If both discipline and academic problems have been identified, two separate learning environments often prove most beneficial. Discipline problems can be addressed in a strict short-term program, while the academic learning problems will need a longer, more concentrated effort. But both programs can operate in the same facility and even share staff to maintain fiscal efficiency, which is the approach we took in my district. This fact, coupled with the failing grades often associated with that option, makes a student s success when he or she returns to school highly unlikely. For a discipline program to be successful, it needs to be strict and offer the student very few freedoms.
Students arrive and leave on school-arranged transportation with their assigned work for the day.
They are given individual work stations and are not free to move around the room. Talking to fellow classmates is not permitted and total isolation from peer interaction is essential. Our classrooms are monitored by video cameras, and students who break classroom rules may be removed by law enforcement officers and forced to appear in juvenile court for a probation violation. Always Flexible Academic-opportunity programs are much more involved and require many more resources. The reasons for lack of academic success vary widely and thus require diverse programs and services.