The first annual School Choice and Reform Academic Conference will be held January 14-17, 2012 at Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The Texas Association for Alternative Education will hold its 22nd annual conference February  2-3, 2012o the in Austin.

The National Alternative Education Association will hold its annual conference February 8-10, 2012 in Nashville.

The Minnesota Association of Alternative Programs will hold its 29th annual conference Feb. 15-17, 2012 in Rochester, MN.

The National At-Risk Education Network will hold its annual conference Feb. 21-23, 2012 in Panama City, FL.

The Washington Association for Learning Alternatives will hold its 37th  annual conference March 1-3, 2012 in Vancouver, Washington.

The International Democratic Education Conference will hold its 20th annual conference March 24-28, 2012 in Caguas, Puerto Rico.

The California Continuation Education Association will hold its annual conference April 26-29, 2012 in North Hollywood.

The Magnet Schools of America will hold its 30th annual conference May 18-21, 2012 in Dallas.

The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools will hold its annual conference June 19-22, 2012: in Minneapolis.

The Alternative Education Resource Organization AERO will hold its annual conference August 1-5, 2012 in Portland, OR.

Ray Morley and the Iowa Association of Alternative Education prepared a thoughtful document, Alternative Learning Environments: a Checklist of Quality Indicators. This offers a program the opportunity to examine its practices for their alignment with some of the best thinking about alternative education.

The Seattle Public Schools under the leadership of Elaine Packard adopted a well-worded document, Quality Indicators for Alternative Schools in the Seattle School District.

Member John Loflin wrote a valuable document which is part of our resource bank of materials. His Pseudo-Alternative School Checklist identifies numerous aspects of alternative education which are not truly “alternative” practices. It is a thoughtful and provocative document.

A Tennessee official has written what they describe as the first national framework of practices that are common to alternative education which have been adopted by the National Alternative Education Association. The framework covers 10 areas: Mission, Leadership, Climate, Staffing, Curriculum, Assessment, Planning, Parents, Collaboration, Program Evaluation.