Ninth Grade Success

Contact Information

Jenna Millett

Administrative Program Specialist

Student Engagement & Special Programs

Ninth Grade Success focuses on helping students start high school on track by monitoring key indicators—attendance, behavior, and course performance—and providing timely interventions. This work is grounded in research showing that ninth grade is a critical transition year and a strong predictor of graduation (Network for College Success).

Why It Matters  

Students who complete ninth grade on track are significantly more likely to graduate on time. In Washington, ninth grade on-track rates are reported annually as a leading indicator of school quality and student success. Improving these rates helps reduce dropout, close equity gaps, and ensure all students have access to future opportunities. 

Learn More

Begin Ninth Grade Success in Your School

Every ninth grader deserves a strong start. This section offers practical steps and proven strategies to help your team build systems that support students during this pivotal transition year.

School Teams

Successful Ninth Grade Success work begins with a dedicated team. Bringing together teachers, counselors, and administrators creates a collaborative structure that ensures students receive timely and targeted support.

Who Should Be on the Team 

  • Team Lead: An administrator who can champion the work 
  • Ninth Grade Core Content Teachers 
  • School counselor
  • Special education and multilingual learner representatives 
  • Data specialist 
  • MTSS Coordinator 

Meeting Structure

  • Frequency: Weekly or biweekly 
  • Focus: Review early warning indicators such as attendance, behavior, and course performance
  • Agenda:
    • Identify students needing support
    • Plan interventions and assign responsibilities
    • Monitor progress and adjust strategies 

Use the Roadmap as a Guide

The Center for High School Success Roadmap for Ninth Grade Success provides schools with research-based strategies for training, coaching, collaboration, data analytics, and tools to improve 9th Grade On-Track Rates.

Resources:

Early Warning Systems

Early Warning Systems (EWS) help schools proactively identify ninth graders at risk of not graduating by monitoring three key indicators—Attendance, Behavior, and Course Performance (ABC). Real-time data from student information systems and gradebooks allows teams to spot early signs of risk and respond quickly with targeted interventions. 

  • Attendance: Missing more than 10% of school days signals risk. 
  • Behavior: Multiple disciplinary referrals or suspensions indicate disengagement. 
  • Course Performance: Failing core courses or a GPA below 2.0 strongly predicts dropout. 

Leveraging Student Information System (SIS) data enables schools to build dynamic dashboards that track ABC indicators at both the student and school levels, highlight students who meet risk thresholds, and monitor trends over time. NGS school teams are encouraged to collaborate with their Student Information System (SIS) teams to ensure timely access to real-time data.

Resources

Data-Informed Interventions

Once students are identified through early warning indicators, the next step is acting on the data. This process begins with data reflection to understand patterns and root causes, then moves into selecting tiered supports that match students’ needs. 

Step 1: Find Trends in Quantitative Data 

All team members analyze current disaggregated data together.  

Look for patterns such as: 

  • Course Performance:  
    • Number of F’s per course 
    • Number of F’s by student group or program eligibility (IEP, EL/ML, 504) 
  • Attendance:  
    • Number of absences per student group 
  • Combined Risk:  
    • Students with both F’s and low attendance 
  • Impact Analysis:  
    • Which student group is most impacted by these data facts? 
    • What percentage of students do they represent? 
  • Historical Patterns:  
    • How have these trends changed over the years? 

Resources: 

Behavior, Attendance, and Grades (BAG) Report | Network for College Success 

Step 2: Get Curious with Qualitative Data 

  • Review existing qualitative data (student surveys, focus groups, teacher observations). 
  • Identify gaps and plan to collect additional student voice data to understand root causes. 

Resources: 

Step 3: Move to Action 

Use insights from both quantitative and qualitative data to design interventions that address underlying issues. 

Apply Tiered Strategies.

  • Tier 1 – Universal Supports, build a strong foundation for all ninth graders: 
    • Positive School Climate: Advisory periods, SEL lessons, relationship-building activities 
    • Clear Expectations: Consistent routines and behavior expectations 

Family Communication: Regular updates and engagement opportunities.

  • Tier 2 – Targeted Supports for students flagged by ABC indicators: 
    • Attendance: Mentoring, attendance contracts, incentives 
    • Behavior: Check-in/check-out systems, small-group social skills sessions 

Course Performance: Tutoring, homework clubs, academic workshops.

  • Tier 3 – Intensive Supports 
    • For students with persistent or multiple risk factors: 
    • Academic: Personalized learning plans, credit recovery 
    • Behavioral: Individualized behavior plans with counselor support 
    • Family Engagement: Home visits, community resource connections 

Resources:  

Intervention Evaluation Flowchart | Network for College Success  

Positive School Climate 

A positive school climate is the foundation for Ninth Grade Success. It’s more than creating a welcoming environment—it’s about building a culture of support and belonging for ninth graders and the educators who guide them. Students who feel a strong sense of belonging are more likely to attend regularly, engage in learning, and stay on track for graduation. 

