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Beyond One-Size-Fits-All Education Approaches:
Rethinking California’s Alternative
Education System

Hui Huang, Ph.D.
Joseph Bishop, Ph.D.
Adriana Jaramillo Castillo, M.A.

How can non-traditional schools better support students?

CTS examines California’s alternative education system, serving more than 150K students, and the critical role these schools play in providing flexible, supportive pathways to graduation. The report explores student demographics, school climate, and academic outcomes across alternative school types, highlighting how system-level barriers often push students off track to graduate. The findings illuminate the importance of strengthening the system to better support vulnerable student populations and their engagement, success, and long-term outcomes.

Read the report

Non-Traditional School Types

Continuation School: Students are often credit-deficient or in need of a flexible schedule due to employment, family obligations, and/or other needs.

Community Day School: Serves expelled students, students referred by a School Attendance Review Board (SARB) or probation. High-risk youth are referred through a district-level process.

County Community School: Public schools operated by county offices of education to serve K-12 students who are expelled from their schools, referred by a SARB, requested by parent or guardian, referred by probation, on probation or parole, not in attendance in any school, and/or homeless.

Juvenile Court School: Provides an educational placement for students who are under the protection or authority of the juvenile court system, referred and incarcerated, and/or expelled students.

Opportunity School: Provides additional support for students who are unsuccessful academically. This can be due to irregular attendance, behavior challenges, and more.

Alternative School of Choice: Offers a different structure, learning philosophy, or academic emphasis to accommodate different student needs, interests, and learning styles.

Special Education School: Serves students with disabilities who require specialized instruction, supports, and services that cannot be fully provided in traditional school settings.

District Special Education Consortia: Collaborative partnerships among multiple school districts or local educational agencies (LEAs) that pool resources, funding, and specialized staff to provide comprehensive special education services.

Alternative Schools by Application: Mostly charter schools.

Student Characteristics

Latine students are overrepresented in alternative schools compared to traditional schools.

Alternative schools serve a significantly higher proportion of vulnerable student populations compared to traditional schools, including socioeconomically disadvantaged youth, students with disabilities, foster youth, students experiencing homelessness, and English Learners. This reflects the critical role alternative schools play in supporting students who experience significant educational instability and systemic barriers.

The proportions of these student populations vary substantially across different types of alternative schools, highlighting the diversity of missions among alternative schools and the need for differentiated policies, equitable resource allocations, and support systems.

Educational and School Climate Patterns in California’s Alternative Schools

Students attending alternative schools face significant challenges related to learning engagement, school conditions and climate, and academic performance, often experiencing greater barriers compared to their peers in non-alternative school settings. Suspensions, absenteeism, and dropout rates are higher while stability, graduation rates, and ELA/Math performance are lower compared to traditional schools.

The nature and extent of the educational challenges listed above vary across different types of alternative schools, emphasizing the need for context-specific policies and support systems that align with each school’s distinct mission and student population.

Students from historically marginalized communities—including highly mobile youth, racial minority students, English Learners, socioeconomically disadvantaged students, and students with disabilities—experience systemic barriers that significantly impact their educational outcomes in alternative schools.

Recommendations

Develop a Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) category for alternative schools.

Build and sustain a specialized educator workforce for alternative schools.

Prioritize school stability and reduce student mobility with targeted Technical Assistance for alternative education schools as part of the Statewide System of Support.

Establish meaningful measures and accountability systems unique to alternative education schools.

Expand access to high-quality, differentiated instruction that matches school type, grade level, student, and staffing needs.

Read the report

Thank you to the Stuart Foundation for supporting this work.”

It’s me again. I just want to say YES to all these recommendations. Let’s use our collective activism and voice to make these changes.

Somethings to note:

If you are not familiar with Opportunity Schools, the ed code is great. They were phases out and you can no longer start one in CA. However, if your district was grandfathered in with one, but can really support vulnerable students.

I really appreciate the definitions of all the schools including the differentiation between county community day schools and community day schools, which is different than community schools 🤪.

A quote from the article “Ultimately, this report calls for a shift from deficit-based narratives toward equitable, asset-based support systems that prioritize the success and holistic development of California’s most vulnerable youth.” I mean 🫶🙌🏼👍🏼

This beauty deserves a read and please send it to everyone you know who loves alted.

All the best,

-jamie

We have seen some really great funding sources in California for our alternative schools in the past 10 years. Starting with CSI funding, that was due to heavy advocacy of the DASS accountability group primarily led by the Gardner Center, RAPSA, ACSA and others. However, we are seeing more and more schools move out of CSI for great reasons. Some are moving back in because of low test scores, which makes sense…but because of the fragility of getting this funding the Equity Multiplier was put into law. Again, thanks to the serious advocacy for alternative schools we have funding sources outside of Title I and Supplemental that we didn’t have 10 years ago. Tie in Community schools funding and CTE, we can have amazing programs if the stars align. While I will keep advocating for the continuation of community school grants as a voter and education advocate, I want to get out the message of Equity Multiplier funds. Senate Bill 114 was the bill that provided additional funds to schools with high concentrations low socio-economic status students and low stability rates (i.e. students who come in and out of the school). Unlike Title I and other grants, Equity Multiplier looks at the number of students served versus the number of students enrolled on CBEDS day in October every year.

Why this matters?

Our beautiful and amazing advocates know we serve not only the students who are enrolled in our school in October. Often, because alternative schools enroll high amounts of students through out the year they do not benefit from the money being allocated to the school they have come from. In addition, Continuation schools and Independent study schools are still under-funded at 180 minutes of ADA versus 240 minutes at traditional schools. There are additional costs to running an in-person program versus IS, but underfunding is underfunding. So, Equity Multiplier was put into law for in person schools with high instability rates and high concentration of students in poverty-based on who was enrolled in continuation schools at the time. This is not a grant or categorical funding, but ADA funding ties to three factors. It does need to be in your districts LCAP, but not in your schools SPSA. You need goals, they should align to your SPSA, but the funding does not have to be in your SPSA.

The three data points: Non-stability Threshold (i.e. students that have been enrolled in your school less than 245 days), A Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Pupil Threshold of 70% or higher (Free and reduced lunch percentages), and assurance that it is a classroom-based program.

The first year this was available my site did not hit the threshold for SDPT, meaning we did not get the 150k we could have. The following year I was on a mission to ensure our students had this additional equity funding and we were able to get it the following years.

