Fear of Success?

Abstract

VER the past 30 years educational researchers have learned some important lessons about the impact of school size. 1 Gradually, a picture of the American high school of the future has emerged from this research, and it suggests that the high school of the future will be much smaller than it is today. Indeed, the most recent research study I can find that advocates the current concept of the high school was published in 1971. 2 Essentially all the data since then point to the superiority-in school climate, in teacher satisfaction, in the ability to hold students, in levels of student participation, and even in achievement and school costsof the newer, smaller schools. 3 This should be good news for "alternative schools." 4 Where are they in this new vision? Alternative schools are often treated as second-class citizens by their districts. They often find themselves in weak political positions; they often seem to be misunderstood by professionals in other schools and by the district administration. For these reasons, they may choose to maintain a low profile and to work hard not to make waves. In other words, alternative schools may play the game in ways that ensure that their sister conventional schools will be comfortable with the relationship, a phenomenon that has been labeled "fear of success." At its most fundamental level, reform is about altering power relationships, 5 and the issues I discuss here deal with the relationships of alternative schools to their districts and communities. Though they

Race and opportunity in a public alternative school

“…The modern continuation school provides several options to students outside of vocational education; students can use their tenure at most continuation schools to make-up deficient academic credits, return to a mainstream school, or to earn a high school diploma from the continuation high school (Gates and Stuht 2006). Although the origins of continuation high schools in California differ from other public alternative programs, having begun at a much earlier date in 1919, they are generally subsumed within the alternative school movement (Deal and Nolan 1978;Lange 1998;Gregory 2001;Lange and Sletten 2002;California Department of Education 2006;Lehr, Tan, and Ysseldyke 2009).…”

Alternative Learning Contexts and the Goals of Democracy in Education

“…Here, I focus on the issue of unequal resources, which compromises equitable access to learning opportunities. Gregory (2001) reported that alternatives are routinely placed in "substandard facilities," based on studying "alternative schools in more than half of the states for more than 25 years" (p. 579). It is not uncommon for alternatives to be located in peripheral (e.g., basements) or "temporary" (i.e., portable building) spaces (e.g., Kelly, 1993, p. 80;Schutz & Harris, 2001, p. 51; see Kelly, 2000, pp. 96-99 on the "politics of location").…”

“…Equitable resources are necessary to offer quality alternatives. Gregory (2001) highlighted the inspiring example of Open School in Jefferson County, Colorado, which "negotiated with the district to reclaim its fair share of infrastructure resources" to cover costs of personalization and its experiential curriculum, including extended trips around the world (p. 580).…”