From the Governor's Executive Budget: Alternative Education Section

In case you're one of those people who likes to read things for yourself, here is the section on Alternative Education from the Governor's Executive Budget Book.

Alternative Education

The purpose of this program is to provide alternative education choices to prevent dropouts and increase the number of high school graduates.

The Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 1994 established the Statewide Academy System that began with eight pilot programs in three counties. State law now requires all districts reporting dropouts and juvenile justice referrals to offer alternative education in Grades 6-12. More than
12,200 students from 467 school districts were served in 248 Statewide Alternative Education Academies in 2005-06.

At-risk youth are individuals who might fail to successfully complete their secondary education because of economic, sociocultural, academic or disciplinary reasons. The following chart demonstrates performance outcomes for children enrolled in alternative education programs versus those for children who were eligible but on waiting lists.

Key Performance Measure

2006 Statewide Alternative Education Program Outcomes
Pre-Post Means by Group
Variable		Alternative Students	Change	Comparison Students	Change
Days absent per week	Pre	0.73	-15.10%	0.59	28.80%
	Post	0.62		0.76
Semester GPA	Pre	1.48	70.90%	1.55	31.60%
	Post	2.53		2.04
Days suspended per week	Pre	0.12	-50.00%	0.07	128.60%
	Post	0.06		0.16
Courses failed per semester	Pre	2.65	-88.30%	1.96	26.00%
	Post	0.31		2.47

On each variable measured, students in alternative education programs showed more improvement than students in the comparison group.

Since FY-1997, Oklahoma’s event drop-out rate has decreased by 2.3% from 5.6% in FY-1997 to 3.3% in FY-2006, as shown below. Event drop out rate is the proportion of students from grades 7 to 12 who leave school each year without completing the school year.

Key Performance Measure

Event Dropout Rates
FY 1999		5.10%
FY 2000		5.20%
FY 2001		4.70%
FY 2002		3.90%
FY 2003		3.60%
FY 2004		3.50%
FY 2005		3.20%
FY 2006		3.30%

FY 2008 Recommendations

The Governor’s budget includes an additional $300,000 to begin serving the 10,717 children currently on the waiting list to enter Alternative Education Programs.