Summary+Findings

In Canada and the United States, alternative education grew mostly out of the 1960s social movements which resisted standardized and mechanized learning by promising “ students the opportunity to learn within their own style and at their own pace” Morrissette, 2011, p. 170). However by the neo-liberal climate of the 1980s, alternative education was marketed as “educating students who were at risk for failure” (McKee and Conner, 2007, p. 44). The Ministry of Education defines these ‘at risk’ students as those:
 * __Historical Background of Alternative Education __**


 * who would have studied at the modified or basic level in the previous curriculum;
 * who are performing significantly below the provincial standard, earning marks in the 50s and low 60s, and who do not have the foundations to be successful in the new curriculum;
 * who are disengaged for a variety of reasons, which tend to be reflected in very poor attendance.( [|Building Pathways to Success: Grade 7-12: The Report of the Program Pathways for Students at Risk Work Group] , 2003, p.14).

Clearly these ‘at risk’ students would include students with behavioural, intellectual and emotional exceptionalities. However ‘at risk’ students should never be considered a permanent designation as it is understood that “[r]isk fluctuates over time, based on circumstances, and contexts, rather than being a fixed quality” ( [|Community Health Systems Resource Group] , 2005, p.4).

Therefore alternative secondary school programs, as my topic of research, are a subset of alternative education. Thusly, I will be not be discussing programs that help transition ‘at risk’ Grade 7 and 8s nor programs and courses offered through private institutions such as the Independent Learning Centre, which allows students to earn credits based on Ministry “curriculum expectations” ( [|Ontario Schools Kindergarten to Grade 12: Policy and Program Requirement, 2011] , p. 86). I will also not be examining alternative programs offered in private schools that offer Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) credits. Therefore my research is limited to programs offered to Grade 9 to Grade 12 students in publicly funded schools and facilities.

**__Alternative Secondary School Programs in the Ontario Context __** Specifically in Ontario, alternative secondary school programs grew out of the Student Success initiatives meant to increase high school graduation rates by redefining success to include work, college and apprenticeship and not just merely gaining university entry. The Student Success Strategy coincided with Premier Dalton McQuinty's Learn to 18 initiatives that increased mandatory school attendance from 16 to 18 years of age, which was also an attempt to ensure higher graduation rates.

As part of the Student Success/Learn to 18 ( SS/L18) initiatives, the Ministry of Education has funded a variety of projects meant to help “all students achieve their potential and succeed in secondary school” by “reducing dropout rates, keeping young people in school, increasing graduation rates, and encouraging youth who have recently left school to return and complete their diploma requirements”( <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none;">[|Strategies for Student Success: Programs, Strategies and Resources to Help Students Succeed in Grades 7-12] <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">, 2005 ). In terms of alternative programs, these initiatives fall under six key areas:


 * 1) **<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Credit recovery **<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> ( adult education, summer school, evening classes)
 * 2) **<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Alternative education **
 * 3) **<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Student success in grade 9 and 10 **
 * 4) **<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Pathways to apprenticeships and the workplace **<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> (E- learning, dual credits, cooperative education, supervised alternative learning, experience learning, work experience, job shadowing/twinning, school-work transition programs, specialist high skills major programs , OYAP etc)
 * 5) **<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">College connections **<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> ( i.e. dual credit, gaining high school credits at colleges )
 * 6) **<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Success for targeted groups ( **<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> i.e. Aboriginal students, homeless youth, ELL, youth from low income backgrounds)

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">While further details on these alternative programs are presented in the Ministry’s <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none;">[|Strategies for Student Success] <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> brochure, further details on the variety of these programs can be found in local secondary school board course calendars such as this document from the <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none;">[|Ottawa-Carleton District School Board ( refer to Pathways to Success p. 12, Special Education Services and Programs p. 15-24).]

**__<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Redefining Success for ‘At Risk’ Students __** <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The Ministry views ‘at risk’ students as those that could potentially not gain their Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD). Their failure to earn their OSSD and credit courses is perceived as not only hampering the individual future prospects but costly to the Ontario economy as young adults entering the workplace without the necessary numeracy/ literacy skills and potentially being reliant on criminal justice, health and welfare systems.

