The transition to high school often induces feelings of discomfort among students, potentially leading to stress and challenges, especially given their diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. If left unaddressed, these difficulties may contribute to disengagement, classroom challenges, and, in some cases, academic setbacks or dropping out. This study…

High school graduation rates gradually increased to 80% until 1968, at which point there was a steady decline until 2002 when the passage of No Child Left Behind required states to measure and increase graduation rates for all students (Kamenetz, 2015). With this greater accountability in place, educators readily identified ninth grade as a…

Graduating high school seniors who are college and career ready has become a focal point of our nation. The Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program has been preparing college and career ready students who are first generation college-going students, from subgroups traditionally underrepresented in higher education, and from…

Postsecondary access and degree completion are increasingly important concerns for individuals and policymakers. This dissertation presents evidence on three distinct strategies for increasing students' level of preparedness for higher education, rates of postsecondary enrollment, and rates of postsecondary degree completion. The first is an…

This quasi-experimental study examined the effectiveness of a combined tutoring and mentoring intervention for urban, low-income Black youth during the transition to high school. Participants were 118 ninth-grade students (experimental n = 69; comparison n = 49). After 7 months in the intervention program, students in the experimental group showed…

Transition into the ninth grade has long been a critical juncture for students as they make the move to a larger environment with less personal support and a more rigorous academic challenge. In an effort to help make the move from middle-to-high-school transition as smooth as possible, school districts are using Ninth Grade Academies, or…

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…

The transition from middle school to high school is a difficult time for many students. Students struggle in three areas: academics, social interaction, and school procedures. Statistics show that many students fall behind academically and are not promoted to the 10 th grade. Research also indicates schools who implement a well thought out…

In this article, we share outcomes from the implementation of a ninth-grade academy in a large, comprehensive, Northern Plains, United States, school district. The article discusses the effectiveness of this reform in terms of the academic and social preparedness for students during the ninth-grade year and transition to high school. Findings…

A number of studies have documented a normative decline in academic achievement across the transition from elementary school to middle or junior high school. The current study examined the effectiveness of varying levels of a social-emotional learning intervention, "Talking with TJ," in limiting achievement loss across transition. Data were…