Online and Face-to-Face Credit Recovery in Algebra I for At-Risk Ninth Graders: Third-Year Results

• In Event: Roundtable Session 15
  In Roundtable Session: Evaluating High School Support Structures and Instruction

Abstract

The consequences of failing core courses during the first year of high school are dire, and students who fail Algebra I in particular are very unlikely to graduate. The authors are currently conducting a rigorous study of ways that students can successfully recover credits and get back on track for graduation. The study examines the impacts on students’ achievement and other academic outcomes of taking an online Algebra I course for credit recovery in the summer after ninth grade, versus taking a standard face-to-face (f2f) version of the course. This paper describes the implementation of the online and f2f courses in 2011 and 2012 and provides outcomes to date for two cohorts of at-risk students who enrolled in these courses.

Authors

• Jessica Heppen, American Institutes for Research

• Nicholas Andrew Sorensen, American Institutes for Research

• Kirk Walters, American Institutes for Research

• Elaine M. Allensworth, University of Chicago

• Suzanne Stachel, American Institutes for Research

• Valerie Michelman, University of Chicago

• Andrea Coombes, American Institutes for Research