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Under the banner of “Redefining Student Success”, the Ministry notes that ( <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none;">Building Pathways to Success <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">, 2003, p.10):

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">In addressing the needs of students at risk, we need to redefine what we mean when we talk about a student’s success. The idea that formal post-secondary education is the most desirable outcome does not reflect the reality of many students’ interests, abilities, and choices, and it is unreasonable to measure student success solely in terms of this outcome. Students who obtain their diploma/certificate and find employment must equally be considered a success.

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">This “ re-culturing” of secondary schools means supporting ” students who are considered at risk” and creating “ program pathways that are clearly aligned with their strengths and learning styles rather than those in which they struggle to keep up with their peers” ( <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none;">Building Pathways to Success <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">, p.11). Clearly this language of meeting student’s needs and strengths fits into special education since both are described as helping individual students reach to the best of their abilities within the secondary and post secondary settings.

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">In turn, alternative credit courses and programs are meant to provide students who do not achieve success in traditional classroom settings, ways of achieving credits towards their OSSD. This could include credit recovery programs, summer school, supervised alternative learning, night courses, E – learning, dual credit, apprenticeship program and so on Therefore, alternative credit secondary school programs helps accommodate non-identified and identified student needs, interest, learning styles, abilities, and goals in many different ways.


 * __<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Righting the Mismatch __**

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">When conducting this research, there were much discussion about the “significant mismatch" between students’ “expectations as to what their school education will lead to and what they actually end up doing" ( <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none;">[|Building Pathways to Success] <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">, p. 15).

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The much touted work of Dr. Alan J.C. King looked at the 2000 double cohort year and noted that 50% of Grade 10 students were planning to go to university while 75-80% said either university or college. However in reality, 25 % would not attain their OSSD and just fewer than 40% failed to gain 16 credits by the end of Grade 10. And of the Grade 9 students who entered high school in 2000, only 28% were on track to go to university, 23 % to CAATs ( Community Colleges of Applied Arts & Technologies), 24 % to work and 25 % would leave before attaining their OSSD altogether. <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none;">[|Building Pathways to Success] <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">, p. 16

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">King’s research led to a whole host of policies meant to gear students towards their needs, capabilities and interests which included expansion and renewal of guidance programs in order to prepare students towards the many possible post-secondary options available to them. King’s research also would eventually lead to the funding and expansion of Learn to 18/Student Success initiatives such as the alternative secondary school programs.

**__<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Alternative Credit Programs and Special Education __** <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">As my research is looking at publicly funded alternative secondary school programs, legally these programs are supposed to have the same provisions for special education and funding as mainstream programs. It would doubly imperative for alternative programs to have adequate human and non-human special education resources because it is clear that students who are not successful in a ' regular classroom/setting' could also be those with exceptionalities. <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">However, the reality is perhaps different. In Rutherford and Quinn’s examination of “Special Education in Alternative Education Programs” in the American context, they came to the conclusion that “educational curriculum[s] in alternative schools are not designed for students with disabilities” because they are mostly designed for manage disciplinary issues (1999, p. 80). Therefore students’ Individual Education Plans (IEPs) and other educational records are “frequently not available at intake and alternative school staff often are at a loss as to where to begin programming for the student” (Rutherford and Quinn, 1999, p. 80). Not surprising, Rutherford and Quinn also found that were often no teachers with special education certifications in a “number of alternative programs” and that “students with disabilities are not identified, evaluated, or provided with appropriate special education services” (1999, p.81).

**__<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Educational Programs for Students in Government Approved Care and/or Treatment, Custody and Correctional Facilities __**

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">For those that require placements in facilities because of “social, emotional and/or medical needs” or for those who “ must reside in a correctional facility” , the educational needs of these students still must be meet ( <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none;">[|Guidelines 2005-06: For Approval of Educational Programs for Pupils In Government Approved Care and/or Treatment, Custody and Correctional Facilities] <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> , p. 2). So while these care, treatment, custodial and correctional facilities provide services that meet the “ primary need[s]” of students who cannot attend a local school, Ministry guidelines still state that local school boards and teachers are “ the best agencies for the delivery of educational programs for these children/youth” ( <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none;">[|Guidelines] <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">, p.3). Therefore in these guidelines, Board responsibilities are very traditional as typified in the hiring and supervising of teachers and educational assistants, maintenance of student records and abiding to teachers’ collective agreements ( [|Guidelines] ,p. 9). For teachers’ part, in addition to their instructional role in these classrooms, there is also an added responsibility of communicating and collaborating with the facility staff ( [|Guidelines] ,p. 10-11). For example, if and when students are deemed able to return back to traditional schools, teachers and staff develop a transition plan which emphasizes “gradual integration”, “sharing documents and records” and “regular communication with parents” ( <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none;">[|Guidelines] <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> p.6, 11).

