Separate formal evaluations were conducted of the following alternative schools in the Seattle Public Schools system: Nova, Orca, Summit K-12, Alternative School 1 (AS1), Alternative Elementary School II (AES II), and Alternative Elementary School III (AES III). These six documents, combined here as one item, describe the distinctive characteristics of alternative education programs by examining program philosophy and goals, curriculum processes, teaching methodologies, and expected learning outcomes. Parents judged the AS1 school program excellent in the areas described as most important, although the lack of objective student progress data precludes analyses to demonstrate acceptable academic achievement in comparison to other district students. The majority of Orca students and AES II and AES III program students show average to above average academic achievement. Because the district does not routinely test all high school students, few conclusions can be drawn about the academic achievement progress of Nova students. However, for students tested, median reading, language arts, and math scores on the California Achievement Test (CAT) were in the average to high average range when compared to the national normative sample. (PN)