Submitted by Kaaren Andrews, National Director for the Center for High School Success August 2021

Last year tested the mettle of educators like no other experience in our lifetime. The Center for High School Success, a program of Stand for Children, works with 155 high schools in six states. Our partner schools range from those in rural single-high-school districts to ones in large urban districts. Our unique vantage point enabled us to witness firsthand the many triumphs and challenges schools experienced as they attempted to educate students during the global pandemic. Below are the stand-out practices that have our full endorsement for the 2021-2022 school year and beyond.

Implement a 4x4 Schedule

Ninth graders are three to five times more likely to fail a course than students at any other grade level, and students across all achievement levels experience a decline in GPA from eighth to ninth grade. Research attributes this decline in academic performance to students feeling less well known or supported by adults; students feeling overwhelmed by the sheer number of transitions they must make daily; and students' inability, because of their underdeveloped executive functioning capacities, to effectively manage the increase in the number of courses they take.

An analysis of the performance of ninth graders in our partner schools last year surfaced a compelling, although not surprising, result: Students with fewer courses each term stay on track at significantly higher rates. Staying on track is defined as earning one quarter of the credits needed to graduate and earning no more than one F during the ninth grade year. A 4x4 schedule reduces the number of courses per day (to four) and extends the length of each class; by doing so, students and teachers have more manageable schedules, fewer transitions, more chances to build authentic relationships and the opportunity to cover course content in greater depth. 

In 76 schools across 6 states, schools with 4x4 schedules had 11% more ninth graders on-track rates than their counterparts at schools who maintained traditional schedules (74% to 63%). This performance difference persisted across all racial groups. Significantly, the gaps were wider for students enrolled in English language learner (66% to 45%) and special education services (70% to 55%) and for those who qualified for free or reduced-price lunch (75% to 55%). Continue reading...

OSPI Data Portal

Get spreadsheet views of Washington School Improvement Framework (WSIF) data.

Go to Data Portal

Search data field: “SQSS” or COVID-19 Modified School Year SQSS Data

Select Report Card SQSS for 2019-2020

Select “View Data”

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Export: Select CSV for Excel to view in Excel.

What you’ll see:

Toolkit and  Self-Assessment:

Freshman On Track Toolkit Use this toolkit to support ninth grade success. It has extensive resources on:

• Understanding Research & Applying Data
• Preparing to Lead
• Setting Conditions for Success
• Implementing School-Based Teams

Freshman Success Inventory Use this short assessment tool to evaluate your team practices and set goals to grow your practices.

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Tool for Extended Learning Opportunities

Free Project Based Learning Platform: Maine Online Opportunities for Sustained Education (MOOSE)

Aligned to Maine state standards, these preschool through twelfth grade project-based learning modules were developed by Maine’s Teacher of the Year network. They’re free, they’re engaging, they’re self-paced, and offer students choices in activities and topics. Students can create free accounts to track their progress.

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Early Warning Systems: Moving From Reaction to Prevention

“Developing and employing an early warning system (EWS) that identifies at-risk students through the analysis of readily available and highly predictive student academic and engagement data (e.g., absenteeism, course failure, GPA, credits, discipline) is critical to secondary school Response to Intervention (RtI) implementation efforts.”

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Helping English Language Learners Succeed with a Multi-tiered System of Support (MTSS)

“Many schools across the country use a Multi-tiered System of Support (MTSS) framework to target instruction and interventions based on students' needs. The MTSS model can be particularly powerful in determining what kinds of supports are most appropriate for English language learners (ELLs), who are frequently over- and under-identified in special education.”