Providing quality instruction in alternative settings: not only must districts provide every student with a quality, standards-based core curriculum, school leaders must recognize that students in alternative settings need the best teachers the district has to offer. Here's how one district does it.

Developing effective, standards-based practices that can be used by teachers serving students in alternative education settings--whether in learning centers, on independent study or in home and hospital settings--can be a daunting task. After all, not only are these the students for whom the traditional system has not worked, but these students meet with their teachers much less frequently and for less time than do their peers in comprehensive high schools. Indeed, alternative education has often been considered an inferior mode for student learning for those very reasons.

Will the addition of yet higher expectations, rigorous adherence to core content standards and new assessment mandates merely add to the likelihood that students in alternative education will fall further behind their peers? Or might such an approach finally provide the equity and access that has been traditionally overlooked in our attempt to serve all students who enter the alternative educational system?

One district committed to making sure that all kids will be able to measure up to the new state standards and assessments is the Sweetwater Union High School District in Chula Vista, which has undertaken the ambitious task of rewriting the core curriculum in math, science, English/language arts and social science.

The district's product is a series of rigorous academic courses deeply aligned to each content area's state standards, state mandated tests and to district end-of-course exams. This focus was developed in collaboration with teams of classroom teacher leaders who serve on district standards and assessment teams, with university partners and through community outreach.

All new course descriptions identify essential district content standards and objectives that teachers are expected to teach. Each objective is supported with resources for the teacher and with test items in three contexts: multiple choice, constructed response and authentic "teal world" to show teachers what mastery of the objective looks like. Concept review and practice as well as prerequisites to the learning are built into the course guide.

Staff development is provided for all subject-area teachers by grade level as the new curriculum is introduced. Although the primary focus is content, the curriculum-centered workshops also incorporate model lessons and effective, research-based instructional strategies for the classroom teachers.

But what is the district doing about the students who won't be learning in traditional classrooms--with the classroom teachers for whom these instructional strategies and course guides have been designed? Of the 36,000 students in the district, as many as 4,000 will at some point during the coming year avail themselves of at least one alternative education credit. Certainly they are entitled to the same level of rigor and instructional commitment as is evidenced throughout the regular classrooms in the district.

In order to address this equity issue and provide equally well-thought-out and rigorous learning opportunities for the students learning via independent study, transformation of the extensive guidelines and resources was necessary. This work in progress was predicated by a series of critical questions upon which our team reflected before beginning its work:

* How do we maintain fidelity to the district's highly aligned curriculum and assessment while relying on the one-on-one instructional delivery model most commonly used in independent study?

* How do we establish a level of confidence in the work of the alternative education teachers--and acceptance of the quality of their students' work--that would allow these students in successfully return to the regular education program once they have recovered their credits?

* How can we adequately train teachers who have not traditionally been included in district-wide curriculum development and training and who are expected to teach all subject areas to their independent study students?

* Ultimately, how do we design a system with sufficient support and access to resources that would guide teaching practices, deliver district content standards, and ensure that only texts and support materials aligned in those standards are used?

Simply put, we needed to come up with "how to teach" the "what to teach" we have been given.

As is typical in many districts, teachers serving students who fall outside the mainstream of education often find themselves physically outside of the mainstream as well. These programs are frequently housed in storefronts or off the main campus; many alternative education settings are small schools unto themselves, and as such they are generally less involved with district-wide curricular initiatives and reform.

Integrating alternative ed staff

The first step, then, was to better integrate the alternative staff members with the larger group of regular educators, and to specifically involve them in the innovative curricular work taking place in the district.

Partnering with the County Office of Education, the district had been sponsoring School Leadership Teams for seven years. While stone members of the alternative education staff had participated sporadically as adjunct members of the schools that hosted their learning centers, an actual School Leadership Team had never represented alternative education until this past year. Additionally, the director of curriculum worked with alternative education to establish monthly training sessions in the content areas, with special emphasis on the new district content standards and objectives.

