High school administrators in the United States find students dropping out of school problematic. The federal government created the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) mandate to provide a system of accountability to public schools and school systems, while stressing the importance of teaching research-based lessons. According to the mandate, schools and…

Students must leave high school with a diploma in order to compete in the global economy. However, many students enter high school lacking the academic skills needed to be successful and are not engaged in the educational process. Ninth grade represents one of the last opportunities that educators have to address these problems. The purpose of…

The transition to high school can be problematic for many ninth graders. Researchers and administrators have sought ways to improve academic performance and promotion rates while reducing dropout rates. A quantitative causal-comparative (ex post facto) and correlation study using a two-group design compared two freshman classes at separate…

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…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of high school transition strategies for ninth grade students in comparison to the traditional high school experience of first time ninth grade students. This study compared the English End-of-Course (EOC) test scores of first time ninth grade students in a traditional high school setting…

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…