68% of district students are not on target to graduate with A-G completion.

Provide a mid-year, incentive-based intervention program for 9th graders earning below a C in English or Algebra 1 consisting of an additional 20 hours of instruction in the targeted A-G course. The course content was designed with increased rigor to allow students to find success with challenging content.

Participating teachers participated in a professional development program focused on academic content and growth mindset.

College professors participated in curriculum development and co-taught the program with the high school teachers. The involvement of the professors was two-fold: increase the high school rigor to align to college-level coursework, and provide students with a collegiate experience instead of the traditional intervention that focuses on low-level basic skills.

Pilots were conducted at six high schools including large comprehensive, magnet, or span schools.

Two pilots were run. The first focused solely on English 9 and Algbera 1. The second expanded to include World History, English 10, Biology, and Algebra II.

Sites had freedom to determine their scheduling for the additional 20 hours of instruction. All sites implemented the 20 hours outside of regular school time.

Key Findings

• 87% of students who attended at least one session successfully completed the program.
• 83% of students surveyed reported positive changes as a result of the program. The changes cited most were increased content knowledge and a changed mindset.
• 94% of teachers interviewed reported a positive impact on their students with 59% contending that it increased their students’ content knowledge and 88% citing that it changed their students’ mindsets.
• 89% of participating teachers cited improved content and pedagogical knowledge; 63% noted an increased ability to foster resiliency and a growth mindset in their students.

Data Analysis

Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analyzed that included course grades, test scores, GPA, field notes, surveys, and interviews.

The full evaluation report is provided for viewing and download in the Research Reports section below.

Both pilots occurred within one school year. Recommendations for revisions were made to the district for future iterations.

Overall, challenges included scheduling conflicts for students and difficulty getting correct program messaging to students and families.

The scheduling conflicts were a result of the intervention only being available after school. This time limited access for students with commitments after school such as child care, work, and sports. A recommended revision was to create time during the regular school day such as an advisement/enrichment period.

In order to get messaging out to students and families, the recommended revision was to engage counselors to communicate the program and recruit students.