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">In terms of special education accommodations, it is interesting that the guidelines state that these facilities must “provide adequate and appropriate classroom accommodations for the educational programs” but then adds that the “educational program may be located within the facility premises, or in accommodation leased by the facility elsewhere in the community, including the school board, as best meets the needs of the pupils” ( <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none;">[|Guidelines] <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">, p. 7-8). Therefore while these facilities are officially responsible these student’s education, in reality this responsibility is typically outsourced to local school boards. These facilities also follow the Ministry’s maximum enrolment stipulations for special education classes as outlined in Regulation 298. For example, “ in a class for pupils who are emotionally disturbed or socially maladjusted, for pupils who have severe learning <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">disabilities, or for pupil who are younger than compulsory school age and have impaired hearing, eight pupils” ( <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none;">[|Guidelines] <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">, <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">p. 13)

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Under their Section 23 Programs, the Toronto District School Board alone partners with 72 facilities and 33 agencies to meet the “ educational needs” of the “ hardest-to-serve” and “ highest-risk student” who cannot be taught “ regular and/or special education classrooms” ( <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none;">[|Section 23:Care, Treatment, Custody, and Correctional Programs] <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">). <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The TDSB <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">provides “150 <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">teachers, educational assistants, and administrators” in “ hospitals, group homes, custody facilities, and self-contained classrooms in community schools” that “focus on behavioural skills, basic learning strategies, literacy, and numeracy, in addition to core subjects” <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> ( <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none;">[|Section 23:Care, Treatment, Custody, and Correctional Programs] <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">). Similar Section 23 programs, formerly known as Section 20 programs, can be found in other school boards.

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">However Kiaras Gharabaghi’s examination of educational programs in Ontario residential group care, observes that these facilities often view students’ educational progress as secondary to “treatment related” programs such as “behaviour modification and behaviour interventions” (2012, p. 1131-1132). For example, staff primarily monitored homework completion in the “context of behavioural performance expectations rather than a learning activity” (2012, p. 1332). Gharabaghi goes on to argue for: a smother integration of students’ treatment and education needs, for greater educational knowledge on the part of facility staff and less reliance on board teachers and administrator in the running of these “section 23 classrooms”( 2012, p. 1132).

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">And perhaps most dishearteningly in the context of inclusivity and special education, Gharabaghi also found that facility staff “ perceived discrimination and stigmatization of youth in care on the part of school administrators” which “ has resulted in: a greater emphasis on developing alternative schooling options for youth in residential care”, the growth of separate “section 23 classrooms” and the loss of placements in regular classrooms in local secondary schools for “youths living in residential group care” (Gharabaghi, 2012, p.1133).