How to ensure funding

Well, I made sure that any student enrolled at our site before October had filled out the district survey through nutrition services. In that time, our survey has been titled various things to ensure parents were not afraid to fill it out. Even though this is something that needs to be filled out annually since enrolling in CA schools, many families did not know what it was or what to do. There was a lot of family training involved, but ultimately it was worth it. Students benefited from the programs that they also qualified for . I think many families that know what the survey is for and programs that they can qualify for don’t think they will qualify because they are middle income. For them I noted that everything is expensive. Groceries have doubled. I told them “Please be honest, and who knows, you might qualify.” Qualifications and these documents are very classified, but from our percentages on the Equity Multiplier, I see that having everyone do it met that threshold to ensure students at site-based alternative schools had an equitable funding source.

Spending

The equity multiplier is great, but equity in spending needs to be at the heart. This should go without saying, but I am saying it. This is to hire teachers with credentials that support student learning in core subjects. This money is designed to support program aspects that would be available at a traditional school, but are too expensive for small school programs. While it can be used for PD and supplies, the goals is to close the achievement and opportunity gap. With a big focus on the opportunity gap. What do small schools miss out on? How can this money create opportunities for meaning making in our schools?

Last, these funds can only be used in the school that are designated for, the funds can not be swept, and they can carry over year after year.

Next years funding came out last week. I am feeling extra grateful for those that researched, advocated, and spoke additional funding into existence. If you know me you know I have some important and wonderful people in mind that made this happen. So if you are one of them, thank you and know that I always think you are the best.

Lately, I have been reflecting on my advocacy and my capacity for being a advocate. This week I reflected when we support students and youth, that is what saves the world. So when the news is dark, I think of you all and my work and see that this community is advocacy. Supporting vulnerable learners is advocacy. When I feel like I should be doing more, I know this work is bringing lights to students that might have needed a little light. If this little piece of information can ensure that you get funding for students and programs then that is everything.

If you every want to chat about how to get funds to your school, reach out, I got you.

Download the 25-26 Funding Results here: https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/lc/equitymultiplier.asp

Here is the link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HpY2KDg_KdigHg5-_Mbpdd9t5fs46O_x/view?usp=sharing

Enjoy!

-jamie

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I am gathering the strength between news headlines.

Stay safe out there.

Here is a taste:

My original dedication was the following: To my supportive family. With love. This is ours.

This still holds true, but now after years of reflection and further learning, this is for my kids. I have had the privilege of raising two very different kids. My first loves school and would argue with me about missing when she was sick, and school adults love her. I have yet to meet an adult who does not love her. My son has had a very different school and life experience. My son was born with multiple chronic conditions, making it hard to regulate his nervous system. He is also a boy. My work in alted for two decades has shown me year after year, traditional schools don’t teach boys very well. The schools I have served that enroll overaged, under-credited students are 70% + boys year after year.

Why is this?

I believe we are given the people we need in our lives. We are gifted with meeting people and welcoming brilliant humans into our lives that help shape who we are and who we are meant to be. With that, as someone who has a passion for dropout prevention, I was gifted a son who has hated school since he was two years old.

I finished my research before my daughter went to middle school, and before my son started elementary school. My husband and I planned my timing of getting my doctorate in this way, so we could both be there for them during these new and exciting times. I wanted to earn my doctorate because there was no research that I wanted to read at the time on alternative education. There was the work of Jorge Ruiz de la Velasco, who I now consider a colleague and a friend, and that was it. There was a lot of what was going wrong in these rogue alternative schools, but not a whole lot of what was going right. I sought to learn research methodology and publish the work I wanted to read. I will note that I set out to write research about promising practices that happened in the classroom, but because there was so little research on alternative schools, my advisors had me broaden the research to follow research protocols.

Shortly after finishing my doctorate in 2019 and publishing my research, schools and students would undergo a seismic change because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The day before the shutdown, I had my most attendance-inconsistent student in my class question, “What if we don’t come back?” I didn’t see this student but once every two weeks. He was scared, so I responded with the most Pollyanna of responses: “Of course we will come back; we just need to pause for a bit. See you after Spring Break.”

I would not be back in my classroom until a year later. My school district was one of the first to come back to in-person teaching in the state of California.

During that year of distance learning, my son thrived; my daughter flailed. Again, their school problems flipped-flopped. That entire year, my mantra was “It does not have to be this way.” There was so much out of our control, but there was also so much that was in our control. We can control who is in our community. We can control the buffers of self-care and self-regulation. I could control how I supported my students and cared for them and allow them to care for me by sharing stories. Two of my students lost their families to COVID; they became foster children. I did my best to let them know I was there for them, answering phone calls in the evening and being available when they needed a listening ear. I sent my parenting teens coloring books to their littles so they could “work” with their parents. I shared my family life with them if they were interested. These were hard times, and we made it through, but not unscathed.

We came back, and no one was the same. We say students weren’t the same, but I certainly was not the same either. The adults that I worked with who loved coming to work everyday changed. Some more tired, some scared, some just different.

Then we came with all new and some old expectations of students. Some good, some bad for kids.

My daughter went back to being the amazing student she is, that adults love and nurture. My son went back with 24 other dysregulated early elementary students, with teachers that did not know how to heal 25 nervous systems. For the record, healing one nervous system for my one child involves 10 different specialists with various medical degrees. This is an unreachable ask.

Kids changed. Adults changed. We have many more years before our COVID Kinder classes graduate high school, but still alternative schools are mostly enrolling boys.

Why is that?

I am on my own timeline of publishing my research, as many of our students are on their own timelines to meet their goals. Yet, as I reflect on what the research revealed, it still rings true. The practices and strategies in the research are baseline practices to make alternative schools equitable systems for our students that need the most support. My goal is that these strategies will one day be common knowledge, not something special. At any alternative school you go to, you will see these assets.

My goal is that we all work to create schools that kids deserve. For me, I will be forever trying to make school fun, relevant, and engaging. I will forever work to make sure that schools are worthy of my daughter, who has found success in the traditional factory models of school, but even more for my son, who questions the purpose and has rarely felt loved or wanted in school. Adults have a way of pushing kids out that they do not understand. Or adults have a way of taking on all kids’ troubles because some kids have it so hard. The best teachers I have met balance both; they are the warm demanders. They have high expectations and make sure they are understanding kids. Kids know they care. Kids sense when you dislike them. Kids are pretty amazing. They sense authenticity. They always know.

