October 2009: Alternative Schools

Chicago’s alternative schools for dropouts face myriad challenges and are barely making a dent in the problem. Advocates are eyeing federal stimulus funds to give schools more resources, and alternative charters are in the works. But CPS has yet to develop a strategy.

Cover Stories

• Second chance for dropouts The average student who enrolls in an alternative school faces steep odds to graduating. Low skills, tough lives and scarce resources at schools are big barriers. New York has a strategy for dropout recovery, but CPS has yet to develop one.
  
• Unintended outcome Since a 2004 law raised the compulsory school attendance age to 17, estimates show the number of 16-year-old dropouts is back on the rise.
  
• Missing: Black and Latino boys Neighborhood high schools in Chicago fail to graduate half of their black and brown young men. And once out the door, this downward spiral continues: Black and Latino males are less likely to turn to alternative schools than their female counterparts, and those who do are less likely to graduate.
  
• WebExtra: A philosophy of engagement Small classes, personalized teaching and regular meetings between students and mentors are par for the course at Innovations High.
  

Letter From the Editor Dropout recovery: Tough job, but someone’s got to do it As a writer and editor, I have a rule: Avoid the use of catch-phrases, clichés and jargon in articles whenever possible. Readers are better served by vivid illustration—with anecdotes, data, telling details or colorful quotes—than by overused or vague expressions. Still, there’s no better substitute for the phrase “school to prison pipeline” to describe some of the data in this issue of Catalyst In Depth.