NINTH GRADE SUCCESS INITIATIVE

Program Goals l Increase graduation rates by: Reducing disproportionately large percentage of students who are retained in ninth grade and Reducing similarly large percentage of students who drop out of school at the ninth grade

Project Description l The Ninth Grade Success Initiative provides that a school district may apply for funding of programs specifically designed for students in grade 9: (a)who are at risk of not earning sufficient credit to advance to grade 10, and who fail to meet minimum skills levels established by the commissioner; or (b)who have not earned sufficient credit to advance to grade 10, and who fail to meet minimum skills levels established by the commissioner.

Note: Current eighth grade students who become ninth graders in June 2000 may be eligible to receive services at that time if they meet the criteria for eligible students.

Amounts of Grants: l The amounts of the grants will be awarded based on: the quality of the proposed program design the school districts demonstrated need for the program, and the number of identified eligible students to be served

Grant funds from the Ninth Grade Success Initiative may be used to : (a) create new programs (b) enhance existing programs, or (c) expand existing programs

For expansion or enhancement of existing programs, the following conditions must be met: the intent to enhance or expand existing program(s) is clearly defined in the description and intent section of the grant application; the program includes and implements the requirements of this initiative; the program accounts for all fiscal concerns in accordance with stipulations of each funding source; and the program is in compliance with the appropriate local, state, and federal regulations.

Eligibility of Students A student is eligible if he/she meets criterion (a) and fails to meet 1, 2, or 3 of criterion (c) or meets criterion (b) and fails to meet 1, 2, 3 of criterion (c) as described below:

(a) Any of the following attributes will suffice to qualify a first-time ninth grade student as at risk of not earning sufficient credit to advance to grade 10: failure to pass one or more parts of TAAS (including science and social studies) in grade 8 retention in one or more grade levels between grades 6 and 8 failing one or more classes in a reporting period in grade 9 a grade below 75 in any class in a reporting period in grade 9 excessive absences in grade 9 (b) Ninth grade students who have not earned sufficient credit to advance to grade 10 or those who have been retained in grade 9 for a second or third year.

(c) For the purposes of this initiative, three criteria for minimum skills levels have been set for ninth grade students: mastery of all the eighth grade level TAAS exams; or mastery of all eighth grade classes in which the student was enrolled; or earning a grade of 75 or better in current grade 9 courses

Funding l The range is as follows: 1 an application from a district or a consortium of districts with total district enrollments exceeding 50,000 students is eligible to apply for a grant not to exceed $6,000,000 for each of the two years of the project 2 for enrollments between 5,000 and 49,999 students, the grant may not exceed $360,000 for each project year 3 for enrollments between 100 and 4,999 students, the grant may not exceed $100,000 for each project year 4 for enrollments of fewer than 100 students, the amount is not to exceed $50,000 for each project year

Additional Funding Issue: l For districts with a total enrollment of fewer than 100 students, the program may be addressed through an arrangement of shared services among districts.

Budget Schedules: l Budget schedules must provide evidence that: 1 Project costs are reasonable in relation to expected results and the number of eligible students to be served (a)the amount requested might realistically be expected to have an impact on the stated needs, and (b)the expected results are sufficient to justify the amounts requested

2 If the district chooses to coordinate funding from several sources to fund a program that meets all of the requirements for the Ninth Grade Success Initiative, the program will identify the sources of funding and how they will be coordinated. 3 All expenditures are pertinent to and appropriate for the objectives/activities stated.