Alternative Schools for Disruptive Secondary Students - Testing a Theory of School Processes, Students' Responses, and Outcome Behaviors Executive Summary

• NCJ Number: 80082
• Author(s): D W Mann; M Gold
• Date Published: 1981
• Length: 17 pages
• Grant Number(s): NIE-G-77-0023
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Health, Education, and Welfare
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: National Institute of Education Project Number 6-0284.

Annotation

This report summarizes the methodology and findings of a longitudinal study which investigated the effectiveness of three alternative secondary schools in improving the behavior of delinquent and disruptive students.

Abstract

Based on the theory that poor scholastic experiences are significant causes of delinquent and disruptive behavior, these alternative school programs made special efforts to provide their students with successful experiences through individualized instruction and social support from warm, accepting teachers. The students in the study were delinquent and had histories of poor performance and behavior problems in school. The 3 alternative programs were operated by 2 public school systems in white, working-to-middle-class suburban areas and served 30 to 60 students at a time. Two schools featured independent study/learning contracts, while the conventional school offered smaller classes and more individual attention. Students attending the alternative schools were compared with a similar group of students at the conventional schools from which they came. Of the 100 alternative school students and 140 control students originally identified as suitable participants, the study interviewed 83 percent of the alternative students and 69 percent of the control group early in the school year. Students were interviewed at the end of the school year and again the following fall when 72 percent of the alternative group and 64 percent of the control group students were contacted. Variables examined included students' perceptions of the flexibility and fairness of their school's rules, assessment of academic prospects, assessment of current academic performance, self-esteem, and self-reported delinquencies. Analysis of this data indicated that the alternative schools made a significant difference in the behavior of their more buoyant students but had a negligible impact on students who exhibited high levels of anxiety and depression during the initial interviews and resembled the unsocialized neurotic type of delinquent identified in other research. Improvements in the buoyant students' attitudes toward school and behavior continued even after they returned to the conventional schools. Delinquency declined over the period in both groups, partly due to maturation, but the alternative schools were more effective in putting these processes in motion. The effects of the alternative schools did not depend on changes in self-esteem, contacts with peers, or relationships with parents. Implications of the study's findings for future research are discussed. The paper includes four references.