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There are a variety of reasons why a school system needs
one or more alternative schools or Alternative Learning Environments
(ALE). Most center around the need to remove a disruptive student
from the regular classroom or the need for a more structured environment to
meet a student’s educational needs. There are also a variety of types of
ALE’s. These are usually separated by level of control exercised more
than by grade or age level of students served.
The Keys To Safer Schools.com
model for ALE’s consist of three distinct but integrated components. They
are:
This should be the first decision made when a District
has decided that an ALE is needed. Many of today’s students come from an
unstructured environment at home. Pre-school and Kindergarten teachers can
verify this as they are the first to witness children trying to fit into
their first group experience. Schools introduce structure then gradually over
the next 12-14 years reduce imposed structure and allow students more
freedom. Most students handle this process appropriately. However, some are
allowed more freedom (from home and at school) than they can handle
responsibly. These are at risk of failure academically and
socially. They often put others at risk by their undisciplined presence
in the classroom. The obvious solution is to provide a more structured
environment in which they can learn academic skills and appropriate social
behaviors. The big question is, "How much structure is required?" The
simple answer is, "It depends." The number of students needing
services and the available resources are key factors in making this
decision. The National Center for Education Statistics reports that
almost every school with 2500 or more students has an ALE program, only
about one fourth of schools with 1000 enrollment have an ALE and almost no
schools below 500 have one. This indicates that more students and more
resources will result in more ALE’s. What was not reported and what
Keys To Safer Schools.com has
experienced is consolidated ALE’s.
A group of rural schools can collaborate (and have) in
development and operation of one or more ALE’s to make more efficient use of
meager resources found in each individual school. While imagination is the
only limit to the number of possible ALE types, the most common ones are:
-
Alternative School
- Focused on Academics (Student with
mostly academic failure)
- Mental Health Focused (Students with
Mild/Medium Mental Health Issues, e.g., Oppoistional Defiant Disorder,
Anxiety Disorders, Major Depression)
- Day
Treatment (School Based or Off-Site)
-
Sanctioned School
- Boot
Camp
(allow Keys
to help your school district or Community setup one of these models!
Contact us to learn more 800-504-7355 "toll free")
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This is a rather generic name. It is sometimes applied
to the school but generally the school will have a "kid friendly" or
acceptable to parents name, such as Opportunity Center. This is the lowest
level of structure above the home or feeder school. Typically, students do
not choose their subjects nor have any control over their schedule.
Sometimes they retain their courses from the feeder school, which supplies
assignments and homework. The adult to student ratio is much smaller and
more intense supervision is the norm. The Alternative School may impose
extra restrictions to enforce the concept of discipline related to
education. These restrictions may be dress codes, amount of free time or a
closed campus. Almost every aspect of the student being at school becomes
a learning experience. Most ALE's in schools today are based on
Academics and have no behavioral component to them. Student's end up
in ALE's for a multitude of reason. Often students are placed for
behavioral reasons and not academics. No behavioral
component is present to help them develop appropriate behavior, so those students tend to disrupt that environment as well. These
students are the ones moved to a more restrictive and costly environment (unnecessarily
draining school and community resources) when all that is needed
to service them is a behavioral component. (See below under
Behavior)
Again the actual names will vary. This type of school
is primarily concerned with Medium/Severe Mental Health issues and severe
behaviors that have hindered the student (or his/her classmates) from
learning. This type of school is often run by or in cooperation with a
local Mental Health agency. The structure is under tighter control than
the Alternative School but with the same goal of making every experience
at school a learning opportunity. The behaviors targeted for extinguishing
and the new ones to be learned will be discussed below.
This type of ALE is operated under legal sanctions
imposed by a Juvenile Court and may be in conjunction with the School
District and/or Mental Health Provider. Students who are assigned here
have had contact with the court on criminal charges or status offenses.
They may be adjudicated and sent to sanction school as part of the ruling.
They may have been placed in a diversion program that required attendance
at the Sanction School. Quite often the classroom aide in this school is a
Deputy or other Law Enforcement Officer. NOTE:
Keys To Safer Schools.com does
not recommend using a School Resource Officer (SRO) in this role. Failure
to comply with the structure in this school will usually result in harsher
action from the court.
As its name implies, this school follows a military
model. Because the intense structure demands larger numbers of
personnel, few schools have this model but they appear in some form in
almost every state, often with state sponsorship. Some are day schools and
some are residential. The structure is very strict but counselors are
available to help turn the stress into learning moments.
All of the above are meant to be temporary. From a few
weeks to an entire school year, the stay should have a time limit or
criteria for returning to main stream classes. Many of the students will
thrive for the first time and want to remain. It is important to remember
that the goal is to teach them to structure their own lives with
self-discipline so that they will be ready for the "real world."
Any ALE is still a school and academics should be
central. One the greatest sources of disruptive behavior is frustration at
not being able to achieve. Commonly, a student may be able to do required
work in one or more subjects but not grasp others. A change in curriculum
will often correct this sense of failure. There are several automated,
grade-level differential curricula available. These will allow a student to
succeed at his/her own pace at his/her grade level per subject. The benefit
is that a student who learns to achieve academically is far more likely to
be successful with social behaviors. An added benefit of these types of
curricula is that allow a teacher to serve more students efficiently than
traditional instruction methods. Since the teachers and aides in an ALE are
essential to the Structure and
Behavior components, it is essential that they have the most efficient
tools available to them.
If new behavior is not learned, the time in the ALE is
largely wasted. The behavior component is therefore absolutely critical to
the success of any ALE. Most of the behaviors that bring students into ALE’s
are learned, not organic. This means that they can be unlearned, or
extinguished and replaced by more socially appropriate behaviors. Some ALE’s
adopt a behavior curriculum and teach it as they would any other subject.
Results are less than best. Others choose to totally ignore this highly needed
component. Keys To Safer Schools.com
believes that any truly effective behavior program must be fully integrated
into the Structure and
Academic components of the ALE.
Negative thoughts produce negative actions. The basis of
any effective behavior modification must address
the way that students see themselves. If they believe that they are designed
for failure, they will fail. Throughout the school day, teachers and other
staff must be alert for words and body language that indicate negative
thinking, poor self-image. They will then redirect the words and actions
from negative to positive. Speaking reinforces thinking and thinking will be
expressed in action. The behavior component relies on the adults and even
the other students to help guide speech through verbal cues and watch words.
Skills are also required in effective behavior
modification. Most of the students who exhibit disruptive behavior have no
problem-solving skills. When confronted with a challenge, they react with
volume, anger and aggression. Teaching students how to go through simple
steps in arriving at their best course of action will produce a marked
decline in negative behaviors.
Being honest with students and giving them information
will teach them to make better decisions on their own. Alcohol, tobacco and
other drugs should be addressed with open information and then guide the
students toward making their own positive choices. Other topics on
potentially self-destructive behavior should be presented in the same
manner. These might include self-mutilations, body piercing, risky sexual
activity, driving recklessly and so on.
Keys
behavioral trainings:
Keys To Safer Schools.com
has helped schools plan, implement and operate Alternative Learning
Environments. To have Keys help
your school with an ALE program, contact us today.
Keys To Safer Schools.com
P.O. Box 296
Bryant, AR 72089-0296.
(800) 504-7355 "toll free"
Visit the Keys website for valuable information and
resource material on school violence prevention at https://keystosaferschools.com.
Programs to Combat Violence
Reported By:
Frank Green
Director
Keys To Safer Schools.com
If
you have any comments or questions please Email us at keys@keystosaferschools.com.
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(501)246-8835
