What Matters for Staying On-Track and Graduating in Chicago Public High Schools

What Matters for Staying On-Track and Graduating in Chicago Public High Schools PDF Author: Elaine Allensworth
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780978738341
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 68

Get Book Here

Book Description
Almost half of all Chicago Public School students fail to graduate, and in some CPS high schools more students drop out than graduate. It is a problem that can sometimes feel overwhelming to address because the causes of dropout are myriad and complex. What is often lost in discussions about dropping out is the one factor that is most directly related to graduation-students' performance in their courses. In this research report, CCSR authors Elaine Allensworth and John Q. Easton look into the elements of course performance that predict whether students will graduate and suggest what schools and families can do to keep more teens in school. Building on earlier CCSR research of "on-track indicators" that demonstrated a connection between failing freshman classes and dropping out, the authors found that a number of freshman-year factors can be used to predict high school graduation. Grades are as predictive as on-track indicators; almost all students with a "B" average or better at the end of their freshman year graduate, compared to only a quarter of those with a "D" average. The research also revealed how critical attendance is for freshman success. Conventional wisdom holds that eighth grade test scores are good predictors of students' likelihood to do well in high school courses. However, course attendance is eight times more predictive of course failure in the freshman year than test scores. Just one week of absence is associated with a much greater likelihood of failure, regardless of incoming achievement. The authors also examine how school practices affect students' grades, failure rates and attendance. Students' grades and attendance are particularly better than expected in schools characterized by two features-supportive relationships between teachers and students, and a perception among students that the work they are doing in high school is preparing them for the future.

What Matters for Staying On-Track and Graduating in Chicago Public Highs Schools

What Matters for Staying On-Track and Graduating in Chicago Public Highs Schools PDF Author: Elaine M. Allensworth
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 68

Get Book Here

Book Description
Despite increasing recognition that a high school diploma is a minimum requirement for success in the workplace, nearly half of Chicago Public Schools (CPS) students fail to graduate, and in some CPS high schools, more students drop out than graduate. Research on dropping out has shown that the decision to persist in or leave school is affected by multiple contextual factors interacting in a cumulative way over the life course of a student. Often overlooked in this discussion is one most directly related to graduation: student course performance. This report looks at student performance in freshman coursework, how it is related to eventual graduation and how personal and school factors contribute to success of failure in freshman-year courses. Data on course performance can be used to identify future dropouts and graduates with precision, and performance indicators are compared to discern how they might be used for nuanced targeting of students at risk of dropping out. Factors contributing to successful course performance demonstrate that what students do while in high school is more important that their background or preparation for high school; Significant findings include: (1) Course passing rates are found to be primarily determined by attendance; and (2) Students attend class more often when they have strong relationships with their teachers, and when they see school and their coursework as relevant and important for their future. This is the message that must be urged upon both students and parents. The document includes four appendixes: (A) Individual School Data; (B) Description of Survey Measures; (C) Correlations Involving Survey Measures; and (D) Summaries of Models. (Individual chapters contain figures, tables, and endnotes.).

What Matters for Staying On-track and Graduating in Chicago Public High Schools

What Matters for Staying On-track and Graduating in Chicago Public High Schools PDF Author: Elaine Marie Allensworth
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Academic achievement
Languages : en
Pages : 61

Get Book Here

Book Description


What Matters for Staying On-track and Graduating in Chicago Public High Schools

What Matters for Staying On-track and Graduating in Chicago Public High Schools PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : High school students
Languages : en
Pages : 48

Get Book Here

Book Description


The On-track Indicator as a Predictor of High School Graduation

The On-track Indicator as a Predictor of High School Graduation PDF Author: Elaine Marie Allensworth
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780972603560
Category : High school attendance
Languages : en
Pages : 26

Get Book Here

Book Description
The First Year Of High School Is A Critical Transition Period For Students, Those Who Succeed In Their First Year Are More Likely To Continue To Do well in The Following Years And Eventually Graduate. Because A Successful Transition Into High School Is So Important, In 1999 The Consortion Developed An Indicator To Gauge Whether Students Make Sufficient Progress In Their Freshman Year Of High School To Be On-Track To Graduate Within Four Years. The Evidence Presented Here Suggests That the On-Track Indicator Can Be A Valuable Tool For Parents, Schools, And The School System As They Work To Improve Students Likelihood Of Graduating.

