Why Do You Stand So Far Away? A Qualitative Look At The Lived Experience Of Alternative School Students.

In recent years, research has begun to focus on identifying and understanding those factors that contribute to the likelihood of a student's not completing high school (risk factors) and those factors that contribute to keeping a student in school (protective factors). This paper details the qualitative findings from a survey study of 145 students and in-depth interviews with 12 alternative high school students. Data was analyzed using a Rapid Assessment team analysis approach (Beebe, 2001). This paper provides a description of the qualitative interview data, with support from the survey data. The study also identifies strategic approaches that students claim are effective in keeping them engaged in school and the factors that hinder their abilities to complete high school.In any comprehensive high school in the United States, you will find students who stand on the fringes. They are in the school courtyards, at bus stops, in parking lots, and in the backs of classrooms. The fringe students carry tattered backpacks that are always less full than those of other students, but their unseen burdens more than make up for the reduced load. The euphemism "at-risk" is often used to describe these students who stand far from the others. But what exactly are these students at risk of? The statistics tell us that they are at risk of drug use, incarceration, abuse and neglect, suicide, depression, failure, and dropping out of school (Community Indicators Project, 2008; National Center for Education Statistics, 2007). This study is about those students standing on the fringes of school and society, and how the risk of their dropping out of school can be addressed.Every student standing on the fringes has a unique story, but the approach to uncovering those stories is not magic; as one student who participated in this study stated, "I've heard a lot about this drop-out crisis in the last couple weeks, and a lot of it's a lot of stupid adults not realizing that all they need to do is take the time to hear a kid's voice" (Study Participant 04). This study attempts to hear those voices. In it, we ask of alternative school students, "Why do you stand so far away?"