Assessing the Transition into and through the Middle Grades

Despite recent gains in NYC students’ graduation rates, roughly 40% of the students who eventually graduate need more than four years of high school to graduate. Studies in NYC and elsewhere have found that students’ performance in ninth grade predicts the likelihood that they will graduate on time, three years later. However, there is little information about students’ trajectories prior to ninth grade that can inform practitioners’ efforts to help students progress towards graduation by identifying when and under what circumstances students face the greatest challenges. This study investigates whether and how NYC students’ achievement and attendance fluctuate between their fourth and ninth grade years, identifies moments during this transition when students fall on- or off-track in their progress towards graduation, and examines how achievement and attendance trajectories vary across different types of students and schools.

This project is funded with Research Alliance general support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Robertson Foundation.

Key Staff and Collaborators

William Marinell, Michael Kieffer (Teachers College)

Publications

Working Brief (June, 2011)
Final report anticipated spring 2011.