Alternative Education Options: A Descriptive Study of California Continuation High Schools

Abstract

Continuation high schools and the students they serve are largely invisible to most Californians. Yet, state school authorities estimate that over 115,000 California high school students will pass through one of the state’s 519 continuation high schools each year, either on their way to a diploma, or to dropping out of school altogether (Austin & Dixon, 2008).1 Since 1965, state law has mandated that most school districts enrolling over 100 12th grade students make available a continuation program or school that provides an alternative route to the high school diploma for youth vulnerable to academic or behavioral failure. The law provides for the creation of continuation schools ‚designed to meet the educational needs of each pupil, including, but not limited to, independent study, regional occupation programs, work study, career counseling, and job placement services.‛ It contemplates more intensive services and accelerated credit accrual strategies so that students whose achievement in comprehensive schools has lagged might have a renewed opportunity to ‚complete the required academic courses of instruction to graduate from high school. ‛ 2 Taken together, the size, scope and legislative design of the continuation high school program make clear that these schools are a cornerstone of the state’s drop-out prevention strategy. This study concludes, however, that these schools of last resort may be the last