Focus school improvement efforts on the ninth-grade transition using real-time data to monitor and support at-risk freshmen¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 1 claim (1 for) · 1 study (1 causal), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 1 claim rests on one study

Description¶

The strategy is a district-and-school approach in which high schools use data reports to "monitor student performance in real time and identify students at risk," combined with ninth grade coordinators and summer transition programs. Schools were given "substantial flexibility in how they used these data," and the range of strategies developed around the data is described as one of the most distinctive features of the effort. The summary frames this as using data to build educators' capacity to manage complex problems and create systems of continuous improvement.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Data reports that allow administrators and teachers to monitor student performance in real time and identify at-risk students

Constraints¶

• The summary notes unanswered questions about how data use changed educator behavior and why some schools continued to improve while others did not

Target Learners¶

• First-time ninth-grade freshmen in urban public high schools

Target Learning Goals¶

• Reducing ninth-grade course failure and increasing on-time high school graduation

Claims¶

• Rising ninth-grade on-track rates did not negatively affect schools' average ACT scores [+W]

Related Strategies¶

• Provide schools real-time early warning data reports and credit recovery reports to monitor student performance and support on-track progress
• Monitor freshman-year grades and intervene early, treating D students as needing attention comparable to F students
• Use school-level data systems to identify which students need which types of support for dropout prevention
• Intrusive, data-driven advising: track unregistered students, audit degree plans, and bring advising directly to students

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Roderick, M., Kelley-Kemple, T., Johnson, D.W., and Beechum, N.O. (2014). Preventable Failure: Improvements in Long-Term Outcomes when High Schools Focused on the Ninth Grade Year. UChicago CCSR Research Summary. https://consortium.uchicago.edu/publications/preventable-failure-improvements-long-term-outcomes-when-high-schools-focused-ninth