Every 26 seconds another young person in America drops out of school.  We have an estimated 5.5 million “Opportunity Youth” — those who are neither in school nor working.  Across the country, states and districts are working to create a range of educational options to recover these students and get them to high school graduation.

Yet, a recent article published by Pro Publica showcased how a school district used alternative schools to mask their number of dropouts and other negative student outcomes.  That article has raised concerns by RAPSA members and others who diligently work to provide meaningful options for at promise youth. Moving forward under the Every Student Succeed Act, states and districts are charged with ensuring that all educational settings, including alternative settings, are held accountable for student outcomes.   Join the conversation on the challenges and opportunities in alternative education, led by Nelson Smith, Senior Advisor to the National Association of Charter School Authorizers and Jennifer Brown Lerner, Deputy Director of the American Youth Policy Forum.

• • What is the role of alternative schools to support and improve the outcomes of at risk youth?
  • How do districts/states identify alternative settings?
  • Are states making a mistake in developing alternative metrics for alternative schools or recognizing a difference in alternative strategies for at risk students?
  • How should districts, schools and authorizers ensure that students aren’t being counseled into alternative settings in order to make dropout data look better?
  • Are private charter management organizations less responsive to state accountability systems and more likely to incur dropouts?
  • How can alternative schools leverage accountability as a tool for continuous improvement?

RAPSA is proud to bring the insightful contributions of Nelson Smith and Jennifer Brown Lerner to this conversation.

Nelson Smith is Senior Advisor to the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA). He served as the first President and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools; Executive Director of the District of Columbia Public Charter School Board; Vice President for Education and Workforce Development at the New York City Partnership; and Director of Programs for the Improvement of Practice at the U.S. Department of Education. He has taught at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and has earned the Career Achievement Award from New Schools Venture Fund and induction into the National Charter Schools Hall of Fame.