I want to thank my alted family that gets on the phone with me to discuss the alted mayhem. Stephanie, Greg, Margie, Ben, Jillian, Jill, Xochitl, Robin and Mike; my go-tos for anything alted. My colleagues and friends Brenda, Gina, Dan, Lonny, Mary, Alenoush, Jackie, Maggie, Rebecca, the way you put kids first, it is everything. My Daily team. My community is my buffer to any and all setbacks. They are always a text or phone call away.

My last dedication is to my own children’s teachers, that have left an impact on me. Maestra Sanchez, Senorita Carbajal, Maestra Escobar, Maestra Palmieri, and Mr. Rodriguez. I look to you when I think, How do we do this work? How do we bring joy to the classroom? How do we love kids who are harder to love? How do we show up every day, present, and full of hope? We do it because of and with the community. This is what heals.

I hope that as you read this, you feel part of the community. You, reader, are my community, and I look forward to growing with you.

-jamie

This research brief taken from his published book: Academic Apartheid: Race and the Criminalization of Failure in an American Suburb, gives a scathing review of continuation schools in general, even those he only studied one. He recommends the closing of all continuation schools, sending teacher from the school to teach credit recovery or sub in traditional school classrooms, and use the campuses for CTE.

My first opinion, this guy sucks. Second opinion, was the school studied a model school? Third opinion, this is what happens when there are not model frameworks and common goals. I hope to work myself out of a job, not be demeaned and dragged into a school seen as less than on a traditional campus.

Dear ones, I hope today you write stories of hope and success in your schools. Share this great information with me. I hope to celebrate with you.

Here is the article: Public School Districts Should Close Their “Alternative” and “Continuation” High Schools by Sean J. Drake

Find the PDF version here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qsIA_qZ0W3sCI-miSOOk3RtlruqYtA13/view?usp=sharing

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After many years of writing our book, it is officially in presale! My co-author Greg and I have discussed, debated, dreamed, and discussed some more the state of education, the lack of progress, and how schools can make education better kids. Our goal is to make schools a place kids want to go, rather than have to go.

We provide easy and accessible ways for school leaders (administrator, teacher leaders, classified leaders, student leaders) ways to gather data and make meaningful change. Greg’s signature sarcasm is weaved throughout the book. The launch aligns with his TEDX talk about our work, and the culture shift he developed for the past two years as Chief Strategy Officer at Milpitas High School AKA principal by using our strategies.

This has been 5 years in the making. Only taking breaks during my surgeries and hospitalizations, his surgery, but still reflecting on all our experiences (especially when both of us could not use one of our hands). We learned so much and were able to test our work with new schools and new kids.

Our book is small but mighty.

We hope you enjoy! Below is the presale Kindle link:

https://a.co/d/46KQXbn

Paid subscribers, expect a PDF book in your inbox soon!

Hugs!

-jamie

When reflecting on my day when I return to work, I worry about what that will look like. My dream would be for all districts, schools, and employers to create a collective trauma-informed future where we come back from these fires to spaces of healing when outside of our homes.

Now, those that have houses standing can donate, volunteer, and offer kind words. But what will happen when we go back? How can we continue caring for each other and promote spaces of healing?

All Angelenos know someone who lost their house this past week. Stress levels will be high for awhile. From evacuation warnings to being empathetic to those who lost their homes and lives work, we all will have high-stress levels for some time. When we go back, whatever that looks like, let’s intentionally create space for healing.

This collective trauma reminds me of a beautiful trauma-informed framework by Alex Shevrin Venet, Equity Centered Trauma-informed Framework pg. 15, where she described four shifts to support humans in our spaces (these are adapted to reflect all ages of people, not just kids and students and schools as intended in the book).

1. Shift from a reactive stance, in which we identify who has been traumatized and support them, to a proactive approach. Trauma-informed practices are universal and benefit everyone.

2. Shift from a savior mentality, in which we see ourselves as rescuing broken [people], to unconditional positive regard, a mindset that focuses on the inherent skills, capacities, and value of every [human]. [People] shouldn’t aim to heal, fix, or save but to be connection makers and just one of the many caring people in a person’s life.

3. Shift from seeing trauma-informed practices as the responsibility of individuals to embedding them in the way that we do in spaces, from policies to practice. Trauma-informed adults need trauma-informed leaders.

4. Shift from focusing only on how trauma affects our [spaces] to seeing how trauma affects our [spaces] can change the world. We can partner with our students [and adults] as change makers for a more just [and safe] society.

As we return to our work or school spaces, what proactive approaches are we using to support our colleagues and students? What will we take off people’s plates? What will we define as necessary? What will we define as “if you can” work, or the work that is not necessary but is there if you need a distraction or can take it on?

How will we check in with others?

The adults in our spaces need support. This can look like a check-in, a kind note, showing up for someone, or in a work setting, being there to say, “I got you,” or “I can take this off your plate.” For some, that might be inviting, and others may want to feel the accomplishment of completing that task. Both are okay. We can give permission for people to adjust and not work at the same rate they may if their nervous systems were not wrecked.

Adult check-ins should not be ice breakers. They are spaces to collectively or individually share how someone is doing. If someone does not want to share, that is okay. If they want to share, that is okay too. Showing up for people does not mean they will react how you think they should. Showing up is showing up consistently without expectation (see shift from savior mentality).

Check-ins are needed for kiddos, too. All too often, in classrooms I have heard from students that after a big event they walk into a classroom…and it is business as usual. No debriefs, no conversations, no check-ins. Let’s not go back to business as usual. Let’s regulate our nervous systems with a quick community circle. “How are you doing?” “We had some big fires, and it was really scary for many of us in LA, how are you feeling now?” We can build these community circles into restoration and think of ways we can support others and problem solve to create a beautiful future.

There are so many other systemic things we can do. Often, systems rely on Therapists and mental health support teams to bear the weight of everyone’s emotional needs. We all can care for each other, and support others if they do need additional mental health support. Community care is everyone caring for everyone. It does not have to be only in a medical capacity. It might be that our mental health providers that need support.

When we go back, let’s not focus on saviorism. If we collectively come together to be with each other, make positive connections, be one of many caring people in a person’s life; that is healing. Some have more compacity to give and take than others. That is okay. Being there, showing up, not hiding away, and ignoring these big crises is key.

