Alternative Education Programs: Do they work?

I have to admit, I started reading about some different Alternative Education programs and noticed that there are numerous opinions on how well they work, and how to make them work for the better education of those students who cannot, for whatever reason, succeed in the regular classroom. One in particular caught my eye, about the alternative high schools in place in San Jose, California. The article describes a system similar to the one I work in in New York's Capital Region. Smaller class sizes and college credit or vocational training are significant features of both programs. A significant difference, San Jose's program is located in the students' home schools, whereas the one I work in is centralized as part of the Board of Cooperative Educaiton Services (BOCES) which provides educational services to twenty-four component member school districts. This means we have a single Alternative Education location, which can be located in our BOCES at the Career and Technical School (formerly known as Vo-Tech). I believe that the system of an alternative high school that provides a different approach to teaching is very beneficial to those students who cannot do well in the regular classroom, but cannot be classified as needing special education services. Our students learn the same curriculum as their peers in the regular high school, but do so allowing for differences in learning styles that it may not be possible to address in the "regular" classroom. This is what alternative education in the public school setting is about. Providing a unique setting for those who need a different approach to learn. Our school, like those in San Jose, has had a long history of success in meeting the needs of those students, graduating 25 or more students annually. Support your Alternative Education/High Schools!

Visit http://www.linksnoop.com/more/34812/San-Jose-Schools-Alternative-Education-Program-Saves-Troubled-Students/ to learn more about the alternative high school system in that district.

Visit http://bocescareertech.org to learn about alternative education and career and technical education at the Capital Region BOCES CTE division.

Back to School

After a busy month of August, I am now back at my regular school, with all the technology it provides. My experiences during the summer school session served to remind me how much we have come to rely on technology in our schools. This year, I am serving on the Educational Technology Committee. I am awaiting word on its first meeting.

Summer school was a challenge for me after the year at CTE. I found that upon returning to the school that had previously been my employer, I could not use the facility's computers except as a student, which meant that many websites were blocked from me that would not have been blocked from other teachers. In addition, all students at this school use a generic log-in, which meant that anything I put on the computer could be seen by all the other students in the school. This is disconcerting. I would have recommended to the school that they give a unique log-in to all students for security and monitoring purposes. I cannot believe that they do not do this! It would enable the IT personnel to monitor visits to inappropriate sites and inappropriate use of the computers by students. How difficult is it to add a user to the system? They do it for the teaching staff and assistants, why not for the students as well.

Anyway, I am now back in the land of SmartBoards, Online Course Management Systems, Curriculum Mapping Software and PowerSchool/PowerGrade, and will be regularly posting commentary on these and other technology uses in Alternative and Career/Technical Educational settings.