High School Success: An Intervention's Influence on Dropout Rates of At-Risk Ninth-Grade Students

• In Event: Positive Development Among Adolescents: Fostering Achievement and Well-Being in Today's Youth

Abstract

The transition into high school during the ninth grade year is a pivotal time for students at-risk of dropping out. In an effort to ease the transition process and provide an early intervention for ninth grade students identified as at-risk of dropping out, a school district developed an intervention program called High School Success. This program was based on the Strategic Instruction Model from the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning and focused on providing teacher professional development and student learning strategies that would help students overcome obstacles to academic success in school. The present study found that participation in the High School Success program had a significant impact on whether students dropped out of high school.

Authors

• Christopher Lowder

• Dawson R. Hancock, University of North Carolina - Charlotte

• Christopher Paul O'Brien, University of North Carolina - Charlotte

• Jeremy Hachen