Pandemic Relief Funds Support Success of Washington’s Ninth Graders

The Washington State Superintendent of Public Schools recently published this incredible case study of Grandview School District and their successful Ninth Grade Success Team practices. See below for a brief excerpt from the OSPI article or click here to read the full blog post.

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“When Henterson Carlisle talks about the importance of successfully completing ninth grade, he points to the data.

“Ninth graders are three to five times more likely to fail a class than [students in] any other grade,” said Carlisle, Washington Director of the Center for High School Success (CHSS), a national project of the education advocacy organization Stand for Children. “When a ninth grader fails a class, it reduces their chances of graduating on time by 40%.”

With support from Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding, CHSS is working with school districts across Washington to increase the number of ninth grade students who finish their first year of high school on track to graduate in 4 years. Students are considered “on track” when they pass all their classes in ninth grade.

CHSS coaches school districts to use student behavior, grades, and attendance data to guide their process of creating systems that support the transition into ninth grade, building Ninth Grade Success Teams, and determining interventions that are catered to individual student needs. As a result, each school district uses different strategies to best support their students.

“We meet schools where they are,” Carlisle said. “It may look different from School A to School B.”

In a two-part series, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) will look at two Washington school districts that are working to increase their ninth grade success rates. First up is the Grandview School District in central Washington…(read the full article here).”

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