A METAANALYTIC ASSESSMENT OF DELINQUENCY-RELATED OUTCOMES OF ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION-PROGRAMS

Although the alternative education movement continues to grow, uncerta inty is present across the literature regarding tile effectiveness of these programs. Prior reviews have found that alternative schools impr ove school performance, attitudes toward school, school attendance, an d self-esteem, while decreasing delinquency. However, these reviews ha ve been unable to determine the magnitude of these effects or examine potential correlates of success. The present study used meta-analysis to quantitatively summarize prior empirical research on alternative sc hools. The meta-analysis findings show that alternative education prog rams have a small overall effect on school performance, attitudes towa rd school, and self-esteem but no effect on delinquency. Furthermore, alternative education programs that target a specific population of at -risk delinquents or low school achievers produce larger effects than programs with open admissions.