The Make-or-Break Year

The Make-or-Break Year PDF Author: Emily Krone Phillips
Publisher: The New Press
ISBN: 1620973243
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 273

Get Book Here

Book Description
A Washington Post Bestseller An entirely fresh approach to ending the high school dropout crisis is revealed in this groundbreaking chronicle of unprecedented transformation in a city notorious for its "failing schools" In eighth grade, Eric thought he was going places. But by his second semester of freshman year at Hancock High, his D's in Environmental Science and French, plus an F in Mr. Castillo's Honors Algebra class, might have suggested otherwise. Research shows that students with more than one semester F during their freshman year are very unlikely to graduate. If Eric had attended Hancock—or any number of Chicago's public high schools—just a decade earlier, chances are good he would have dropped out. Instead, Hancock's new way of responding to failing grades, missed homework, and other red flags made it possible for Eric to get back on track. The Make-or-Break Year is the largely untold story of how a simple idea—that reorganizing schools to get students through the treacherous transitions of freshman year greatly increases the odds of those students graduating—changed the course of two Chicago high schools, an entire school system, and thousands of lives. Marshaling groundbreaking research on the teenage brain, peer relationships, and academic performance, journalist turned communications expert Emily Krone Phillips details the emergence of Freshman OnTrack, a program-cum-movement that is translating knowledge into action—and revolutionizing how teachers grade, mete out discipline, and provide social, emotional, and academic support to their students. This vivid description of real change in a faulty system will captivate anyone who cares about improving our nation's schools; it will inspire educators and families to reimagine their relationships with students like Eric, and others whose stories affirm the pivotal nature of ninth grade for all young people. In a moment of relentless focus on what doesn't work in education and the public sphere, Phillips's dramatic account examines what does.

What Matters for Staying On-Track and Graduating in Chicago Public Schools

What Matters for Staying On-Track and Graduating in Chicago Public Schools PDF Author: Julia Gwynne
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780981460499
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 56

Get Book Here

Book Description
In this report, the authors look at the freshman year course performance of Chicago Public Schools (CPS) students who receive special education services and ask whether grades, course failures, absences, and on-track status are useful for identifying students who are at risk of dropping out. They also examine how academic behaviors, such as attendance and study habits, affect course failures and grades of students with disabilities. Consistent with the original "What Matters" report, most of the analyses in this report are based on information about the cohort of CPS students who were first-time freshmen in 2004. When reporting graduation rates, the authors use information about the cohort of CPS students who were first-time freshmen in 2001. They report four major findings: (1) Students with speech/language disabilities and students with physical/sensory disabilities perform similarly to students without identified disabilities in their freshman year courses. Students with emotional disturbances and students who entered high school two or more years below grade level had the lowest level of course performance of any group they studied; (2) Freshman year course performance is a strong predictor of five-year graduation rates for students with disabilities and students who entered high school two or more years below grade level; (3) Higher absence rates are an important factor explaining why students with disabilities fail more classes and have lower grades than students without identified disabilities; and (4) Students with learning disabilities and students with mild cognitive disabilities do not benefit as much from rigorous study habits as students without identified disabilities. Appended are: (1) Study Samples; (2) Special Education Categories; (3) Statistical Models; and (4) Sample Attrition in Statistical Models. (Contains 6 tables, 20 figures, and 33 endnotes.).

What Matters for Staying On-Track and Graduating in Chicago Public Schools

What Matters for Staying On-Track and Graduating in Chicago Public Schools PDF Author: Julia Gwynne
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780984507689
Category : Academic achievement
Languages : en
Pages : 70

Get Book Here

Book Description


Looking Forward to High School and College

Looking Forward to High School and College PDF Author: Elaine Allensworth
Publisher: Consortium on Chicago School Research
ISBN: 9780989799454
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 138

Get Book Here

Book Description
Grades and attendance-not test scores-are the middle grade factors most strongly connected with both high school and college success. In fact, grades and attendance matter more than test scores, race, poverty, or other background characteristics for later academic success. This report follows approximately 20,000 Chicago Public Schools students as they transition from elementary to high school. It is designed to help answer questions about which markers should be used to gauge whether students are ready to succeed in high school and beyond. It also considers the performance levels students need to reach in middle school to have a reasonable chance of succeeding in high school.

Continuous Improvement in High Schools

Continuous Improvement in High Schools PDF Author: Martha Abele Mac Iver
Publisher: Harvard Education Press
ISBN: 1682536874
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 184

Get Book Here

Book Description
Continuous Improvement in High Schools gives educators and policymakers an accessible, actionable framework to address one of the nation's most important educational priorities: improving high school graduation and postsecondary preparedness rates. Martha Abele Mac Iver and Robert Balfanz, national experts in dropout prevention, apply the Carnegie Foundation’s continuous improvement framework to the issue of student success in high school, starting with the critical ninth-grade year. A proven tool for organizational change, the framework provides a systematic structure for examining the root causes of problems and testing possible solutions. Mac Iver and Balfanz draw on their decades of experience working with educators and their deep knowledge of challenges faced by high schools to customize the framework to the high school context. They model the use of improvement science principles such as establishing practical measures, conducting disciplined inquiry, and accelerating learning through networked communities. With real-world examples and ideas for change, the authors show how attention to five key areas can enrich student educational experience and improve high school outcomes. These areas are early warning and intervention systems; family engagement; students’ sense of connectedness to school; social, emotional, and academic development; and teacher instructional practices. The guidance offered in this useful work will enable educators and their collaborating partners to create their own powerful solutions for student success.