NCJ Number
91615
Editor(s)
G D Gottfredson
Date Published
1982
Length
216 pages
Annotation
This report summarizes the first year of the evaluation of the Alternative Education Program of the Office for Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
Abstract
The report covers the period from August 1980 to August 1981. Most of the 17 action projects began implementing their interventions some time during that year, and all are now out of their planning phases. The program rests on the observation that individual delinquency is associated with a number of school-related or school-based problems, including disruptive classroom conduct, absenteeism, truancy, and dropping out. The program also uses social learning theory as a way of explaining how social bonds may be strengthened by appropriate educational environments. The projects generally serve grades 6 through 12 in communities with relatively high crime rates and with high rates of delinquency, dropping out of school, suspensions, expulsions, absenteeism, and youth unemployment. Each project entails some reorganization of school policies, practices, and environments. The report describes the program nature and philosophy, the evaluation process, the measures used, the research designs for the evaluations, the content of each project, and the status of the evaluation of the projects. Figures, data tables, and an index are included.