In education, the phrase alternative school, sometimes referred to as a minischool, or special school, is "any public or private school having a special curriculum, especially an elementary or secondary school offering a more flexible program of study than a traditional school." ^[1] A special school is a school catering to students who have special educational needs (SEN), for example, because of learning difficulties or physical disabilities. ...

Many such schools were founded in the United States in the 1970's as an alternative to mainstream or traditional classroom structure. ^[2] A wide range of philosophies and teaching methods are offered by alternative schools; some have strong political, scholarly, or philosophical orientations, while others are more ad-hoc assemblies of teachers and students dissatisfied with some aspect of mainstream or traditional education. In 2003 there were approximately 70 alternative schools in the United Kingdom. In the UK public funding is not available for alternative schools and therefore alternative schools are usually fee-paying institutions. ^[3] Traditional education is usually the absence or target of destruction by Education reform. ...

Sometimes, particularly in the United States, the phrase alternative school can refer to a school, which practices alternative education. This is a much broader use of the term, covering all forms of non-traditional educational methods and philosophies, including school choice, independent school, home schooling, and alternative school. However, even the narrower usage of the term may refer to a range of school type such as a school with an innovative and flexible curriculum aimed at bright, self-motivated students; a school for students with behavioral problems; or a school with special remedial programs.^[4] Students in Rome, Italy. ... Great Neck Village School, an alternative high school in Great Neck, New York, USA Alternative education, also known as non-traditional education or educational alternative, describes an education that is modified or particularized for those having singular needs, such as maladjusted people and gifted children. ... School choice, sometimes called public choice, describes any one of several forms of publicly-funded alternative education program that allows students to choose to attend any of various participating private and public schools, usually based on a system of vouchers, tax credits, or scholarships. ... An independent school is a school which is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operation and is instead operated by tuition charges, gifts, and perhaps the investment yield of an endowment. ... Homeschooling – also called home education or home school – is the education of children at home, typically by parents or guardians, rather than in a public or private school. ...

Magnet schools

Magnet schools are public alternative schools which offers innovative courses, specialized training, etc., in order to attract students from a broad urban area and thereby help to desegregate schools. In the U.S. system of education, a magnet school is a public school which offers innovative courses, specialized training, etc. ... The term public school has two distinct meanings: elementary or secondary school supported and administered by state and local officials, or, in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, a private or independent, fee-paying school, generally not coeducational, which prepares pupils for university. ... Desegregation is the process of ending racial segregation, most commonly used in reference to the United States. ...

See also

• Alternative education
• Alternative high school
• Education
• Free school
• Gifted education
• Liberal arts college
• Private school
• Public school
• Special education
• Unschooling

Great Neck Village School, an alternative high school in Great Neck, New York, USA Alternative education, also known as non-traditional education or educational alternative, describes an education that is modified or particularized for those having singular needs, such as maladjusted people and gifted children. ... Great Neck Village School, an alternative school in Great Neck, New York in the United States An alternative school, sometimes referred to as a minischool, or remedial school, is any public or private school having a special curriculum, especially an elementary or secondary school offering a more flexible program of... A free school is a decentralized network in which skills, information, and knowledge are shared without hierarchy and the institutional environment of formal schooling. ... Gifted education is a broad term for special practices, procedures and theories used in the education of children who have been identified as gifted or talented. ... A liberal arts college is an institution of higher education found in the United States, offering programs in the liberal arts at the post-secondary level. ... Private schools, or independent schools, are schools not administered by local, state, or national government, which retain the right to select their student body and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students tuition rather than with public (state) funds. ... The term public school has two distinct meanings: elementary or secondary school supported and administered by state and local officials, or, in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, a private or independent, fee-paying school, generally not coeducational, which prepares pupils for university. ... Special education is instruction that is modified or particularized for those students with special needs, such as learning differences, mental health problems, or specific disabilities (physical or developmental). ... Unschooling is a form of education in which learning is based on the students interests, needs, and goals. ...

References

1. ^ http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/alternative%20school
2. ^ "Alternative Schools Adapt," by Fannie Weinstein. The New York Times, June 8, 1986, section A page 14.
3. ^ http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/reader/0415248175/ref=sib_vae_ex/203-9331421-3267125?ie=UTF8&p=S00D&j=0#reader-page
4. ^ "Changing Perspectives on Alternative Schooling for Children and Adolescents With Challenging Behavior," Robert A. Gable et al. Preventing School Failure, Fall 2006. Volume 51, Issue 1, page 5.

External links

• Iowa Association of Alternative Education
• International Association for Learning Alternatives

Further reading

• Claire V. Korn, Alternative American Schools: Ideals in Action (Ithaca: SUNY Press, 1991).

Resources