What are the best ways to set up and evaluate good alternative schools? It's a difficult question, especially in a day when there are as many alternative schools as there are communities to support them. This book addresses the question from several different angles. From emphasizing the importance of open channels of communication with parents to establishing dialogues with leaders from various relevant sectors, Mottaz outlines the start-up of a successful alternative school, showing how an alternative school can command not only legitimacy, but also respect, in any community.

"The primary goal of an alternative school is to first make connections with each student and to maintain those connections, often providing a "family-like" atmosphere. Educator Mottaz presents a brief guide to the basics of what makes a good alternative school. Chapters cover staff selections, organizational structure (emphasizing manageable school and class sizes), flexible curricula, and quality assessment. Finally a comparative study of three Alternative Learning Centers in the state of Minnesota is presented, with a focus on the programs' abilities to have high quality indicators, as formulated in earlier chapters." - Reference and Research Book News