Across the United States, students attend alternative schools where they can receive a more personalized form of education. Students can be sent to alternative schooling for many reasons, and Georgia Law requires that they – like all students – receive an adequate education in necessary content.

Over 400,000 students attend a public alternative high school in the United States. These schools offer flexible programs for students who may be falling behind academically. Adrian Epps, former Dean of Bagwell College of Education at Kennesaw State University, describes alternative schooling as a setting where students can receive a more effective form of education.

“The definition [of alternative schooling] is actually an interesting one that’s evolving, but what most people recognize is schooling beyond the traditional setting based on a child’s needs for whatever reasons,” Epps said. “[Maybe] the systems in place have failed in some way, and so they’re behind [and] are usually trying to catch up. Or [maybe], they’ve had to deal with some injustices, or have wrongfully participated in some things themselves… [Alternative schooling is] really just a non-traditional setting [where students go] to still ideally achieve [the] equivalency of a high school diploma and or beyond.”

Dr. Lizanne DeStefano, a Professor of Psychology at the Georgia Institute of Technology, describes alternative schooling as a learning environment similar to that of traditional schools.

“The way that I see alternative schooling in the United States is that students are removed from their traditional school setting, like their local high school, or wherever they’re supposed to go to school, and they’re moved into a parallel learning environment,” DeStefano said.

Dr. Jenny Lock, a member of the Georgia Association for Alternative Education, believes alternative schools can be helpful for students who struggle in traditional learning environments.

“They allow for much-needed flexibility for students,” Lock said. “Eight hours in a desk doesn’t work for everyone. [Alternative] schools are allowed to have a shorter school day and doesn’t force them into taking extra classes to fill a seven-period day like the other schools must.”

Many misconceptions surround alternative education. Dr. Mary Cullen Frazier, Executive Director of the National Alternative Education Association, explains that many people assume alternative schools have lower standards than traditional schools, which is not the case.

“The goal is always that the supports are very individualized,” Frazier said. “I think a lot of times people are like, ‘We lower these standards for them.’ No we don’t. We put them on pedestals to access the standards. The standards stay the same. Everything — the expectations, rules, standards — all stay the same, but sometimes somebody needs a higher footstool because they’re shorter. It’s not their fault they’re shorter, but we need to be able to give them a footstool to reach that.” 

Like Frazier, Epps explains that standards remain consistent across traditional and alternative schools.

“The expectation in any state is that students are expected to complete the curriculum that the state has set as the standard,” Epps said. “And the state typically provides some autonomy and flexibility by which individual schools might approach that… So, those minimum standards are there for all students, no matter the setting that they’re in. And so they’re carried out in different ways. So it’s not that it’s easier or simpler, they’re just the minimum standards. “

Tara Shelton, Coordinator of Police Intervention Practices and District Coordinator of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) for Atlanta Public Schools, says the behavioral aspect of alternative education contributes to negative attitudes towards it.

“It’s based on behavior, so it, unfortunately, already comes with a negative connotation because you are [assigned] there because [you have an infraction] that forces you to attend this place,” Shelton said.

Epps notes that many students are sent to alternative schools due to their current circumstances, not because they are falling behind.

“There are plenty of instances in which the students have failed [or] gotten so far behind,” Epps said. “They’re trying to catch up so that ideally they can graduate still on time… There are numerous situations in which those students who are attending some alternative schools are as smart as you are, [or] smarter, and they’re thriving within that setting. It’s just maybe that their personal circumstances requires them for that moment in time to be [there].”

Frazier believes that transportation is a barrier within alternative education, noting that it is often the responsibility of parents to get their kids to and from school.

“I think [in] a lot of states, a lot of districts will say we have this option, but you have to transport yourself to and from school,” Frazier said. “If we know the population of students alternative education typically serves, we know that population doesn’t always have the means to transport themselves. They’re typically your students in your traditional schools that ride the bus. So, if we don’t have transportation already established to some of these options, then we are not really creating that equitable distribution of [resources].”

APS’s alternative school, Hank Aaron New Beginnings Academy does not provide transportation, which Shelton says limits student access to opportunities.

“[Hank Aaron] does not have transportation for students,” Shelton said. “So, they would miss out… [because] they don’t have transportation to be able to get there.”

Additionally, Shelton noted that the lack of transportation at Hank Aaron has caused students to transition into completely virtual education, rather than in person.

“The one thing I would change is making sure that everybody had transportation…,” Shelton said. “Because if you don’t want to be virtual, [you may] have to be virtual because you don’t have a way to get there.”

