Education Pipeline Key Transition Point 4
On Time Completion of 9th Grade
The successful transition from 8th grade to 9th grade (earning promotion to tenth grade) is one of the most important factors in predicting eventual graduation form high school. Students who fall off tack during grade 9 have very low odds of earning a diploma. National statistics show that 30% of students who dropped out of high school never left ninth grade. In fact, the likelihood of a student graduating “on time” if not earning on time promotion to tenth grade is 23%. If we are serious about increasing our Summit County graduation rates (Transition Point #5), then we must recognize the negative long term consequences of students getting “off track”.
Sample Measure: Ideally we would have a state wide tracking system in place which identified exactly how many credits are required for being classified as “on track”. In Ohio, varying local graduation requirements and a state wide data reporting system in transition, contribute to a lack of reliable “on track” data. SEI will be working with our schools to develop county-wide baseline data a method of tracking ninth grade promotion. In the meantime, we can use the EMIS reported number of retentions as a guide. (retentions are still a product of local requirements).
2010-11 Retentions in Ninth Grade: 557 students (5/17 districts reported grade 9 retention)
9th Grade Benchmark Team