by Mary P Ivy

Created on: November 18, 2009

The Diversity of Alternative Education

Some square pegs will never be pounded into round holes, regardless of the effort expended by well-meaning parents and teachers. Some children do not and cannot flourish in a traditional educational environment. This is the great value of alternative education, its ability to accommodate diversity.

Before considering how alternative education helps these students however, consider other benefits that are often over looked.

Often, diversity in course offerings is not the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about alternative education. But that is emerging as one of the great strengths. As budgets become more strained, districts may turn to these programs to continue and expand curriculum. This is especially true for foreign languages, the arts, social sciences and humanities. Districts may find they can offer these enhancements rather than dropping them completely.

Additionally, teachers are learning to use these programs to enroll students in gap remediation. In a highly transient population, students often miss crucial information as they move from school to school. Ultimately this catches up with them. Alert teachers now enroll these students in an alternative education program and have them take a pretest, which shows exactly the skills the student needs. (Interestingly, this is the method used by some expensive after school learning programs.) Students complete just those needed lessons, usually after school, then go on to progress just fine in the regular classrooms.

Some programs are available in many languages, enabling those who are not proficient in English. Where there are shortages of ESL teachers this allows those students to progress.

The diversity of alternative education has always worked well for students with physical challenges and/or long-term illness. These students work when they are able, for a comfortable length of time. They do not miss crucial content when they are unable to attend class or when they are undergoing medical treatment.

Alternative education also enables those students whose personalities just don't take to the rigid structure of many schools These are often very bright and creative students marching to their own drum; they may just simply reject the authority that school represents.

Students from financially burdened families also use alternative education to full advantage. Many people would be surprised to know how many hours some students work to help out at home. Unfortunately, working often takes precedence over regular attendance in traditional school.

Some cultures still value family, especially elders, over modern societal demands, including school. Faced with the decision to stay home and care for an invalid grandparent, perhaps for an extended time, or maintain regular attendance, these students will most likely choose family responsibility. Their culture still impresses upon them in a very meaningful way what the rest of society gives lip service to.

So the diversity of alternative education makes it valuable across many levels of American society. Schools struggle to keep up with the rapid changes our country constantly undergoes, yet strives to offer the greatest range of educational opportunities to an increasingly diverse student population. Alternative education is a tremendous tool for helping achieve the goal of maintaining and celebrating diversity while simultaneously striving to educate everyone.

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