North Carolina High School Alternative School Administrators’ Perceptions of School Performance Measures

1 online resource (98 pages) : PDF

2022

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

This qualitative study investigates the perceptions of alternative school administrators in North Carolina about the impact of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) on them and their campuses. The study interviewed four alternative high school administrators with schools labeled as Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) during the 2018-2019 school year due to low graduation rate and/or low performance. Analyses of the data suggested that participants perceive the ESSA guidelines for school performance as unfair and inequitable to alternative schools. There is also a perception that the guidelines demonstrate a lack of understanding of alternative schools, alternative school students, and alternative education on the part of those who develop accountability guidelines. The impact of these guidelines has resulted in changes to some practices on participants’ campuses and afforded these schools to receive additional funding. Administrators perceive these accountability standards have no impact on their professional career but have increased their stress. Findings indicate that alternative school administrators perceive that the people who assist and are involved in the lives of students, and their academic and social-emotional interventions, appear to be the most important strategies that can lead to successful outcomes for their students. The alternative school administrators in this study acknowledge the funding received as a result of the ESSA designation has provided additional resources on their campuses and allowed more opportunities for their students. The study results also indicate the ESSA designations could result in some negative outcomes for alternative schools and students. Administrators new to the profession could avoid serving in alternative schools because of their current status or potential to receive an ESSA designation. Additionally, if a student is not on track to graduate on time or has significant cognitive deficiencies, alternative schools may deny enrollment for these students because of the negative impact on the schools’ ESSA score. Conclusions include a need for more awareness of the differences between traditional and alternative schools, the students served on these campuses, and more awareness of equity in education, specifically accountability and school performance. It is also important to understand the negative impact that could further alienate alternative schools, and the unintended consequences of ESSA on the students served or those who need to be served on these campuses.

doctoral dissertations

School management and organization
Educational tests and measurements
Education

D.Ed.

Alternative Education
Alternative School
School Administrators
School Performance

Educational Leadership

Shore, Rebecca

Flowers, Claudia
Newton, Xiaoxia
Lewis, Chance

Thesis (D.Ed.)--University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2022.

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Clemons_uncc_0694D_13025

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13093/etd:2869