Building Supportive School Environments for Alternative Education Youth

Abstract

This article reports findings from a study of an alternative educational program for at-risk secondary students, comparing student perceptions of their public school environment, measured upon intake in the alternative school, with their perceptions of the alternative school environment after four and eight months of attendance in the program. Student perceptions of teacher support in the alternative school environment were significantly more positive than their perceptions of the public school environment. Another purpose was to assess the relation between student perceptions of various aspects of the school environment with specific academic, behavioral, and socioemotional variables. The implications of these findings and future research inquiries are addressed.