excused absent request

Attendance –  4 Key Findings

Students’ attendance and GPA in the middle grades provide the best indication of how they will perform in their high school classes, compared to other potential indicators such as test scores. These are the best indicators to use for setting goals with students and identifying which students need support and intervention at the start of the school year.

Many students with the highest levels of achievement in the middle grades fall off-track for college in the ninth grade. Students who enter ninth grade with high achievement in the middle grades could benefit from monitoring and intervention if they fail to earn high grades in high school, to make sure they reach their college potential.

Students who were chronically absent or receiving Fs in the middle grades are already very likely to be off-track in ninth grade before they even begin high school. Supporting these students early in ninth grade is a critical step to helping them graduate.

Most students who are off-track in ninth-grade courses did not show signs of academic trouble in the middle grades. Ninth-grade early warning monitoring systems, based on course grades and attendance in high school, are critical to keep all students on-track to graduate—for many students, academic problems start when they enter high school.

–Allensworth, E.M., Gwynne, J.A., Moore, P., and de la Torre, M. (2014)