9th-Grade Support Team Eases Transition

 A high school’s faculty developed a team dedicated to support the entering freshmen deemed most at-risk of failure using the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Early Warning Indicator System.

When the faculty at Fitchburg High School examined internal data about the collective academic state of their 9th-grade students, the picture it painted just one marking period into the 2011-12 school year was a disturbing one.

Nearly 30 percent of the freshmen class was failing one or more courses. The percentage of discipline referrals was already high and rising each year, and poor attendance pock-marked students’ academic records. More than 30 percent of the freshmen class had been retained in preceding years.

The faculty mobilized, opting to study and then act on the systemic problems of academic failure and freshmen retention. They dug into the school’s data and turned to outside research to identify effective practices. The staff found research in On the Success of Failure: A Reassessment of the Effects of Retention in the Primary School Grades by Karl L. Alexander and colleagues in 1999 that reported “retained students are between two and 11 times more likely to drop out during high school than non-retained students.”

Another study, from the Breakthrough Collaborative in 2011, indicated “students who failed just one course as a freshman had a graduation rate of 60 percent versus an 83 percent graduation rate for those who did not fail a freshman course.”

Team Support

Backed by the central administration, the high school’s faculty developed a freshmen year team of five teachers as well as a dedicated guidance counselor and assistant principal to support the entering freshmen deemed most at-risk of failure using the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Early Warning Indicator System.

The first task was to persuade some of the school’s most effective teachers to accept this challenging assignment. Once assembled, the teaching team crafted a simple mission statement: “To provide the support necessary to prepare 9th-grade at-risk students for a successful transition through their first year of high school.” Sixty students were selected for the cohort based on input from middle school staff.

The school’s principal secured a three-year, $150,000 grant from the state education department to back a one-to-one technology initiative, summer programming, teacher training, student enrichment, curriculum materials and parent outreach activities — all tied to the launch of our School Within-a-School in 2012-13.

The School-Within-a-School focused on highly personalized instruction and social-emotional support. The school implemented a unique schedule that used yearlong courses in Fitchburg’s existing semester block schedule. The cohort’s five teachers had a common preparation period that allowed daily and weekly meetings to develop interdisciplinary lessons and assessments, and coordinate parent outreach and social activities and spend extra time with students.

The students and teachers received iPads and laptops to integrate technology in all lessons and activities. Students use online documents, presentations and other instructional resources.

The staff has established a balance between understanding individual student needs and holding students personally accountable for results. They model passion and care through home visits and frequent phone calls to parents and guardians to promote regular attendance, positive behavior and good grades.

Rarified Retention

The School-Within-a-School has made a marked difference for Fitchburg freshmen. Retention rates for 9th graders, which stood at 31 percent and 22 percent during the two years before the program’s launch, dropped to 5 percent and 4 percent, bettering the Massachusetts state average. In 2013, the high school attained its highest attendance rate on record (90.4 percent), and the school’s dropout rate declined to 1.3 percent in 2015.

We hope to build on last year’s 84 percent graduation rate, also the highest in school history. Of the original cohort of 54 students, 31 were on track to either graduate in June from Fitchburg or were enrolled at the other high school in the district, Goodrich Academy. A handful graduated early, and several others transferred to schools in other districts. About seven dropped out of school, though Fitchburg staff are attempting to help those students find a path to a diploma via GED, alternative high school or re-enrollment.

The School Within-a-School has since added two more teaching teams to further support freshmen success.