{"id":772,"date":"2018-09-21T02:54:00","date_gmt":"2018-09-21T02:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stand.org\/tennessee\/?p=772"},"modified":"2022-12-20T02:56:48","modified_gmt":"2022-12-20T02:56:48","slug":"focus-on-freshmen-for-long-lasting-impact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stand.org\/tennessee\/blog\/focus-on-freshmen-for-long-lasting-impact\/","title":{"rendered":"Focus on Freshmen for Long-Lasting Impact"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Graduation success is one of the four platform areas that we focus on in our Momentum Memphis<\/a> campaign. Research conducted by the University of Chicago revealed that student success in the first year of high school is a critical indicator for graduation. Studies showed that ninth graders who had high absentee rates or failed one or more core courses were more likely to drop out even if they had started high school with high grades and test scores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In contrast, students who successfully completed the first year of high school were almost four times<\/strong> more likely to graduate. These research findings<\/a> prompted Chicago Public Schools to partner with the University of Chicago\u2019s Network for College Success<\/a> to create a Freshman Success program that encourages the use of data to help school teams evaluate students\u2019 progress throughout the year and refine interventions to better meet their needs. The results have been phenomenal, with on-track graduation rates for participating schools consistently surpassing the district average for the past four years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Encouraged by the success in Chicago, we at Stand for Children Tennessee worked with Network for College Success to implement the Freshman On Track program<\/a> in Memphis at Mitchell High School and Martin Luther King Jr. College Preparatory High School during the 2017-2018 academic year. Using best practices gleaned from the Chicago program, our team of teachers, administrators, and counselors was able to achieve academic gains at both schools and a reduction in chronic absenteeism at Mitchell. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the 2018-2019 academic year, we are building on this idea and using the NCS capacity-building model<\/a> to create a local Freshman Success Network aimed at dramatically improving graduation rates at 14 schools: <\/p>\n\n\n\n