Although many alternative schools function within school districts, they do not always receive the same resources as other schools. Frazier says they are often the first to be affected by funding issues.

“A lot of times our organization hears that these leaders and instructors and teachers are isolated,” Frazier said.  “I think [alternative educators] feel like they are not prioritized in their district, whether it be with resources, whether it be with funds, staffing, any of those things… A lot of times when money gets cut, the staffing in an alternative school is one of the first places to go.“

Epps adds that some student circumstances require additional financial resources to provide adequate support.

“[Certain situations require] a different level of funding and support, but also, it requires a different level of preparation and readiness by the educator to have,” Epps said. “So, it would definitely require more financial resources to support some of those dire situations. And there are many of those across the nation.“

In many cases, underperforming staff may be sent to alternative schools instead of being fired, contributing to a lowered impression of alternative educators, Frazier said.

“A lot of times in certain districts if it is a public space, and they are the option for the public school district, unfortunately, a lot of times those alternative spaces are where either administrators, teachers or staff, are sent because they have not been performing at your traditional schools,” Frazier said. 

Lock notes that teachers should have the correct teaching certifications in order to benefit their students most.

“It’s all about personnel and that has to have the support of the district — it has to be where teachers want to go so you can recruit the best, not the place to send teachers when they aren’t performing well,” Lock said. “The curriculum can be online, but the teachers need to be certified in the correct areas so that they can actually help the students with understanding and have the option to take work off the computer when needed.”

Frazier believes that if an emphasis is put on prioritizing alternative schools, it can result in district-wide improvements.

“If we can prioritize [the] performance [of alternative schools], then we know the whole district’s performance will increase because we’ve put such a priority into our low performers,” Frazier said. “And then that just automatically makes everyone grow. And so I think that we’re only going to be as strong as our weakest link. And so we can pour into the weakest link, then we can really begin to see growth in our state.”

Epps believes that moving away from the language of “alternative schooling” can help to remove the negative connotation that surrounds it.

“I think the biggest thing is we just need to get away from categorizing schools in that way…” Epps said. ”There really needs to be a push to get away from this terminology alternative, because over, particularly, the past 15 years or so, you really have seen even more take on this notion of alternative, nontraditional setting.”

Additionally, Epps notes that alternative education is not widely appreciated by the general public.

“[To help alternative schools succeed] I think that [people need to do] that work to change the mindset that alternative school means a bad thing,” Epps said. “I think people within schools realize that, I think the general public doesn’t.”

Shelton believes allowing students to make the decision on whether to stay in alternative schooling could contribute to further academic successes for them.

“What would be helpful is [if] students would like to attend a particular place that they don’t have to be [at], that they can say, ‘If I go to this alternative setting, and I’m only supposed to be there for 30 days, but it’s really working for me, that I can make the choice to stay in this environment because it’s giving me those things that I need,’” Shelton said.

Students may attend alternative schools due to issues with behavior or academics. However, Dr. DeStefano believes an early identification program for students within alternative schools could help to combat the negative connotation alternative education programs face, and reframe it as an educational tool.

“One of the problems with alternative schools in the United States is that a lot of times, they’re a last resort after a child has failed,” DeStefano said. “So, after you failed in a school and then you moved to an alternative school, you’re still dealing with those issues of failure… Rather than allowing a child to fail, if you see that a child has difficulty attending school or getting to school on time, [or] if you see that [they have] disciplinary issues…, move them to an alternative setting before failure happens, rather than after it’s happening.”

Shelton believes more educators should choose to teach in alternative schools moving forward.

“My philosophy is if you’re a great teacher, you should move around,” Shelton said. “If you’ve been a great teacher at your school for five years, then we need you to go to a school [that] needs to see what great teaching looks like… All schools have great teachers, but [we could] now use you as a resource in this environment where you could assist us.”

Overall, Dr. Frazier hopes that more people begin to understand the resilience and passion of alternative educators and students.

“I wish that people knew that alternative educators and students are the most resilient, innovative individuals I’ve ever encountered in education,” Frazier said. “The educators that are in alternative education are the most passionate human beings on this earth. They deal with some of the most intense, traumatic situations that kids go through, and they choose to do it. Those teachers that are there, they want to be there. Those are their babies. They love them, and they show up day after day after day, and they live life with those kids. I think that can be said for education, as a whole, in some spaces, but I think there’s a resiliency and a grit to alternative students and alternative educators that I think people miss. They are some of the most innovative human beings that I’ve ever met.”