**__<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Alternative (Non-Credit) Courses __**

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">And while the previously stated alternative secondary school programs work towards credit attainment and the eventual earning of an Ontario Secondary School Diploma ( OSSD), there are also alternative (non-credit) programs that have courses with alternative expectations. <span style="color: #231f20; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">From the <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none;">Ontario Schools: Kindergarten to Grade 12: Policy and Program Requirements <span style="color: #231f20; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> document, Alternative ( <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Non-Credit) Courses are defined as (2011, p.73) : <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The Ministry of Education has even created a list of <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none;">approved alternative (non – credit) courses <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">. As typified in documents from the <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none;">Toronto District School Board <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">, <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none;">Simcoe Country District School Board  <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> ( p. 3) and <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none;">Ottawa-Carlton District School Board  <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">(p.7), these courses seem to denoted by the letter “ K” prefix as exemplified by the Ministry’s approved list of alternative non-credit courses. Echoing the Ministry’s intent for these courses, the <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none;">Toronto’ s Alternative (Non-Credit) Courses, <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> provides brief but good descriptors of the individual courses meant “to expand students’ communication and interpersonal ability in conjunction with life skills” (2009, p. 37).
 * <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">individualized courses, documented in a student’s Individual Education Plan (IEP), that comprise alternative expectations – that is, expectations not found in the Ontario curriculum
 * <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> courses usually designed to prepare students for daily living, including employment (supported or independent) and/or community living.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">In the context of high school graduation, these courses help some exceptional students work towards an //Ontario// //<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Certificate of Accomplishment //<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> which upon graduation they will receive along with a copy of their IEP ( <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none;">[|Ontario Schools: Kindergarten to Grade 12: Policy and Program Requirements] <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">, p. 62). While this could be at eighteen, exceptional students have a legal right to attend until twenty one years of age ( <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none;">[|Special Education: A Guide for Educators] <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">, 2001, p. A11). This certificate can also be used by all students, exceptional or not, who do not have enough credits for their OSSD or their //<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Ontario Secondary School Certificate (OSSC) //<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> but require some form of documentation of achievement to “take further training or who plan to find employment directly after leaving school” ( <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none;">[|Ontario Schools: Kindergarten to Grade 12: Policy and Program Requirements] <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">, p. 62).

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">In the continuum of accommodated, modified and alternative curriculums, these alternative (non credit) courses merely address the needs of and help to recognize the achievements of exceptional students who are not working towards their OSSD by providing pathways for them. Clearly these courses fits into the ethos of special education and into the Student Success/Learn to 18 model by recognizing individual student needs, strengths, interests and capabilities.

**__<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Do they work? __** <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">While there is little empirical evidence of alternative program success in particular, the umbrella success of Student Success/Learn to 18 initiatives (SS/L18) can be measured in the following accomplishments ( <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none;">[|Canadian Council on Learning] <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">, 2007, p. 19): <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">In terms of qualitative studies that ask students, parents and staff about effectiveness of alternative programs, generally the evidence is promising.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Increased number of students who have attained a critical mass of credits by the end of Grades 9 and 10, reportedly rising from 72% to 76.6% and 61% to 66% respectively.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> Evidence of an increase in graduation rates from 68% in 2003/2004 to 73% in 2005/2006
 * <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Improvements in Grade 9 EQAO results for students in Applied Mathematics
 * <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Improvements in the Grade 10 EQAO pass rate on OSSLT
 * <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Increased attainment of the literacy standard required for graduation.

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">In the [|Canadian Council on Learning]’s second assessment of Ontario’s SS/L18 initiatives, they drew their data from both 14,000 online survey of “secondary schools and school staff” and “student achievement data provided by the Ministry of Education” (2008, p. v). While the study did not survey students and staff in alternative programs, the overwhelming majority of student respondents expressed positive attitudes toward credit recovery programs ( 2008, p. 37). And in terms of providing “learning opportunities” that “better capture and build on the strengths and interest of all students”, more than half of student survey respondents said “that they are often or always interested in what they are learning in class and the majority of student respondents say they have been able to take course that they find interesting and challenging” (2008, p. xi). <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">In Patrick Morrissette’s survey of twenty alternative high school graduates, he found common traits in successful alternative high school experiences that. He found that the graduates of alternative high schools benefited from the ambiance of the programs, the expertise of the instructors, the program’s flexibility, a sense of belonging in the school and students’ own accountability for their learning (2011, p.177). These programs were non-intimidating, welcoming, supportive, emotionally safe and respectful but also absent of distractions and filled with a sense of purpose because “[l]earners understood that their peers voluntarily choose to return to school” (2011, p.178). Clearly having a positive educational environment helped re-engage these formerly disengaged students.

