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WHDL - 00016136

Measuring life satisfaction of former alternative high school students in Idaho: A qualitative study

Margaret Fortner

Resource Types

Academic (Thesis, Dissertation, Etc.)

Resource Languages

English

Institutional Repository

Description / Abstract

The concept of overall subjective well-being has been highlighted in recent years. As society wrestles with mental health struggles, communities often look to schools to fill in the gaps. As such, many schools have added well-being components to their structure. Because many of the most vulnerable students are considered at risk of dropping out of high school, several states have provided an alternative education structure for those students. Alternative schools regularly contain components specifically intended to increase a student’s overall well-being. Though subjective well-being is not clearly defined, life satisfaction seems to be a common component. This study measures life satisfaction as a piece of overall subjective well-being in students that have previously attended alternative high schools in a Pacific Northwest state and suggests adding a component of well-being to the current school evaluation tools. Alternative high schools are often evaluated using the same metrics as those used for traditional high schools, but those methods are often not appropriate evaluations because they fail to address intentional well-being components for students in an alternative setting. The study suggestions derive from interviews with five adults who had previously attended an alternative school. The transcripts of those interviews were analyzed to determine current life satisfaction among the participants and how contributors’ experiences attending an alternative high school may have influenced current life satisfaction. Analysis revealed shared feelings of displacement at their former traditional high schools, a sense of belonging at the alternative high school, and lasting empowerment as a result of having spent time in an alternative high school setting. These findings offer insight for schools seeking to determine best placement for students, improve traditional schools, and explore meaningful evaluative tools to add to the current measures.

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Copyright Notes

This material is used by permission of the rightsholder in accordance with the terms of the relevant content release. As a user, you have permission to use this content and download a copy for non-commercial use only. Downloading multiple quantities of this resource is expressly forbidden.

KeywordsAlternative school, Displacement, High school, Belonging, Identity, Life satisfaction, Assessment, Empowerment, Well-being

Degree AwardedDoctor of Philosophy in Educational Leadership

Awarding Institution Northwest Nazarene University

Committee MembersRebecca Wills, Kelsey Williams

Supervisor or ChairHeidi Curtis

Peer Reviewed?No

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