Alternative Education in California

1
Alternative Education in California

• A Descriptive Study of Continuation High Schools
• Jorge Ruiz de Velasco
• University of California, Berkeley
• Milbrey McLaughlin
• Stanford University

2
Continuation High Schools in CA Overview

• Audience
• Policymakers
• Local Leaders (Schools, Districts, Service
  Providing Agencies)
• Study Questions
• What is a Continuation High School?
• Who are the students in Continuation Schools?
• What do policymakers and educators need to know?
  

3
Continuation High Schools in CA Overview

• Study Design Data Sources
• Administrative Data
• Statewide Survey Data
• Nested Site Visits -Structured Interviews
• Focal Dimensions
• State, Counties, Districts, Schools (Some
  Classrooms)

4
Student Demographics

• Site Visits Statewide 11th Grade
• Hispanic 61.4 55 42.3
• African Am. 14.1 11 8
• White 17.5 26 34.3
• Asian 7 3 12.2
• English Learners 25.6 21.3 14
• Boys (CBEDS 10th-12th) 58 50

5
Students Academic, Social Behavioral
Characteristics

• Key word VARIATION
• Academically vulnerable students AND students who
  are quite independent and academically resilient
• Youth with behavioral challenges, AND students
  who are emotionally detached or mis-fit in comp.
  Schools
• System kids AND mainstream, disconnected
  youth
• Population Variation Programming Challenges

6
Schools Also Vary on Along key Resource
Dimensions (both among CHS and in comparison to
Comprehensive Schools)

• Staffing
• Leadership
• Curriculum and instruction
• Supports
• Size and physical space
• Partnerships

7
Academic Performance More Variation on a Theme

• Difficult to ascertainlack of longitudinal,
  comparable or comprehensive outcome data
• CHS students score lower on virtually all
  measures of academic performance STAR, CASHEE,
  API
• Evidence that CHS do at least as well (on
  average) as Comprehensive schools on CAHSEE pass
  rates.
• Some CHS do better than others (and in comparison
  to Comp Schools) on a range of persistence
  measures

8
What Accounts for Wide Variability? Some
considerations

• Lack of clarity about state local goals for
  alternative programs
• Incoherent state accountability system

9
State Finance System Constrains Local Action

• School finance structure highly centralized,
  undifferentiated by school type
• Staffing and Services undifferentiated no
  additional resources to reflect special
  challenges and service needs.
• Continuation schools treated like a small
  traditional school not as an alternative school
  with specific and different staffing, resource
  and service needs.

10
What Accounts for Wide Variability? Some more
considerations

• Uneven local response to pressure for high
  quality alternative education
• Few of incentives for creating effective
  post-secondary pathways
• Lack of incentives for effective inter-agency
  collaboration
• Lack of relevant data capacity for data use to
  drive change

11
Different district County contexts for
continuation high schools

• Benign neglect 10 acceptable loss kids v
  active political support for continuation high
  schools and their students
• Varying conceptions of continuation students a
  problem to be managed, or young people in need of
  different resources and opportunities
• Intentional youth development stance effort to
  coordinate services/resources across
  youth-serving institutions v. Balkanized youth
  policy context

12
Differences in local system contexts that matter
for continuation high schools

• Relationships with youth-serving agencies
  proactive, supportive OR siloed
• Level of resources and services available to
  continuation programs equitable OR "bottom of
  the food chain
• Coherence and articulation of resources and
  opportunities available to CHS safety valve for
  district or safety net for students?

13
Factors associated with strong continuation high
schools

• Leadership committed to alternative education at
  school and district levels
• Political support in the community school board
  members, county board of supervisors
• Active partnerships with youth-serving CBOs,
  county agencies, higher education and the private
  sector

14
Qualities Practices of schools with good
student outcomes

• Size 250 or more studentslarge enough to have
  academic depth, sufficient human resources
• Committed leadership and faculty high
  expectations
• Intentional focus on post-secondary pathways
• Use data to monitor student experiences
• Provide range of academic and non academic
  supports

15
Factors affecting county district contexts for
continuation high schools

• Local economy
• Personal networks relationships
• Leadership political support for CHS
• History of collaboration partnerships
• Express commitment to a youth development stance
  and continuum of care

16
Whats Next?

• High Quality What does it look like? How to
  get it?
• Best Practices
• Placement, Counseling, Intake
• What academic and non-academic supports do
  students need to succeed?
• What resources are needed/available to faculty
  and leaders at continuation high schools
• Partnerships public private community, county
  state
• Demand/Supply How does demand for alternative
  education square with supply?

17
Whats Next (Cont)?

• Special Populations, Vulnerable Students. What
  do we know about helping CHS be a true
  alternative
• Post-Secondary Pathways What happens to young
  people as the move into and through continuation
  schools? Viable pathways to post-secondary
  success?
• Suggestions? What are important issues for us to
  be sure to pursue? What are we missing? How can
  this research be most useful to you?

18
Questions? More information? contact

• Milbrey McLaughlin Milbrey_at_stanford.edu
• Jorge Ruiz de Velasco JRDV_at_berkeley.edu
• Copies of reports may be downloaded from the John
  Gardner Center website
• http//gardnercenter.stanford.edu