1. The First 60 Days: Supporting Freshmen Transition
Kefi Andersen
Graduation Equity Program Supervisor

2. Who’s Here? Introduce yourself Stand up Name Role/School District
Favorite thing about the kids you work with
Role as a facilitator and as a teacher

3. Expectations: 3 Challenges
Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
The Changing Landscape
Before School Starts
Who Are We Talking About?
Building a System
What You Can Do
Freshmen Success Teams

4. Turn and Talk Helping Freshmen Succeed is like this picture because…
(be ready to share out)
2 Minutes

5. OSPI’s SQSS 9th Grade On-Track Definition
All first time 9th graders
Earns all credits attempted
During their 9th grade year
Does not include withdrawals
Slightly different from Washington’s current definition – 9th graders on track in WA means you haven’t failed a course in your 9th grade year.

6. Summary of Washington’s Status
Year
% On-Track for All Students
2017
72.6%
2016
72.2%
2015
70.4%
More than 1 in 4 students failed a course!

7. Data

8. Research: Why 9th Graders On-Track?
A 9th grader who is on-track is three and one half times more likely to graduate from high school than an off-track student.
Stronger predictor than test scores, demographics, including poverty and race/ethnicity.
80% predictive.
Bs or Better predict college graduation
Having a sustained clear focus on a real problem is essential to establishing buy-in for a Professional Learning Network (PLN).

9. Attendance is Everything
Unexcused absences quadruple in ninth grade compared to eighth grade
*Network for College Success

10. What Changes Between 8th and 9th Grade for Students?
Attendance
Monitoring and Support
Student-Teacher Relationships
Safety
Study Habits and Academic Effort
No evidence that academic demand changes!

11. Adolescent Brain Development
Adulthood
Childhood
All of the gas
None of the breaks
Open Mindset
Where do I belong? (peers)
What do I stand for?
(values)
Who Am I?
(identity)
Self centered

12. Challenge 1: The Myth of Failure as Motivation
What we mean to teach Freshmen by giving Fs
What Freshmen actually learn when they fail
I don’t belong in this community of learners
No one here wants to help me
I’m not smart enough to do the work – why try?
High school is impossible
You better step up your game
You need to show your independence
You need to work harder
High school is serious business

13. Turn and Talk
What do you think of this statement?
What would your school’s staff think?
Transition to high school is more of a developmental transition than an academic transition.

14. Challenge 2: Map Supports Before School Starts

15. What We Know About Preventing 9th Grade Course Failure
9th Grade Success
Build a positive school culture
Use data to monitor progress
Prepare 8th graders transitioning to high school
Build in multi-tier supports
Create a view of the future
Build a positive school culture with connections between staff, students, families – BUILD RELATIONSHIPS
Use data to monitor attendance, behavior, and coursework
Prepare 8th graders coming in with an orientation, Link Crew, Summer School, early registration for appropriate classes, and open communication between middle and high schools about learning expectations (try to stay consistent)
Build in supports and get students positively involved in school with mentors, social activities, social support (counseling, homeroom staff member)
Schedules help support students. Some success has been found through freshmen academy scheduling (keeping all the freshmen separate from the rest), adding advisory periods, using a small school model, staff teaming, and block schedules.
Look to the future. Schedule college visits, keep support for students past 9th grade.
11/9/2018

16. What Supports Do You Offer?
Make a group of 4
Choose: Academic, Attendance, Behavioral
Collaborate on a poster: List out supports for all students, some, and few
5 Minutes

17. Gallery Walk
Look at each poster
Add Your Ideas
Capture new strategies

18. Definitions A 9th grader is on-track if he/she has:
At least 5 credits by the end of the year
No more than one semester failure in a core class

19. Challenge 3: Defining Risk and Opportunity
8th Grade GPA
0-1.0
8th Grade Attendance
≥98%
≥95%
≥90%
≥80%
<80%
Pull GPA and Attendance for incoming freshmen
50% chance of being off track
25-49% chance of being off track
10-24% chance of being off track
10% chance of being off track

20. Map On Track and Off Track
Where do you think you should focus your effort?

21. Create a Freshmen Success Team
Who?
Freshmen Teachers
Counselor
Admin
Freshmen Success/ Grad Specialist
Preparation
Principal/ Counselor: Pull the relevant data and send team synopsis
Team: Reviews data
Meeting
Team: Discusses key high tier 1-tier 2 students that represent data patterns
Track interventions
Follow-up
Grad Specialist: follow up with the student and staff involved in the intervention.
When?
Once a week or once every 2 weeks.

22. Team Types Team Type Duties Senior Leadership Team
Align and monitor work at a high level school-wide
Instructional Leadership Team
To guide and support comprehensive improvement in teaching and learning
Post-secondary Leadership Team
To build a school-wide college-going culture and drive student college application and enrollment
Grade Level Teams
To support student success at each year of high school
Freshmen Success Team
Monitor student progress, examine school systems, structures, and policies for their effect on student success
Department Team
To monitor student progress and plan by subject

23. Freshmen On-Track Toolkit
University of Chicago’s Network for College Success
The University of Chicago Network for College Success has created a really wonderful comprehensive toolkit that will support building that early warning system and continuous improvement.
It has resources like this Freshmen success framework that can help school leaders see ways of being (such as the guiding beliefs for student success and school culture) and ways of doing (looking at the roles of principals, team leads, and success teams).
The full toolkit covers topics on understanding research and analyzing data, preparing to lead, setting conditions for success, implementing those school-based teams and has an A-Z for On-track tools.
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
11/9/2018

24. What Could a Team Meeting Look Like?
Success Team in Action: Hancock High School

25. + Takeaways Ideas Next Steps
What is one idea that stuck with you from today?
What is one action you’ll take as a result? +
Review where we have been. Now set intentions for learners next steps.
Provide a few moments to have participants jot down next steps and dates to complete on a post-it.
Ideas: Share with a colleague, revisit and discuss with a colleague, review materials to see what is aligned, download foundational skills resources, access academic toolkit on OSPI website.
Share out intentions and ask participants to identify and accountability buddy. 
Ideas
Next Steps

26. 9th Graders On Track
11/9/2018

27. Questions? We are here to help you! For 9th Grade: Kefi Andersen
Graduation Equity Program Supervisor |
For Attendance:
Krissy Johnson
Attendance Program Supervisor |
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
11/9/2018