Effective components of disciplinary alternative programs as perceived by superintendents and disciplinary alternative directors in Education Service Center, Region 20, Texa

The purposes of this study were to determine the extent to which the effective components of alternative programs have been implemented; the importance Texas school leaders place on these components; the extent to which selected district demographic variables impact the implementation; and the impact these components have on disciplinary alternative education programs.;Surveys were analyzed from 60 school district superintendents and disciplinary alternative program directors administrators representing 45 school districts that operated a disciplinary alternative education program during the 2001--2002 school year.;Findings are as follows: (1) The mission and roles components were most important in the effective operation of disciplinary alternative schools. The component characteristics include: staff have the ability to take action to carry out the organization's mission; staff feel a sense of ownership in the program and school; the school environment is structured with high behavioral and academic expectations; the school has a clear adherence to mission; the staff possesses a positive attitude and willingness to innovate and experiment; and the staff is small, simply organized, and void of bureaucratic levels. (2) A significant difference in the perceptions of superintendents vs. disciplinary alternative directors existed. Directors perceived the mission component at a higher level of importance than superintendents. (3) Mission, roles, administration, site, size, and curriculum components were moderately to fully implemented in disciplinary alternative schools in Education Service Center, Region 20. (4) Mission, roles, and administration components had the most impact in the effective operation of disciplinary alternative schools.;Recommended areas for further research are the following: (1) An examination of the perceptions of disciplinary alternative school teachers regarding the perceived importance, implementation, and impact of the effective components of disciplinary alternative education programs. (2) Examination of the characteristics comprise the effective components of mission, roles, and administration. (3) The implementation and impact of the social services component in high limited English proficiency and/or high economically disadvantaged populated disciplinary alternative education programs. (4) Perceptions of disciplinary alternative education program students and their parents regarding the perceived importance, implementation, and impact of the effective components of alternative education programs.