1. The Most Important Year
9th Grade: The Most Important Year in High School!
The following are excerpts from Michele Willens published in The Atlantic:
1) Educators are increasingly focusing on the ninth grade as the year that determines whether a young person will move on or drop out of school.
2) According to Education ( research journal) ninth graders have the lowest grade point average, the most missed classes, the majority of failing grades, and more misbehavior referrals than any other high school grade level.
3) “More and more of us are realizing that it’s the make or break year for many 14 and 15-year olds,” says Jon Zaff, director of the Center for Promise at Tufts University.
4) “Students entering high school – just at the time brains are in flux – still have the propensity to be impulsive and are prone to making mistakes,” says Washington D.C. psychoanalyst Dr. Linda Stern.
5) Educators are honing in on three indicators – attendance, behavior, and course performance – that are believed to be the most accurate measurements of a student’s likelihood to either quit school or move on.
So Parents... tune in to your student — support good attendance, behavior and grades.
