Characteristics of Alternative Schools

Abstract

Alternative secondary schools were placed in one of three groups based on patterns of organizational variables including goals, instructional features, size, source of funding, and target school population. A discriminant analysis procedure found that the pattern of differences in student perception scores on a learning environment inventory among the three school groups was significantly different at the .001 level. Eighty percent of the students were placed in their correct school group. The school group continued to account for 67% of the variance when the effects of six student variables were controlled. Distinct patterns of student perceptions of their school learning environments seem to be associated with identifiable patterns of organizational variables.