We need trauma-informed leaders. In schools and places of work, there is a built-in hierarchy. My friend and colleague Joseph Antonelli often describes this in schools as circular care: The School board supports the Superintendent, The Superintendent supports district leadership, District leadership supports Principals and school leaders, Principals and school leaders support teachers, Teachers support students, Students support the community, and the community supports the Board members. If one person does not do their job, we miss out on community care. Sometimes, we can not and should not depend on circular care, in times of need, it may be community care that is needed in spaces. In our school space, how are we caring for each other? In our workspaces, how are we caring for each other?

When we return, I hope leaders permit us to take it easy. I hope leaders discuss grace. I hope leaders share giving space, reflection, and time to be together and heal. All too often there is an expectation for everything to return to normal, even though it will take years for many to feel “normal.” I hope leaders give permission for classrooms to make art, problem-solve, write notes, and do acts of kindness. Kids are ready to be a part of a healing community. These pains get louder if we ignore them. This work can change our communities and our world.

Here are my hopes and visions for spaces and classrooms when we do get back:

Voluntary community circles before the start of the day for those to check in if they want to with colleagues.

Community circles in all classrooms in all grades with low-level questions. How are you? What emotions are you feeling right now? Reacting to those emotions by providing autonomy (only 2-3 choices) for similar alternative activities during the school day (i.e. you can write notes or draw notes). Do you want to draw with crayons or colored pencils? Do you want to write on paper or the white board? Do we need a water break or movement break? Do you want to write about this or that?

I hope classrooms incorporate lots of Movement breaks. Most of us are unable to enjoy the outdoors due to the smoke. Set a timer, every 10 minutes we move together. Strech, dance, march, jump, jumping jacks, somatic movements, wall push ups, anything…just move.

I hope classrooms Create. Have people create. Cards for those who are having a hard time. Posters to promote a donation event. Draw, build, craft, write for fun not compliance, be creative. Whatever you do and are learning, the more art you incorporate into the day, the better.

I hope classrooms Problem solve. Our wildfire challenges in California are complex. Water is a deep and historically politicized resource in LA and California; learn about it and problem-solve. What if a Econ class created mock Legislation for water rights, what would they look like? What would be possible advantages and disadvantages?

Invasive and non-native species of plants harm our environments, learn about them and problem-solve. Plant a native garden in your community like my good friend and educator, Gina Brownstein. Notice how your environment reacts to the change. What other ways can we support building our habitats in safe and sustainable ways? Work with local non-profits to make this or learn from them. This same idea can be true for sustainable water usage, urban food growth, and so much more. In LA, there are incredible non-profits doing incredible work. Tap into programs that are doing incredible things and orchestrate learning more with your community.

How can our CTE programs create multi-year contracts with home builders to get students apprenticeships in our local communities? Dream with me: what if students who hope to work in construction learn hands-on by building houses and restoring the houses or spaces their community lost?

Get curious about how we can reduce challenges in our communities. Have students take the lead. What are they curious about? How do they want to support others? How can we support changemakers or become change-makers ourselves?

If we prepare now to come back and are proactive in our equity-centered and trauma-informed work, we can create healing spaces when our fire-impacted colleagues and students return. Let’s feel safe together, seen together, heard together, and heal together.

-jamie

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I have dreamed a lot about what an alted class could look like. By the time I transitioned out of the classroom, I was pretty much able to accomplish this vision. It was wonderful as a teacher. I had the capacity to be with and there for my students while managing ways to avoid burnout and compassion fatigue. I made students responsible for their learning while showing up daily with unconditional positive regard.

In the classroom, these are many things I had control of. As an out-of-the-classroom teacher, I hope to help others feel empowered to do the same. When you do this work, things will pop up. Your Syllabus will need to evolve; you may notice a gap in your school's tiered interventions and you may see a need to evolve your school’s mission and vision. All this work will be more powerful if you do it with other staff members. The effect size for collective teacher efficacy (educators working together to make positive change) is off the charts: 1.57

Image (c) Visible Learning Plus – www.visiblelearningplus.com

Now that I have set the stage, the nuance topic I will describe in this newsletter is motivation + Student collaboration. I recently stumbled on a social media post that described today's students as apathetic. I am now unable to find the post, but it had a very “kids these days 😠 vibe.” In the comments I read, about 50% of the readers shared how education is not relevant, and 50% blamed kids. I have a different take involving nervous system healing, lack of autonomy, and authenticity in school.

I am also aware of another social media post that autonomy. See below.

I will revisit this, as I believe autonomy and motivation can be a chicken or the egg type scenario. What do we work on first?

To be fully transparent, I have mapped out what I see as the foundation of effective alternative classroom best practices based on research of others and my own. These are my alted non-negotiables—the things teachers design to happen in classrooms.

This may be a little overwhelming to look at, but I will be breaking it down, sharing commonalities between practices, and showing how all these things depend on one another to create an equitable learning experience for alternative education learners.

So, back to motivation in collaboration and communication. Students will build motivation if we design all six practices in our work daily. But, for now, I will focus on three practices: Equitable Grading, Hope, and Project-based or Problem-based learning.

In his graduate-level research and best-selling book, Joe Feldman stated that grading should be accurate, bias-resistant, and motivational. When I present on Equitable grading, I always give the disclaimer that the motivation piece is the last to become apparent. However, how we design our grading structures is and will be motivational if we design them using this framework.

For example, if we are grading and we make a commitment to grade students on their knowledge, not on their compliance, that, in fact, can grow motivation. If we give students multiple chances to show their learning without penalty, we can motivate student learning. If we use rubrics on all graded assignments and have students reflect on their learning and grade themselves before we give a grade, we can create motivated learners who value the process of learning, fostering a growth mindset and really equitable serving those with learning gaps or challenges with compliance-based learning.

All of the practices described above can be used in the context of collaboration and communication. We can create expectations for these things. The CA state standards outline literacy across the curriculum with listening and speaking standards. We also see listening and speaking in ELA and ELD standards. So, when we are building rubrics, one of my favorite equitable grading practices, we can build in the listening and speaking pieces.

What else do listening and speaking rubrics do? It holds students accountable for their learning even when they are absent. You might find student absenteeism rates go up during a planned collaboration event or a speaking practice or assessment. If we as teachers follow the protocol to get students talking, giving lots of practice, and building self-efficacy, a rubric is the accountability piece that might be missing in many collaborative learning activities. How will students show what they know? When will they make up for the collaborative learning and speaking assessments? Rubrics also help educators and students know what to expect in collaborative learning and speaking and listening tasks. How do we want students to do this work? How are we going to teach it?

