Children (ETC), 34(2), 193-208. doi:10.
1353/etc.2011.0016
This study examined the probability of being placed in an alternative education setting
for disciplinary reasons and the possibility of returning within one year. The authors are
researchers at Texas Women’s University. They revealed that minority students and
high school students had a higher chance of returning within one year than non-minority
students and middle school students. Boys were also rated to have a higher rate of
return than girls. Students with special education services were noted to have about the
same return rate as non-special education students. Cultural and developmental
implications due to the findings of this study were discussed. This study provides clear
quantitative data on the impact of gender, race, and special education status on the
return rate of students to alternative school settings and will add dimension to my
research. Several suggestions for future practice and further research were outlined
which has given me ideas on where I may want to go with my own research.
Christle, C. A., Jolivette, K., & Nelson, C. (2005). Breaking the school to prison pipeline:
Identifying school risk and protective factors for youth delinquency. Exceptionality,
13(2), 69-88. doi:10.1207/s15327035ex1302_2
The authors of this study discussed key elements that are present and identified for
students who are on a school to prison track. The authors are professors at the
University of South Carolina, Georgia State University, and the University of
Kentucky. The key elements that were found are academic failure, exclusionary
discipline practice, and dropout. Three multi-method studies were conducted that
examined these key elements. The article points out that much research has been
conducted on the risks of delinquency but not on the variables to offset these risks.
This study specifically pointed out school characteristics and policies that can help to
minimize the risk factors or can intensify risk factors for delinquent students. This
article will be beneficial to my research because it points out key elements that have
been identified as risk factors for students who attend alternative schools. It will be
interesting to see if I find the same key elements in my own research.
D'Angelo,F.,Zemanick,R.(2009). The Twilight Academy: An alternative education program
that works.Preventing School Failure,53(4),211-218. doi:10.3200/PSFL.53.4.211-218
The authors of this article point out that youth today are more diverse than ever before.
Frank D’Angelo is an assistant professor at Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania.
Robert Zemanick is an assistant principal at the Nazareth Area Middle School in
Pennsylvania. Schools need to address this diversity in their school population and
create alternative education settings that meet the needs of the students that have
difficulty succeeding in a traditional classroom setting. The authors point out that
characteristics of successful alternative programs as well as the philosophy of
alternative education need to be clearly defined. Challenges to alternative schooling
also need to be well described and stated. This article is beneficial because it confirms
that alternative schools can be highly effective in providing an education to students
who have not been successful in traditional educational settings. This will add to my
literature review because it aids me in the triangulation of resources in support of
alternative schools.
Dixon,P.(2010). The forgotten room: Inside a public alternative school for at-risk youth.
Childhood Education,87(1),65. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
The forgotten room is an ethnographic study of an alternative school in Georgia, and
gives a true candid look at an alternative school. The author, Patrick Dixon, is a
Principal of Bellflower Adult School in Bellflower Unified School District in
California. This is an eye-opening account that should be read by the people
determining policies, making decisions, or running support programs for alternative
education. These individuals are often far removed from what actually goes on in these
schools. This article will add to my research because it is different from other
ethnographic studies. This is due to the fact that the observer, Mary Hollowell, has
varied roles as, volunteer, substitute paraprofessional, observer, and teacher. This
allowed for a unique observatory perspective which weaves several alternative
education topics into one remarkable story. This article will help me to stay grounded
to the fact that what I am researching has real implications with real people not just
research subjects.
Houchins, D. E., Puckett-Patterson, D., Crosby, S., Shippen, M. E., & Jolivette, K. (2009).
Barriers and facilitators to providing incarcerated youth with a quality education.
