The Effects of Alternative School Placement on Disciplinary Referrals for At-Risk Students

Abstract

Across the country alternative schools and programs for middle and high school at-risk students are increasingly popular. They often function as an alternative to expelling or suspending at-risk students who may not be succeeding in traditional classrooms. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relations between alternative education on norm violating behaviors in a study of 92 at-risk middle and high school students in an alternative setting in a rural public school district. Using PowerSchool Database, disciplinary referrals were compared for these students in initial regular school placement, subsequent placement in alternative school, and re-entry back into regular school over a three year period. Single subject research using A-B-A design identified that attending alternative school was effective in decreasing disciplinary log referrals. Significant differences exist between genders for disciplinary log referrals, with females receiving fewer referrals than males.