The next nuance practice I want to discuss today is Hope Theory (C.R Snyder) and motivation. In my graduate-level research, one thing I found in highly effective continuation schools was hope. Hope is defined as goals=agency and pathways. Agency is the motivation to pursue goals and the belief in one’s capacity to achieve desired goals (Snyder, 2002, Snyder et al., 2002). Pathway thinking is the development of multiple routes or pathways to achieve a goal. Pathway thinking is really autonomy, but not just choices, it is if one pathway or choice does not work anymore that thinking of trying something new or flexible thinking is also included in pathway thinking.

Agency is literally the get up and go attitude, the positive self-talk or positive affirmations you make to do hard things. It also means having the capacity, tools, community, and learning needed to do hard things. When people have agency, they have the ability to make their own choices. Autonomy is the freedom to choose. If one chooses and does not have agency or the scaffolded teaching to make that choice possible, it does not work. Agency, Autonomy, and Pathways have to work together.

It is also power, the power of choice. Most humans are more motivated to do things when they have a choice. Do you want to eat cherries or watermelon? Do you want to write with a pen or a pencil? You can choose how you want to show your learning from three prior picked projects. Autonomy is the choice should be developmentally appropriate, Agency is the scaffold.

Autonomy is the freedom to choose. When people have agency, they have the necessary resources and ability to act on their choices. However, people cannot exercise agency without autonomy, and they have fewer options for autonomy when they don’t have agency.

Ok, enough philosophy and positive psychology.

Hope work is important in schools. It is important in classrooms. I often reference the book School of Hope by Cathleen Bleachboard. It has tons of classroom practices. Many of them foster collaboration and communication. I am more interested in practices with a high effect size and build hope. Equitable grading is a practice that can build hope when done with intention. Students create goals for their learning, and the educator builds agency and provides multiple pathways to share that learning or gives autonomy. The more students can share their goals, interest, things that make them tick, the better. This is where community circles comes in. The more discussion of goals, building agency, and talking out pathways to solve a problem the better. Brainstorming a challenge or solving a problem together in a fish bowl, socratic seminar, or circle session. All of these activities build hope when designed to solve a problem, build communication skills, critical thinking, and hopefully community.

Last, Project-based or Problem-based learning builds hope, motivation, and practices collaboration and communication. At the core of Project or Problem-based learning is having a goal and working towards that goal by providing essential learning and facilitating student learning by providing or creating multiple pathways to share that learning. Students use critical thinking to solve problems together collaboratively and struggle, fail, learn, and succeed together in a small group. They practice skills that build a growth mindset. They practice social skills such as communicating and solving problems together. They create norms and hold others accountable. While project-based and problem-based learning has different approaches, both provide hope by utilizing goals, agency, and pathway thinking.

In general, high hope students are intrinsically motivated and perceive obstacles as challenges that they can overcome with flexible thinking (Chang, 1998; Snyder, 2002; Lopez, 2010; Gallagher et al., 2017). If you are interested in seeing the benefits of increasing hope in schools, Shane Lopez did the Hope research on high hope in schools which has pretty incredible outcomes.

I want to revisit this post as promised as a last note on autonomy. If students have agency, they can have autonomy. Autonomy is choice, not a blank slate. What I mean by that is if you are giving students the choice to “do anything in the world” to demonstrate their learning, that is overwhelming. As students are learning to build executive function you start with less choices. As you build agency and executive function, you can add to those choices. I think a good starting point is two choices, and in high school, you can build up to 9 choices (think choice board or menu). But of course, to build motivation, it is dependent on the scaffolding and agency you have constructed in your prior lessons.

Of the alted non-negotiables mentioned, all three of them heavily depend on collaboration and communication and build motivation. Motivation is such a heavy load in the classroom, and I look forward to writing about more ways to view motivation with some other practices.

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer and getting motivated for next year!

-jamie

Feel free to reach out if you or your school is interested in training or book studies! My expertise includes Vision and Mission planning, WASC or Model School applications, SPSAs and strategically utilizing categorical funds, Project-Based Learning, Student Collaboration, Equitable Grading, and Social and Emotional Support in schools.

One of my core tenets is that community heals.

What that statement does not acknowledge is that community can harm as well.

Or, in fact, you can expect community or those in a community to do harm.

So, how do we create restoration within a community to heal.

Some of my earliest memories are saying things that made me so ashamed. But when I recall those memories, they came from the mouths of my family first. They were not my thoughts. I parroted those statements, I heard the reaction, and I felt so guilty for saying those things.

It is easy to say hurtful things in a home, as gossip, on social media, or even via text.

I have listened and observed and ease-dropped, and used my teacher ears my whole life. When we are face-to-face with someone we often use a different tone, different words, and a different demeanor to say these tough things in person. I am very concerned about how much less we as a society communicate less and less via face to face. While I don’t have the research at my fingertips, I know it is there. We should be concerned about this.

My son’s teacher shared that his school enrollment drops after third grade significantly because parents start fighting one another. They create sides. Then they leave. These are the adults that we believe are responsible for teaching students social skills, but they lack those skills themselves.

So what do we do?

In my post about teaching collaboration I shared my framework of getting students to talk and communicate in class to be able to build collaboration. Something that I teach educators when they are interested in learning how to get their students to collaborate more is maintaining boundaries. It is not a identified part of the framework, but it is definitely a core tenet of the Practice stage. This has to be the same with families. If your schools is highly communicative, we need to teach our parents how to collaborate. That first stage is creating boundaries.

There is a common knowledge with educators to create norms. If you are working with a PLC, norms are essential. If you are meeting with a school site council, norms are mandatory. If your parents are creating a classwide What’s App, you need norms!

Schools often have norms in their student parent contract about how to respectfully communicate and act within the school confines, but what about out of school? And What about with each other.

I have another example of this from when I was a parent and a continuation school teacher. My daughter went to a school in the district I taught. One year she had siblings in her class that were my students siblings. This was surprising to me at the time because those siblings had 10+ year gaps which is not uncommon (my kids have a 7 year gap), but I had three siblings in my classes that were related to 3 students in her class or 22. I always maintained positive relationships with families in my classroom. Lots of communications, lots of celebrations. My daughter was very social as well and really cared for her community and became a friend that many depended on. For weeks, my daughter would beg for one friend to come over. I only knew the parent from my contact with them as a teacher. The older sibling was continuously aggressive towards me, would curse me out daily, and was a student that I worked really hard to build a relationship with, without any luck. Everyday I would show up with unconditional positive regard, and would leave the day exhausted. At that time our school did not have many outside supports, let along a tap in/tap out system. It was a challenge. So when the sibling of that student begged to always come to our house we had a family conversation about it. I said I would love for my daughters friend to come over after her sibling graduated form my school. That is what would make me feel comfortable. For the record that kiddo was invited to all birthday parties. I just didn’t feel comfortable having that family in my home when both the parent and the sibling we really aggressive towards me.

