Characteristics of Students in Traditional Versus Alternative High Schools: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Enrollment in One Urban District

《Characteristics of Students in Traditional Versus Alternative High Schools: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Enrollment in One Urban District》

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关键字: accountability; urban education; educational policy; school choice; social justice; PROGRAMS; EDUCATION; CHOICE; LABELS; POLICY

作者单位: [Perzigian, Aaron B.] Western Washington Univ, Dept Special Educ & Educ Leadership, Miller Hall 203B,MS 9040,516 High St, Bellingham, WA 98225 USA. [Afacan, Kemal] Univ Wisconsin Madison, Special Educ, Madison, WI USA. [Justin, Whitney] Univ Wisconsin Madison, Madison, WI USA. [Wilkerson, Kimber L.] Univ Wisconsin Madison, Dept Rehabil Psychol & Special Educ, Madison, WI USA. Perzigian, AB (reprint author), Western Washington Univ, Dept Special Educ & Educ Leadership, Miller Hall 203B,MS 9040,516 High St, Bellingham, WA 98225 USA. E-Mail: aaron.perzigian@wwu.edu

摘要: Urban school districts are comprised of many diverse high school environments including comprehensive neighborhood schools as well as a variety of smaller alternative models that focus on innovative practices, behavior remediation, or academic recovery. In terms of enrollment distribution, urban school districts are increasingly offering nontraditional school placement options for students presenting academic and behavioral difficulty or for students seeking specific curricular emphasis or pedagogy, includingbut not limited touse of school choice voucher programs. In this study, we examined student distribution across school types in one large urban district to investigate enrollment patterns with regard to gender, race, socioeconomic status, and disability status. The results of this cross-sectional analysis indicated significant disproportionality in student demographics within different school types, including overrepresentation of African American students, male students, and students with disabilities in restrictive and segregated alternative schools; overrepresentation of White students and female students in self-selected and innovative alternative schools; and underrepresentation of Hispanic and Asian students in remedial alternative schools. Implications of this disproportionality for policy and practice are discussed.