Does Placing Suspended Students in Alternative High Schools Really Work?

The issue of school discipline ranks as one of the biggest challenges in education. There have been several approaches attempted in an effort to effectively address this challenge. Some school districts have effectively utilized online high schools, military schools, charter high schools, and Montessori schools to serve their struggling student population. One of the more common approaches is placing suspended students in an alternative high school setting. Clearly, there are cases where students require removal from the general school environment.

Student safety is foremost among those reasons. The safety of students and teachers must be counted as a top priority in any school setting. Classoom management ranks among the top challenges listed by new teachers. When a student's behavior is habitually violent, it can be argued that removing the violent student and placing him in an alternative school will substantively discourage overall acts of violence within the school setting. This will help to provide all students with a safe and orderly classroom.

The Impact on School Culture

Another argument in favor of alternative schools has to do with establishing appropriate school culture. Recent studies have shown that the likeliness of other students to act out within the classroom dramatically increases when there is the perception that unacceptable student behavior is tolerated. These findings have been utilized in many Charter Schools and Military Schools, where chronic problems are removed. Allowing unacceptable student behavior to go unaddressed seems to actually encourage additional occurrence's from a broader range of offenders.This will clearly impact the overall school culture, and establish a dysfunctional norm that is difficult to suppress without the threat of re-assignment.

The Drain on School District Resources

Not only does school culture change, but valuable resources are directed away from the primary purpose of educating students when that teacher is confronted with a habitual behavior issue. Without options such as placement in online high schools or behavior schools, it is more likely that administration will allow chronically misbehaving students to remain in the classroom. Expulsion is wrought with paperwork, justifications, and legal issues. It is simply easier to re-assign a student. For example, it is actually against federal law to expel a special education student with an IEP or suspend that student for more than 10 days per school year. Not only does this impact the teacher, but classroom management is compromised for the entire class. The use of alternative high schools to address and redirect this type of negative behavior can allow the class the needed respite from this drain on school resources. The presence of Montessori schools and Charter High schools within a school district will provide parents and educators with an additional set of options.

Suggestions: Online High School, Charter High School, and Alternative High School

As is the case with most policies, I encourage a balanced approach to its implementation. Here are some practical parameters to follow:

1. Alternative schools should be short-term with certain exceptions. Unless there are serious, legally binding, or habitually violent behaviors, students should be provided with the chance to re-enter the general school population in a timely manner.

2. School districts need a clear, comprehensive intervention process as part of the discipline procedure used as a precursor to placing students in the alternative setting.

3. Alternative schools should be staffed and resourced by licensed educational specialists, with a component focused on rehabilitation and behavior modification. Military schools are often used to develop both scholarship and character. Our behavior schools should borrow that principal.

4. Alternative schools should hold high, rigorous academic and behavioral expectations, and should never be seen as a lesser school than the general classroom environment. Online schools may serve as an acceptable altenative from an academic perspective. Online schooling can provide academic rigor in a more controlled environment.

5. Again, the goal of these schools should be preparing students to re-engage within the general school environment as effective members and contributors. In certain limited cases, it is fair to say that some students are best served within the alternative school setting and should remain there for extended periods of time, but these should be the exception and not the rule. In some cases, charter high schools with serve as a comfortable middle-ground for students who still need a higher degree of supervision.

It is important to approach the practice of alternative placement with a balanced and flexible perspective. We must remember that the same standards and objectives that apply to the student at-large population apply to those recieving their schooling online or in an alternatice high school.