In recent decades, increasing attention has been paid to the number of adolescents experiencing extended absences from school due to mental health crises. Upon returning to school, these students often face difficulties in functioning, risk of relapse, and vulnerability to academic failure and social isolation. This paper presents results of a…

This report summarizes findings presented in "School-Connect Intervention on High School Students' Discipline Referrals and Academic Outcomes" (Hutson, Beland, & Douglass, 2016). To frame their evaluation of the effectiveness of School-Connect in Austin Independent School District (AISD), Hutson et al. (2016) addressed three key…

This study examines the issues surrounding middle school students' transitions to high school and the degree to which freshman orientation models can help them. The attendance, discipline, report card grades, and end-of-course exams of 60 students who participated in a freshman orientation were compared to those of 150 students who were invited to…

Ninth Grade Academies (NGAs)--also called Freshman Academies--have attracted national attention as a particularly intensive and promising approach for supporting a successful transition for high school freshmen. An NGA is a self-contained learning community for ninth-graders that operates as a school within a school. NGAs have four core structural…

Many youth in detention facilities come from vulnerable home environments where factors such as economic pressures, abuse, neglect, and parental incarceration are constantly operating within the family system. A vast majority of these youth have not had positive school experiences and many of them experience special needs and mental health issues.…

This study investigated data from 5 high schools in West Tennessee. The study examined whether a ninth-grade transition program (i.e., the Ninth-grade Academy) had an effect on student achievement and engagement, which was measured by English I End-of-Course Test Scores, attendance rates, and dropout rates. All of the schools were treatment…

The importance of a smooth transition from eighth grade to ninth grade is critical as this transition can have a lasting impact on a student's success or failures beyond high school. Studies in this body of research suggest that ninth grade students lead the list of high school grade students when it comes to tardiness, the number of discipline…

The transition from eighth grade to high school results in a substantial drop in course performance for many students. These declines in performance lead students to fall off-track for obtaining high school and college degrees. By using data on students' middle grade performance, high school staff can set goals for their students to help them meet…

In 2006, the University of Pittsburgh Office of Child Development began implementing a multi-year school readiness project in several area schools. Evidence from both research and the field point to several key elements that foster school readiness and create pathways to school success for all children. This paper presents components of a…

This study examines the attrition and achievement of a sample of 295 students in an on-campus tertiary bridging program at a regional university. A logistic regression analysis using enrolment status, age and the number of absences from scheduled classes at week three of the semester as predictor variables correctly predicted 92.8 percent of…

Many students enter large comprehensive high schools without having the necessary social and academic skills or understanding of what will be expected of them as they move through the high school curriculum. To help a higher number of students experience success, schools must help them develop academic, social, and self-management skills.…

In 2007, spurred by University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research (UChicago CCSR) research reports, leadership at the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) began a new targeted approach to reducing course failure in the ninth grade. The research suggested that the transition between eighth and ninth grade played a critical role in shaping…

The transition to high school and the freshman year experience is challenging for most students. This study examined the issues that are often problematic and can prevent many early adolescent learners from thriving during their first year of high school. The literature review focuses on three strands salient to this study: early adolescent…

The college sector has many examples where low learner success in specific subject areas has been identified and tackled successfully. In several colleges, programmes receiving attention through special measures based on careful self-evaluation often make marked improvements in a short period, with significant improvements in outcomes for…

The purpose of this study was to use the current body of literature to solicit views of students and teachers regarding the distinguishable characteristics that students must possess which allow for a successful transition from eighth to ninth grade mathematics classes. A determination of which factors students and teachers believe have the most…