These two elements alone helped increase professional conversation and capacity. Members of the alternative education staff participated further by becoming members of standards and assessment teams, working with curriculum specialists and participating in regular education staff development and faculty meetings. A number of the alternative education staff members were also identified to become curriculum resource people.

While independent study teachers have always been known for their student advocacy, this sentiment manifested itself all the more with an increased desire for the latest and best books and resources, an increased sense of urgency regarding preparation for the state mandated tests, and a fresh and critical look at the way we had been doing business.

Independent study had always been separate, and as such provided our students with uneven and unequal opportunities. Our newly emerging perspective helped us design updated strategies and instructional delivery resources that emphasized not only the new standards, but also our commitment to the individual nature of our learners, their multiple learning styles and their special needs.

Online access to the curriculum

The ability to communicate quickly and effectively was particularly important for us as we rolled out our new materials. With teachers at nine different learning centers and at an equal number of store front locations, we decided that online access to the curriculum and support resources and strategies would be the most efficient. By visiting "alternative education" via the district's home page, teachers can access all components needed to guide them in the delivery of curriculum.

By clicking on the math course flow chart, for example, teachers are able to access the course contract, the standards, the text guide, course description and course matrix. The district content standards and objectives provide the organizational structure for all these documents.

For example, the "Text Guide," the district's roadmap for proceeding through the adopted text, identifies the district objective being addressed in each section of each chapter (see box above.) The Chapter Resources page provides teachers with additional support, practice and enrichment ideas. The teachers can also view the entire course description online, including samples of the skills to be taught, assessment information and estimates of the average amount of time generally needed to complete the work within the regular classroom.

Expanding the repertoire of materials and strategies designed to improve student performance on the High School Exit Exam is especially critical for the students we serve. While many district schools have begun sponsoring support programs and classes aimed at improving proficiency in this test, the independent learners need to rely entirely on their single independent study teacher for support and supplemental training. Although the test guides provide teachers with those chapters and lessons that specifically address the CAHSEE skills, we felt the independent study teachers essentially needed a way to link to specific support materials and tutorials that would further strengthen the work they were doing toward mastery of the identified skills.

The most useful tool to evolve, therefore, was the course matrix that identifies all the available resources that can be used in the teaching of each standard. The matrix identifies each section and chapter of the adopted textbook where the standards and objectives are taught. In addition, support lessons available through our online subscription to Novanet and Plato are also aligned to the standard being addressed.

There are links as well to support lessons and activities on the Web.

Differentiation options are available through the publishers' support materials, which we have placed online for easy access. The teacher may choose appropriate materials based on each individual student's needs. Finally, we have included online tutorials for concept review and practice needed to pass the CAHSEE.

The very best teachers

As educators, we are well aware of the dynamic nature of our craft. Alternative education will continually strive to develop rigorous programs and strategies in an effort to provide our kids with equal opportunities to learn. But a focus on the materials and the curriculum management system is not all that is needed.

As districts recognize the need to provide each of their students--including those outside the regular comprehensive program--with a quality core curriculum delivered with fidelity in their standards, they must also recognize that serving students in any alternative setting requires nothing less than the best teachers the district has to offer.

Indeed, only experienced teachers committed to working with this population of students and supported by the district's best curriculum and materials will be able to bring these students up to standard proficient in the skills needed for the high school exit exam.

SAMPLE FROM TEXT GUIDE FOR ALGEBRA

District Objective Addressed         STAR   Text   Comments/Suggestions

Obj. 1.1: Solving linear equations    **    3.4    Problems require a
                                                   good knowledge of
                                                   order of operations
Obj. 1.1: Solving linear equations    **    3.5    Great opportunity
                                                   for mathematical
                                                   modeling with
                                                   algebra tiles.
                                                   Make sure to
                                                   assign problems
                                                   36-38.
Obj. 1.1: Solving linear equations    **    3.6    Be sure to assign
                                                   problems 38-44.
Obj. 1.4: Absolute value equations     *    3.7    Absolute value
                                                   applications like
                                                   problems 3:3-35.

Ernie Anastos is an interim area superintendent and director of alternative education for the Sweetwater Union High School District.