Well…my daughter went to school that day and said “My mom said you can’t come over until your [sibling] is no longer at her school.”

I found out about this when the parent came charging at me asking why their child was not invited to my child’s birthday party. The whole exchange was weird, but cause we had my daughters birthday party at a nearby park by the school (we live out of the district) just a few weeks before this encounter. The parent was irate, accusatory, and losing it. I was so taken back when she said those things I explained we were not having a party at our house. Their child has always been invited to every birthday party, and I did say I felt more comfortable having their child at my house after their older child graduated.

While still upset the parent stormed away angrily. We had a family meeting and I tried my best to explain in age appropriate terms that I needed that boundary. That family ended up moving away, but what if they didn’t? I like to think about what I would have done, but I probably would have just kept on rolling and lost a potential member of my community. What I really I wish would have been done when my kiddo entered the schools, is that the school would have supported protocols for parents building community with other parents.

I believe schools are afraid of getting too involved in parenting. It is June and the terrible things that parents are saying over a June Pride Month post from the district is so disheartening. Their is a confusion over our Freedom of Speech. It is not a freedom to berate, verbally attack, or threaten.

What if we created boundaries around what commenters are allowed to post on a schools social media comments. In schools we teach this social skills. What if we required it of the outside?

What if the school did not condone classwide What’s App, but instead create norms for parents interacting with each other and create opportunities to build community with each other?

Parenting in LA is hard. Most families have two working adults to be able to afford living here. YOU CAN NOT DO THIS WITHOUT COMMUNITY. Yet, families are doing this all the time. They are struggling.

Dream with me for a sec.

What if we taught our kids the social skills to build community, help each other, value each other, care for each other. They recorded these skills, they demonstrate these skills, they teach their families these skills.

What if when someone on the What’s App looses their shit? Well, the community would reflect on the community norms. They would have a hard conversation to uplift the other and eachothers greatness.

One way that I see this is through Facebook groups. Many groups I am a part of have moderators. Some moderators language can be perceived as harsher than others, but their are people on their that hold the line. The group has a purpose, they have community guidelines, and they have accountability. Unfotunately, what these groups do not have is restoration.

When you are building your norms you may want to consider a norm for restoration. This can look like: If someone in our community does not follow the community guidelines a community member will call that member “in”. They will note the community guideline that was not followed, they will ask that statement to be deleted from the chat, and they will ask for that person to apologise to anyone that was harmed in person if possible, and will ask the community how to fix their and others grievances.

The solution is in the community. The solution is in the relationships. The solution is the collective.

This example is not for schools to uphold. Schools should not be the moderators. But, what schools can do is give families the language and tools to build community. It can come from monthly videos where students practice this skills, it can come for articles or even what the students are learning.

If a schools word of the month is Compassion. Let’s teach our students what that means, what that looks like, and share with families how to practice this at home and with their community. Let’s have that as part of the What’s app chat.

If schools help create this boundary, they can enforce it with the adults that go to their schools. When staff meet or discuss with families that are disregulated, you can hold them to those norms.

“[Parent] here are the norms for our school when dealing with tough situations. I am going to unbiasly hear what you are saying. You have to explain it in a inoffensive way without using foul language or aggressive language. If you can not do that right now, you can have the option to write down your concern or I will give your 5 minutes to calm down so we can have the conversation your student needs.”

I have shared two personal examples that were negative. I want to close this newsletter with a positive one. As a family of four with two working parents, I could not be the parent I am/was without my school community. Because educators schedules are so inflexible and unfamily friendly I missed countless first day photos, so many awards ceremonies, and volunteering in the classroom events. It breaks my kids hearts that I am not their. But, what does happen is I call in my community and they show up and they show up hard. My spouse, grand parents, aunts, uncles, friends, school best friends. They all show up. They send me the pictures, they facetime me so I can see, they go above and beyond because they know my kiddos really want me there, but if I can’t be there they will hear many people yelling their name and cheering them on. My community is why I don’t feel like a failure everyday doing this really hard work of parenting school-aged kids and being a teacher.

So, you want your students to communicate and collaborate. Where do you start?

The framework I created to support this work is below.

How to Get Started

Maybe you are brainstorming your goals for next year. The first thing you want to plan for is how you will create systems and structures to start practicing getting students talking in your classes.

1. Prioritize this work in the Syllabus.

   This work starts on day one. It might even be in the syllabus. For example, you might say:

In this class, you will communicate and collaborate with your classmates. Your voice is powerful, and in this class, we will be practicing and using your voice to elevate your learning.

2. Getting To Know You

This can be followed with a “Getting to know you” activity. Make it a priority that all students know each other’s names. This is easier once students share something about themselves, so those memories and moments of learning about someone else are attached to their name. Ensure and enforce students’ referring to and saying the names of their classmates. This is not a new thing; I have noticed it for 18 years in teaching students, but students are embarrassed or insecure about using other students’ names. Names are meaningful. They make us human. Addressing others by their name is a non-negotiable.

2. Restorative Practices

Utilizing Restorative Practices every class period can strengthen the work of Getting to Know You activities by extending them through the school year. Every time someone speaks, you can address them by their name. “Jamie, can you share next.” If you use a talking stick, you can have a student pass it by having the student with the stick use someone else’s name it is going to. “I am going to pass the talking stick to Jamie.” Not only are you having students practice one another names, but you are also getting them to practice sharing information with the group. They can build on each other’s answers or ideas.

When we look at the big picture of students communicating and collaborating in the classroom, these are all prerequisites to successful dialogue and expectations of what is expected in your classroom.

4. Opportunities to Talk and Share in class

Think-Pair-Shares and Turn-and-Talks are some of the most underutilized no-planning strategies that can have a huge impact in the classroom. If you really want your students to get used to participating, communicating, and collaborating in your classroom, start with one of these strategies. Every 15 minutes of class time, whether it be a lecture (including video lecture/movie) or independent learning time, pause and have students Think-Pair-Share or Turn and Talk. After you have reviewed the instructions, pause for a Think-Pair-Share or Turn and Talk. Take time for a Think-Pair-Share or Turn and Talk at the end of the class or lesson. Be direct in what you want students to talk about. It can be one takeaway. It can repeat the directions. It can be What are two key learning notes. It can be based on something specific they are learning, which you want to emphasize. Whatever you want them to review, emphasize, remember, and elevate, use a Think-Pair-Share or Turn and Talk to do it. Practice this early and often.

