In 2007, spurred by University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School
Research (UChicago CCSR) research reports, leadership at the Chicago
Public Schools (CPS) began a new targeted approach to reducing course
failure in the ninth grade. The research suggested that the transition
between eighth and ninth grade played a critical role in shaping students’
long-term outcomes, and demonstrated that students’ attendance and
course performance in the ninth grade year were highly predictive of
high school dropout.
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