As full-time virtual learning moved from the fringe to the mainstream in mid-March 2020, onlookers expressed concerns about access for learners and accountability for the learning itself. Concerns have not applied only to full-time virtual schools, however. Alternative schools that serve students who have dropped out or transferred from traditional schools--and often serve as schools of last resort--have historically struggled to show the value they add to students. They have also struggled to allow families and regulators to make sound judgments around their value. Although supporters suggest that these schools are crucial because they provide smaller classes, more flexible schedules, and more counseling, the few studies that have looked specifically at alternative schools have documented significant quality concerns, low graduation rates, and underfunding. This report argues that alternative schools need a new set of standard metrics to help families and policymakers gauge their quality. These metrics should be based on student outcomes--not inputs. And they should allow schools some latitude to select the measurements most applicable to their mission. However, those measurements must also have enough in common that they give prospective families a clear view of whether a school is the right fit for them and policymakers greater clarity as to whether the school is serving its students well and fulfilling its mission.