Alternative Schools: A Reference Handbook

Brenda Edgerton Conley

Bloomsbury Academic, Nov 22, 2002 - Education - 274 pages

An examination of the growth and development of alternative schools in American society and their role in the public school environment.

In Alternative Schools: A Reference Handbook, educator Brenda Edgerton Conley surveys the emerging alternatives to our conventional educational system—a system that is not only costly, but ineffective for many children.

In a resource aimed at a broad audience—school administrators, politicians, and, most important, parents—Conley offers both a historical and a present-day perspective on alternative educational programs. What sets the alternative education movement apart, she argues, is its acknowledgment that we all learn differently. That knowledge has given rise to an explosion of exciting alternatives—from open schools to home schooling, from charter schools to church schools. These alternative schools are smaller and less bureaucratic, more responsive to the community, and more receptive to change.

Contents

• Chronology: 21
• Alternative Learning Options: 43
• Curriculum Methods Innovations: 61
• References: 95
• References: 114
• Organizing and Administering: 127
• Defining the Challenge: 133
• Acting on the Plan: 141
• Strategic Plan Outline: 147
• Some Questions You Might Ask: 154
• Evaluating a MissionVision Statement: 161
• Evaluating Alternative Schools: 169
• The Future of Public Alternative Education: 175
• Directory of Organizations Associations: 181
• Selected Print and Nonprint Resources: 229
• Glossary: 245
• Index: 257

About the author

Brenda Edgerton Conley is chair of teacher education programs and assistant professor in the graduate school at the University of Maryland University College, Adelphi, MD.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Alternative Schools: A Reference Handbook; Contemporary Education Issues, ISSN 1556-0465
• Author: Brenda Edgerton Conley
• Edition: annotated
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic, 2002
• Original from: the University of Michigan
• Digitized: Nov 3, 2008
• ISBN: 1576074404, 9781576074404
• Length: 274 pages
• Subjects: Education / Educational Policy & Reform / General; Education / Reference