Description/Abstract
Public school districts across the country funnel academically struggling students into "alternative" or "continuation" high schools designed to help them catch up on credits and graduate on time. However, these schools often reproduce more inequality than they alleviate. This brief summarizes findings from a two-year ethnographic case study of an alternative high school in suburban Los Angeles, California. The author finds that these schools offer limited curricula and no extracurricular opportunities, while Black, Latino, and low-income students are vastly overrepresented compared to district averages. Students transferred to alternative schools are also more likely to drop out than low-performing peers who remain at comprehensive high schools. The author recommends closing alternative schools and developing integrated credit recovery programs at comprehensive high schools instead.
Document Type
Policy Brief
Date
11-5-2025
Keywords
Alternative schools, continuation schools, educational equity, education policy
Language
English
Series
Policy Briefs Series
Acknowledgements
The author thanks Alyssa Kirk and Shannon Monnat for their edits on a previous version of this brief.
Disciplines
Educational Sociology | Education Policy | Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration | Public Policy | Race and Ethnicity | Sociology
Recommended Citation
Drake, Sean J. (2025). Public School Districts Should Close Their “Alternative” and “Continuation” High Schools. Center for Policy Research. Policy Brief #22. Accessed at: https://doi.org/10.14305/rt.cpr.2025.6.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Included in
Educational Sociology Commons, Education Policy Commons, Public Policy Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons