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">First, respondents had a sense of belonging. Once they got over their fears of returning back to school, the eventual graduates felt they had a “place of their own” and a “sense of community within the alternative program” (2011, p. 178). Second, in terms of teachers, the respondents noted that the teachers had “intuition and sensitivity” and were able to “support and guide students “in “ life and career choices” “without becoming judgemental or overbearing” (2011, p.180). Third, respondents noted that they benefited from the flexibility and structure of these alternative high schools. They were flexible in that teachers were willing to “transition from formal instruction to conversation about personal issues or struggles” (2011, p. 181). And “[s]ince participation in the program was voluntary” teachers also knew “their [student’s] need to discuss personal issues […] was not a delay or distraction tactic” (2011, p.181). The program was also flexible in that students “learn at their own pace and fostered their unique learning styles”. Clearly the flexibility of alternative schools would benefit all students, not just those that failed to be accommodated in ‘regular’ schools. These programs were also structured in that there were clear expectations for achievement. Again, clear expectations are good for all students. Lastly, the respondents also recognized that their success was also dependent on their own attitudes towards schools. Since alternative high school students chose to return to school, they approached their education with “sense of urgency, determination and maturity” (2011, p.183).

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> Echoing Morrisette’s flattering description, the [|Community Health Systems Resource Group] found that Ontario (2005, p.78):

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Alternative schooling creates an individualized environment for each student through small student populations and teacher-student ratios; clearly stated mission and discipline codes; caring staff; flexibility; frequent opportunities for professional development; high expectations for student achievement; academic programs tailored to individual student’s needs and learning styles; and a total commitment to assisting every student succeed.

**__<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Critiques of Alternative Secondary School Programs __**

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Broadly, there are two main concerns surrounding alternative programs: equity and inclusivity and quality of education.

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">First, are the equity and inclusive implications of these programs in themselves and their implications for the publicly funded system as a whole. For example, if Ontario is moving towards an inclusive education philosophy, where regular classrooms setting are preferred, are alternative programs a way to maintain segregated classrooms/programs? Similarly, Richard Sagor questions if these alternative programs help maintain a status quo in allowing “separate” and “inherently unequal” programs within “mainstreaming” (1999, p. 73). Sagor worries that alternative programs: “requires minimal adaption by general educator, “leave[s] unchanged the school’s role as ‘credentialing’ system-society’s mechanism for creating access to economic opportunity” and “ remove[s] the most unseemly and unsightly aspects of a failed youth policy from public view” since these kids are often housed in separate classes and satellite campuses ( 1999, p.73). Penny Milton share similar concerns fearing that alternative school and programs could serve as a “ safety valve for disaffected students and teachers” and “ limits the likelihood of more radical change in the learning experience of the majority of students ( 2010, p.60).

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Sagor even asks us to “consider the role alternative education may play in creating and maintaining a caste system” (1999, p.73). While this may seem like extreme language, a 2009 Globe And Mail article, Annie Kiddler , the then executive director of People for Education, raises similar concerns about some specialized, boutique, magnet or “spotlight” programs/schools dividing childrens’ educational prospects “along socioeconomic lines” ( Hammer, 1999, p.A4 ). Doubly troubling is that Sagor notes that “alternative school enrollee are disproportionally drawn from low-income, disabled, and minority communities” (1999, p. 74).

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Proponents on these critiques of alternative programs, such typified in the Ministry’s documents, would argue that these programs merely provide options and pathways to meet the needs of students who do not succeed in traditional secondary school settings.

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">While the role of alternative programs in maintaining or threatening equity and inclusion is the first concern, the <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none;">[|Ontario Secondary Schools Teachers Federation ( OSSTF)] <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">voices concern about the quality of alternative program instruction in their examination of Bill 52, which amended mandatory school age attendance from sixteen years of age to eighteen. Given that many of the alternative programs allow students to work towards their Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) off site, the OSSTF is concerned that the courses are being “taught by instructors who do not belong to a professional college nor posses this same training” ( 2006, p.2). While my study is primary concerned with publicly funded programs that would require accredited teachers to lead instruction, the OSSTF raises valid concerns around offering OSSD credits through unregulated, privatized alternative programs. In their eyes this would compromise “the integrity of the Ontario secondary school credit courses” and dilute OSSD (2006, p. 2).

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The OSSTF also raises unique concerns within the Ontario context, arguing that these alternative programs could potentially create a “voucher**”** system to Ontario (2006, p. 2). Working on our fears of an American styled “voucher” system, the OSSTF states that alternative programs allow“ [c]olleges and universities along with private and religious organization” “ free […] access public education funding” (2006, p.3). In their estimation, that would mean a “$1.63 billion yearly loss of district school board” monies (2006, p.3).

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Guiding Questions and Answers <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Reflections <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">New Goals <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Implementation Plan <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 16px;">References