Project Activities
The research team is developing an intervention with three components: an attendance outreach and incentive program, an academic counseling and support program, and a team-based behavior management program. It is intended to operate at the level of teachers' and students' daily interactions. The project begins with the expectation of multiple cycles of design, prototype development, observation and testing, and redesign, and proceeds through refinement to feasibility testing and pilot implementation in two high schools and two feeder middle schools across two districts.
Structured Abstract
Setting
The participating high schools are in North Carolina and Maryland.
Sample
The participating high schools serve large numbers of poor and minority students and are further characterized by low achievement scores, weak promoting power, low graduation, and high dropout rates.
Intervention
The intervention's working components include an attendance outreach and incentive program, an academic counseling and support program, and a team-based behavior management program. Each component is designed to address a specific point of disengagement that many struggling students experience during the transition into high school, and to provide students with the support, skills, incentives, and perspectives they need to negotiate the transition successfully.
Research design and methods
The project begins with an initial development phase to generate a beta-version intervention prototype made up of materials, tools, and training processes for each component. The intervention will then be further developed through a feasibility study involving pilot implementation in two high schools and two feeder middle schools across two districts. The feasibility study follows an iterative development model made up of multiple implementation-feedback-development cycles. Using frequent and formal feedback mechanisms including facilitator logs, feedback forms, observations, individual and focus group interviews, and surveys, the study will investigate the usefulness of the interventions, strengths and limitations of the materials and training, and improvements needed to overcome barriers to implementation and enhance effectiveness.
Key measures
The study includes preliminary pre/post analyses of attendance and grade promotion data to assess whether the intervention holds promise for keeping students engaged in school and on track toward graduation.
Data analytic strategy
Feedback and findings will inform final development of an alpha-version intervention prototype in preparation for more widespread field testing and rigorous evaluation.
People and institutions involved
IES program contact(s)
Products and publications
Products: Products from this project include an intervention program aimed at at-risk students in low-performing high schools and designed to provide students with the support, skills, incentives, and perspectives they need to negotiate the transition to high school successfully, thus reducing the risk of high school dropout.
ERIC Citations: Find available citations in ERIC for this award here.
Journal article, monograph, or newsletter
Davis, M., Herzog, L., and Legters, N. (2013). Organizing Schools to Address Early Warning Indicators (EWIs): Common Practices and Challenges. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, 18 (1): 84-100.
Nongovernment report, issue brief, or practice guide
Herzog, L., Davis, M.H., and Legters, N. (2012). Learning What it Takes: An Initial Look at how Schools are Using Early Warning Indicator Data and Collaborative Response Teams to Keep all Students on Track to Success. Baltimore, MD: Everyone Graduates Center.
Mac Iver, M.A. and MacIver, D.J. (2009). Beyond the Indicators: An Integrated School-Level Approach to Dropout Prevention. Arlington, VA: The Mid-Atlantic Equity Center, George Washington University Center for Equity and Excellence in Education.
** This project was submitted to and funded under Middle and High School Reform in FY 2008.
Questions about this project?
To answer additional questions about this project or provide feedback, please contact the program officer.
