Alternative Schools

Summary Pregnant adolescents experience many simultaneous life transitions: normal adolescent development issues, parenting, and school transitions. Whether a transition into an alternative school is academically beneficial to the teen or not is a question of some debate. Our study examined the post-partum effects of an alternative education setting on academic achievement and educational success for a sample of pregnant and parenting adolescents. Subjects were mainly from low socioeconomic families and had a history of poor academic performance prior to their pregnancy. Results showed that attending an alternative school had mixed effects on academic outcomes. Post-pregnancy educational success (e.g., graduation from high school) was not related to attendance; however, the teens' post-pregnancy grade point averages were positively related to attendance. Future directions for research are discussed.