More than 10% of California's public high school students attend some kind of alternative program. This brief summarizes the initial research study from the California Alternative Education Research Project, which examines continuation schools specifically. It summarizes "Alternative Education Options: A Descriptive Study of California Continuation High Schools," an initial research study by the California Alternative Education Research Project. The brief examines the study's findings about the students who attend these programs and their academic achievement, and it also describes their basic structure and the policy context for these schools, the largest of California's alternative programs. In addition, this brief summarizes the group's research regarding dramatic variations in the quality of California's continuation high schools and provides some insights into what distinguishes those that are most successful. (Contains 1 figure.)