Putting Middle Grade Students on the Graduation Path

This report found that sixth graders who failed math or language arts, or attended school less than 80% of the time, or received a poor final behavior grade in a core course had only a 10% to 20% chance of graduating on time. Fewer than 1 in 4 of these students with at least one of these risk factors would graduate within one year past on-time graduation. In high-poverty neighborhoods, in particular, research and school improvement work indicate that students’ middle grades experiences have tremendous impact on the extent to which they will close achievement gaps, graduate from high school, and be prepared for college.