Preventing School Failure, 53(3), 159-166.doi:10.3200/PSFL.53.3.159-166
The authors of this article collected a list of barriers and catalysts to providing a
quality education to youth that are incarcerated. The authors are professors at
Georgia State University and Auburn University. They provided a list which offered
several themes for a starting point to discussing how to improve the educational
process and its quality for youth that are incarcerated. The following nine themes are
the foundation for discussions: discipline, student concerns, academics, personnel
concerns, materials and supplies, parent involvement, funding, communication, and
facilities. The authors used the constant comparative method to analyze their data. The
article then focused as to what teachers and administrators can do specifically to
improve the educational process for incarcerated youth. This article will be useful to me
because the themes will help me to focus on specific areas that I may want to include in
my questionnaires. The constant comparative method is also something I am
considering for my own research method.
Rios, L. (1996). Me...teach criminals? The true adventures of a prison teacher. New York,
NY: Vantage Press Incorporated.
This book is a true personal account of teaching criminals for eight years in a
Texas jail system. The author, Lorna Rios, taught Texas prisoners in two jails and a
prison for eight years. She has also taught probationers and GED classes for Austin
Community College. She is currently a certified public school teacher in Idaho and is
a professional presenter and conference speaker. The author discovers that
approximately 80% of the prisoners she teaches are high school dropouts. She explores
the question of why this is so, and what makes these prisoners different from other
uneducated adults. This narrative explores prejudices toward minority groups and the
notion that incarcerating people for longer terms does not work. This actually makes it
harder for prisoners to rehabilitate and transition back into a free society. This book
will assist me in my research by giving me a first-hand account of what it is like to work
in an alternative setting.
Tissington, L.D. (2006). History: Our hope for the future.Preventing School Failure,51(1),
19-25. Retrieved from
281%29.pdf#page=18
The author of this article looks at how public education has changed throughout history.
Laura Tissington is an assistant professor and Associate Chair of the College of
Professional Studies at the University of West Florida in Pensacola, Florida. She points
out that these changes have led to the formation of alternative education settings which
are now fast growing due to the need of these settings. Quality alternative education
settings must contain essential components in order to comply with federal mandates
that require all public schools hold all students to the same standard. Tissington
declares that administrators and teachers are cautious about counting low test scores
on state tests or low school averages. This article is valuable because it provides me
with the history of public education. This will help to give readers a better
understanding of the role of education and how it relates to the growing field of
alternative education.
Turton, A. M., Umbreit, J., & Mathur, S. R. (2011). Systematic function-based intervention for
adolescents with emotional and behavioral disorders in an alternative setting:
Broadening the context.Behavioral Disorders, 36(2), 117-128. Retrieved from
EBSCOhost.
This article examines the efficacy of function-based interventions in an alternative
setting. The authors are researchers from the University of Alaska at Anchorage,
University of Arizona, and Arizona State University respectively. Their interventions
were designed to support students with emotional and behavioral disorders. It was
decided that implementing these interventions would continue even after the study
ended in an effort to control behavior and to facilitate transition back into the
mainstream classroom. This article pointed out a major problem in how we are
educating a whole group of children. This information is important because it adds to
the literature supporting the efficacy function-based interventions and the social validity
of those interventions. This will be invaluable to my research in many ways. I hope to
add some component where I look at how students transition back to their home
schools. This article gives me ideas on how to make that transition more successful and
hopefully reduce the return rate of students back to alternative schools.
Vacca, J. S. (2004). Educated prisoners are less likely to return to prison. Journal of
Correctional Education, 55(4), 297-305. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
This study supports earlier research that prisoners who attend some type of educational
programs during the time they are incarcerated are less likely to return to prison once
they are released. The author. James Vacca, is the Chair of Special Education and
Literacy at C. W. Post College in Long Island, New York. He has taught reading and
writing to inmates at a maximum security prison in Comstock, New York. He was also
a school teacher and administrator in New York Public Schools and residential
treatment centers for more than thirty years. Educational programs in prisons account
for less violence by inmates involved in the program. They also help to create a more
positive prison climate. This is confirmed by several studies in several states. In
addition, these educational programs advocate vocational training for prisoners. This is
especially important when prisoners transition from prison back to society. This article
gives me strong support in favor of alternative schooling.