Washington State Alternative Schools and Their Impact on Latino Success
By Liz Oberhausen
Executive Summary
WASHINGTON STATE ALTERNATIVE SCHOOLS AND THEIR IMPACT ON LATINO SUCCESS
Liz Oberhausen, Whitman College
Executive Summary, November 27, 2006
“That was my motivation to stay in school, because they (his
alternative school) were so nice and really tried to help you out, like
even though they see me as a struggling kid with a family and
everything they try their best to help you out.”
– Junior Gonzales, alternative school student
Topic:
I examined Washington alternative schools to see how well they are
meeting the needs of their Latino students as compared to conventional
schools. The goals of this inquiry were to find where laws and
practices could be changed to better serve Latino students and to see
whether conventional schools could benefit from adopting some of the
practices utilized by alternative schools.
Methods: I began by
looking at previous research on the issues Latino students face in
conventional schools, alternative schools in general, and what little I
could find pertaining to both topics. I then began my case studies of
Washington State generally, and the Walla Walla school system,
particularly its Opportunity Program. I conducted interviews of
students, teachers and administrators, personal observations of
programs and a Washington Association of Learning Alternatives
conference, and data collection and analysis on the effectiveness of
Washington alternative schools.
Findings:
– There are a
number of practices, particularly the importance of individual
attention and teacher support, which are recommended in the literature
for both Latinos in conventional schools, and alternative schools.
Congruent with this literature, I found that the more closely these
practices were followed, the more successful the program was in helping
Latino and other students. However, programs often lacked adequate
funding to follow these recommendations.
– Although there is
definitely room for improvement in Washington alternative schools’
policies and practices, they are addressing the needs of Latino
students very well. Importantly, they are generally more successful in
this than conventional schools.
Recommendations:
– Both
alternative and conventional schools could benefit from more closely
following the practices referred to in the findings section, as
summarized in the literature review.
– At a policy level, there are
a number of actions that OSPI and the legislature could take to enable
educators to better serve Latino students. In particular, OSPI should
appoint a full-time staff member dedicated to alternative school
issues, and the graduation requirements should be changed to better
accommodate the success of all students. All teachers should also be
required to be trained on cultural and economic sensitivity. Finally, a
recently eliminated alternative school funding law should be reinstated
to facilitate alternative schools in instituting many of the
recommendations made above.
Community Partners: Cindy Gregoire and Diana Erickson, Bilingual Coordinators for Walla Walla Public Schools.
