Meeting the Challenge : How the Private Sector Serves Difficult To Educate Students. Policy Study No. 212 / Janet R. Beales.

The private sector, including private schools, nonpublic schools, and homeschools, offers a wide variety of education programs for difficult-to-educate students. These students include the overlapping categories of at-risk youth, adjudicated youth, and children with disabilities. This report provides an overview of private-sector programs that educate special-needs students. It describes the role of private institutions; incorporates examples of private-sector education programs; and identifies various institutional arrangements in the context of performance measures, financial accountability, and student access to services. Policy recommendations include: enhancing provider accountability by measuring student performance and linking results to funding; expanding public and private options for students; and eliminating unnecessary regulations. The report also discusses the implications for school-choice policy. Four tables and one figure are included. Appendices contain information on financial incentives, characteristics of educational placements, brief descriptions of state legislation that allows public schools to contract for alternative education for at-risk students, and a list of service providers and key contacts. (LMI)

Microfiche. [Washington D.C.]: ERIC Clearinghouse microfiches : positive.