Keeping Middle Grades Students on Track to Graduation

Based on research done by the Philadelphia Education Fund and Johns Hopkins University, the Ed Fund partnered with the School District of Philadelphia in 2006 to create the project, Keeping Middle Grades Students on Track to Graduation.

This project is a comprehensive dropout prevention model, beginning in the sixth grade (when the Big Four risk factors have been shown to develop deep roots) through to the eighth grade (before risk factors compound and just in time to enter high school). These middle years are a transition time for youth when dropout prevention efforts must begin in order to be effective.

Keeping Middle Grade Students on Track to Graduation identifies effective interventions for each of the Big Four risk factors (see research background below) and weaves these interventions into the School Improvement Plan. Each of the Big Four risk factors requires a coordinated weave of interventions at three tiers:

• School-wide interventions are part of the daily whole-school and classroom programs.
  • When planned and implemented effectively, whole-school interventions keep 70-80% of students on track. The remaining 20-30% of students require additional supports, either targeted or intensive.
• Targeted interventions, serving 10-20% of students, are defined as having a 1:15 to 1:20 adult-student ratio, with moderate levels concentrated help from the teacher or program provider.
• Intensive interventions, serving up to 10% of students, are defined as having a maximum 1:5 adult-student ratio with high levels of concentrated help from the teacher or program provider.

This work is currently being piloted at Cooke Elementary School and Feltonville School of Arts and Sciences in Philadelphia.

Research Background

In 2005, Johns Hopkins University (JHU) and the Philadelphia Education Fund's (Ed Fund) analysis of approximately 13,000 students, who were sixth graders in 1996-97, discovered that, among eighteen variables including standardized test scores, four variables were most strongly correlated with students dropping out of high school before graduation.

• Low attendance (less than 80%)
• Poor behavior
• Course failure in literacy
• Course failure in Math

The research concluded that sixth graders who exhibit one of these variables have only a 10-20% chance of graduating from high school. More information on the results of the study is available in this presentation.