Program Narrative & Analysis: The Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy
One special program which is commonly overlooked is alternative education. Many people (community members, educators, students, etc.) view it as merely a dumping ground for children with behavioral issues, so they fail to recognize that there are various types of alternative schooling which are not all negative. As Pankake and Littleton (2012) outline, there is no direct, concrete definition which explains the target population of who should/can be served; instead, it could revolve around at-risk students, students who do or do not fall within IDEA, or any student who may not thrive in the traditional school setting. An alternative education program can take many forms (a support program, charter school, school-within-a-school, etc.) and serve a myriad of purposes.
The Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy (hereafter referred to as BOMLA) is one such program which offers an alternative educational setting. It is an entire school that strays away from the nature of traditional middle/high schools and encourages its students to become college-ready as well as professional leaders. From my research and observations, findings support that this program has successfully taken underserved, low-income, minority students and transformed them into change agents.