Conclusion

If you start using these strategies in your classroom at the beginning of the school year, you will create a culture of communication and collaboration. Make sure to subscribe to read part two, which will describe how to scaffold group work and make space for true collaboration.

-jamie

April was a whirlwind. My site had 120 CCEA educators visit our two sites (continuation and community day school). It was so cool to showcase our site and the great things we are doing, while also being really honest in the things we are working to improve.

We got to showcase our Club day during advisement. I create a google form asking teachers what they would be interested in advising. Create a form for students to choose the optional club. Make rosters and students go to that club during advisement. There are also “no club” classrooms where students work on Thrively activities. If you all are interested I will write a newsletter just about our Advisement program and Club Day.

This is video game club

Tours got to see our Garden which our EFA classes maintain.

We toured our small community day school. Due to the large number of visitors, we discussed the program in detail outside. As you can see we are a very urban setting with apartments surrounding our school sites. Our community day school uses the BoysTown Model. If you are interested I can write about our total reformation and restructuring of our community day school to protect teachers from burnout and improve student social skills.

We showcased our two CTE pathways. This is a patient care pathway which leads to certification. Our other pathway is a photo pathway that earns college credit.

This is our Art/Photo classroom. This happens to be an art class with our brilliant Art/Photo teacher.

I created a lot of handouts and informational one pagers for our programs that you can see here.

Overall, the CCEA conference was fantastic. I got to see many friends that I have connected with via social media or from going to the conference for many years. I was blown away by some of the presentations and can’t wait to bring that learning with me.

Teachers Appreciation Week

Our sites have had some leadership change due to a retirement and leadership in alternative education is something I am passionate about and is SO important. It makes or breaks a school. At the CCEA conference I heard that some schools don’t have School Site Councils, poor leadership, or no leadership. Teachers do the best they can with what they have and it doesn’t move the school forward. What it does do is build burnout and those rockstar teachers leave for healthier work-life balance in the end. This work is hard, small school work is hard, and everyone has to pull their own weight plus support others to make this work.

I will refer back to my 2019 research:

My assets based research looked at what was going right in model continuation schools. I got feedback such as: ““when you 96 don’t have a good administrator it’s not going to happen.” (pg. 96).

and the take aways were: :The leadership in these schools was described as empowering teachers and counselors and nurturing a positive school climate” (pg.97).

Long-term leadership and distributed leadership was among the best sustainable ways to create a great alternative school.

Hope was tied into this for staff as well. When staff have agency, pathways, and goals they are less likely to burn out and are more likely to be student-centered and create better relationships within a school.

In the book: School of Hope, the author describes the hope work she did in her school as a teacher and how by year two, no teacher wanted to leave. No transfers were put in for the next school year and teachers delayed their retirement because the school was so full of hope.

What does this have to do with teacher appreciation? In alternative sites, student appreciation might not be there for a myriad of reasons. That appreciation usually comes at or after graduation in a nice note or email. So who is going to appreciate the teachers?

I will say that this is not a one day or week thing, but as leaders we can celebrate teachers in many ways. My staff still remembers a time that one teacher’s appreciation week the school leader only gave a tiny, like 1 inch by 1 inch thank you card that only had enough space to write their name on it. The teachers were disgusted. They felt like it was such a slap in the face to all of their hard work. So, during this Teacher Appreciation week I want to challenge school leaders to be creative in appreciating their teachers not just this week, but every week. It does not have to be high costs either, but let me be clear…jeans passes and other offensive gestures are just that…offensive.

Kind letters detailing how a teacher makes the school better goes a long way. I did this once during Valentines day that I labeled friends day and it did take a lot of time, but it was so appreciated.

Work with your campus food services for cost-effective food options. All year, request donations from your local stores and restaurants. By May, you may have enough for baskets for all teachers. Ask Trader Joe’s for Flower donations for teachers. Cover a teacher’s class for 20 minutes while they do something they need to do (This is good for your professional growth and their mental health). Have students make things. I have students make candles, smelly jelly jars, lotions, sugar scrubs, and treats. These can be learning things and fun things to give to celebrate teachers. P.S. If you are clever in your SPSA, you can use this to teach SEL lessons/enrichment and have your site funds to buy the supplies.

Good leadership=empowering teachers. I feel very strongly about this. It is a hill I will die on.

To anyone reading this silly little newsletter: I appreciate you, I see you, and if you need anything I am here to help. There is nothing more empowering to me than community.

Last, Collaboration

I was so happy to present on collaboration in the classroom at the CCEA conference. Here is my presentation. I will break it down in another newsletter.

I am available for consulting work if that is of interest to you or your school site. My expertise includes Vision planning and Mission planning, WASC or Model School applications, SPSA’s and strategically utilizing categorical funds, Project Based Learning, Student Collaboration, Equitable Grading, and Social and Emotional Support in schools. Feel free to reach out!

-jamie

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@mr.dmarinthese are getting better and better 😭 #wdym #qotd #memetok #memesdaily #teacherlife

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@hubermanlabIncreasing motivation & success by visualizing failure #andrewhuberman #hubermanlab #science #neuroscience #visualization #goals #michaelphelps

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Articles

Student Behavior Isn’t Getting Any Better, Survey Shows

Of the practices outlined here are some worth looking at:

Literacy Accelerated Suggestions-

1. Provide Explicit Vocabulary Instruction. 

2. Provide Direct and Explicit Comprehension Instruction. 

3. Provide opportunities for extended discussion of text meaning and interpretation. 

4. Increase student motivation and engagement in literacy learning. 

5. Make available intensive and individualized interventions for struggling readers that can be provided by trained specialists. 

Math Accelerated Suggestions-

1. Provide students with the concrete and semi-concrete representations that effectively represent the concept or procedure being covered.

2. When teaching concepts and procedures, connect concrete and semi-concrete representations to abstract representations.

3. Provide ample and meaningful opportunities for students to use representations to help solidify the use of representations as “thinking tools.”

4. Revisit concrete and semi-concrete representations periodically to reinforce and deepen understanding of mathematical ideas.

5. Teach students that different algebraic representations can convey different information about an algebra problem.

6. Routinely teach mathematical vocabulary to build students’ understanding of the mathematics they are learning.

7. Use clear, concise, and correct mathematical language throughout lessons to reinforce students’ understanding of important mathematical vocabulary words.

8. Support students in using mathematically precise language during their verbal and written explanations of their problem solving.

9. Teach students to identify word problem types that include the same type of action or event.

10. Teach students a solution method for solving each problem type.

11. Expand students’ ability to identify relevant information in word problems by presenting problem information differently.

12. Teach vocabulary or language often used in word problems to help students understand the problem.

13. Include a mix of previously and newly learned problem types throughout intervention.

Ed Week’s Accelerated Suggestions-

1. Diagnosing and Assessing Learning Gaps

2. Differentiating Learning

3. Tutoring

4. Boosting Student Confidence

I find the most helpful framework for accelerated learning from Fullan’s Right Drivers.

The overarching tenets of all of these practices are collaboration and student participation. Collaboration and communication are skills, and when students have skill deficits, it is our job to teach them

I look forward to sharing steps to get your students talking in class and truly collaborating. Perhaps this is good modeling for adults in schools as well.

Collective efficacy is one of Hattie’s key findings in student success.

Best,

-jamie

This should be the same in schools. We welcome students in to our environments, routines are the things that can help a student feel safe. The unknown is scary.

The hospital routine is not something I loved: 6 am chest x-ray, 6:15 am blood draw, 8 am rounds dr, 10 am pt/ot, pain med every 3 hours. But even for all these terrible things, there is something about mentally preparing and utilizing hope strategies that make the more terrible things bearable.

I dream of a world where school is fun for all students. That is not the case currently, but it is a goal of mine. Until then we can use hope strategies to help students tolerate the things that are painful for them. While there are many things we can do to support this I would like to start with routines. This tried and true practice can positively change classroom management, and student anxieties. Predictability is essential.

I am still recovering from my decompression survey for V-TOS, I had what is referred to as the trifecta surgery (removal of first rib, scalene neck muscle and vein repair). It will take a long time, and it sucks. It is a very rare syndrome and painful and sucks. But it was a life-saving surgery and what hope work tells us is that when we have high hope even the suckyest of situation can be tolerable. Hope theory started in medicine for chronically ill patients but can be used for any sucky situation.

Hope=agency and pathways

Link to PDF

I am lucky enough to have had Milisav (Mike) as a person in my #alted community and have been able to learn from and with Mike. The past ten years of #alted in California have had more change than the first 100 years of #alted. What we have seen previously was stagnant growth in isolation. These past ten years, led by the work of Dr. Jorge Ruiz de la Velasco and Dr. Milbrey McLaughlin from the Gardner Center out of Stanford, alternative schools in California have really made a lot of progress.

Mike has been part of that journey from the beginning. The story I tell myself is that he brought his excited energy and hopefulness to all of the meetings that took place to get to the root of success in alternative schools and ultimately created a federal accountability program for alternative schools in the state of California. This work started prior to 2008, with the first published paper on continuation schools in 2008.

Mike is the quintessential #altedchampion. He continues to relentlessly advocate for students, fighting for what is fair in education and calling out inequities in education systems.

In his book, Mike passes down his extensive years of experience in a concise and easy-to-read book. This book is a must-read for any educator new to the #alted arena. It is a gift to all California educators, especially those who work in continuation schools.

Mike’s hopefulness and optimism shine as he discusses the realities of education: “I have heard from many people that our education system is broken. I completely disagree. The problem with our education system is that it simply has not evolved from the way it was conceived and built.” He reminds us that society has changed too quickly, and education systems have stayed the same. He challenges traditional schools to put alternative schools out of business, however, he acknowledges there is a long way to go to ensure all student’s needs are met in traditional schools. But who is to say what the future brings?

In the book Mike outlines the over 100 year history of continuation schools and his experience with the CA school dashboard (DASS).

He then goes on to describe the ed code, and we see the evolution of continuation schools unfold. You will notice that there is ed code for many aspects of continuation schools, but it is scattered and noted all over the place. Keeping track of this is a full time job that Mike made much easier with his book. This book saves you hours of internet research!

When I discuss the Continuation School ed code, I often refer to it as living in the gray. So much of it is you do this when this happens, BUT if this happens, you do this, and so on. Quite frankly, it can be very confusing. It is like the ed code is band aids upon band aids in some scenarios. This educational guide is truly a guide that makes sense of the ed code. It goes into detail about voluntary transfers, involuntary transfers, teacher credentialing, instructional configuration, instructional practices, credits, special populations, student discipline, some on independent study, accreditation, and model continuation school processes. Mark and highlight these chapters for your school board and district office. You can refer to these chapters often.

In another chapter, he goes over Leadership in continuation schools. I have long maintained that students who need the most deserve the best. In this chapter, he reiterates: “If you are a black-and-white thinker, please do not read any further. Unless you can think and float in the gray, you will most likely not be successful as a Continuation School or any alternative education administrator…” Needless to say great leadership in any school is necessary; in an alternative school, it is beyond necessary; it is essential, a non-negotiable.

As an aside, I have connected with alternative school educators for many years on Facebook, my various blogs (Altedfrommybed and Teaching Alternatively), and Instagram. It hurts me every time I hear that a teacher is burned out and quits. I have seen this job eat away at people. I take it personally. We can no longer lose great teachers due to mediocre leadership. Great leadership is a non-negotiable for me in alternative schools. The stakes are too high. This job has too much compassion fatigue and secondary trauma not to have the best leadership. Mike gives the foundation for creating great leadership in alternative schools.

The next chapter gives advice from the field from some phenomenal leaders in the alted space.

Last, in the appendix, is the ultimate gift! A complete guide to all education code that is related to continuation schools. It is over 75 pages of ed code specific to continuation schools! Highlight this chapter, bookmark it, and sticky note it. Save it to defend your good work in schools. Your work that puts students first.

I often write book reviews, but this is the book that so many of us have manifested and hoped would be published, and it is finally here!

This is the perfect gift for a new superintendent, Student Services Specialist, Board member who wants to know more about your schools, and any educator new to the alternative education space. It was a pleasure to read and has stayed on my desk as a reference book since I have gotten my hands on it.

Congrats on your book Dr. Ilic!

Mikes book can be found on Amazon with pre-sales until Dec. 15th 2023