Key Culture-Building Strategies 

Ninth Grade Advisory Programs: 

Mentorship & Connection: 

  • Pair students with staff mentors or peer leaders to strengthen trust and engagement. 

Restorative Practices: 

  • Replace punitive discipline with restorative approaches that repair harm and build community. 

Celebrating Milestones: 

  • Recognize attendance, academic progress, and positive behaviors to reinforce belonging. 

Student Voice & Engagement:  

  • Include ninth graders in setting classroom norms and co-designing transition supports  

Family & Community Partnerships 

  • Use regular communication with families to support smooth transitions into high school, and partner with organizations to provide mentoring and tutoring supports. 
Smooth Transitions

Support the Middle-to-High School Transition 

The transition from middle school to high school is one of the most critical periods for student success. Ninth graders need intentional support to feel prepared, connected, and confident as they enter high school. Schools can partner with feeder middle schools and families to start this work early. 

Key Strategies:

  • Partner with Feeder Middle Schools: 
    • Begin transition planning in the spring to identify students who may need extra support. 
  • Summer Bridge Program – LEAP into 9th Grade: 
    • Offer academic refreshers, team-building activities, and campus orientation before school starts. 
  • Family Engagement: 
    • Host a Ninth Grade Family Night and orientation to welcome students and families, share expectations, and build relationships. 

Plan intentional activities that help ninth graders build connections, establish routines, and access supports during the first months of school to set them up for success. 

Consider Monthly Themes: 

  • September – Belonging: 
    • Activities that help students feel connected to peers and staff. 
  • October – How to Do School: 
    • Teach organizational skills, study habits, and navigating high school systems. 
  • November – Show What You Know: 
    • Celebrate academic progress and reinforce confidence in learning. 
Best Practices  

Implementing evidence-based strategies across multiple areas ensures students stay on track and thrive during their transition to high school. Explore these key practices: 

Equitable Grading Practices  

  • Implement fair grading practices by encouraging retakes and redos, accepting late work without penalty, considering the use of “Incomplete” instead of “F,” and supporting pathways that demonstrate competency through standards-based grading. 
  • Explore strategies in the GATE Equity Webinar: ELA 101 – Why We Drop Out to understand how grading policies affect engagement and success and implement flexible deadlines for key projects with targeted support to reduce barriers and improve outcomes. 

Curriculum 

  • Incorporate student voice and choice to make learning relevant and meaningful. Connect lessons to students’ lives, aspirations, and communities through Project-Based Learning. 
  • Apply knowledge from the Since Time Immemorial curriculum for your Native American and Alaskan Native students. 
  • Integrate Building Thinking Classrooms strategies to foster deep mathematical thinking and problem-solving by implementing randomized grouping, vertical non-permanent surfaces, and rich tasks that promote student engagement and collaboration. 
  • Create access to academic tasks through Universal Design for Learning.  

Master Scheduling  

  • Design schedules that prioritize ninth-grade core classes and allow time for advisory or intervention periods. 
  • Implement schedules that provide time for learners to receive support from adults and peers, including FLEX or extended learning periods for teachers to offer revision and reteaching.  
  • FLEX: A designated block of time within the school day that allows students to access targeted academic support, complete revisions, or engage in personalized learning opportunities. 

Attendance 

Building Relationships  

  • Use the Network for College Success’s Developmental Relationships Framework to strengthen trust and connection between students and educators. 
  • 2x10 Relationship Strategy Bank worksheet: Dedicate two minutes a day for ten consecutive days to engage with a student on topics of their choice. This simple, intentional approach builds trust and connection, and research shows it can lead to an 85% improvement in individual and overall classroom behavior. 

SEL  

School Connectedness  

Student Voice and Leadership  

  • Create opportunities for ninth graders to lead initiatives, provide feedback, and co-design solutions that impact school culture. 
  • Create Student Success Teams by grouping 9th grade students with core history, English, and algebra teachers to provide structured opportunities for student feedback and collaboration on strategies for success. 

Community Partnerships  

  • Collaborate with local organizations to provide mentoring, tutoring, and wraparound supports beyond the classroom. 

Read more about best practices through the Ninth Grade Success Newsletter from Center for High School Success.  

Ninth Grade Success Grantee Program  

OSPI’s Ninth Grade Success grant program builds on a successful pilot launched in 2018. What began with 5 schools has grown to 63 schools across 40 districts, serving more than 16,700 ninth graders and 800 educators in 2024–25. For the 2025–26 school year, 50 schools will participate. 

Through this program, OSPI provides funding, coaching, and technical assistance in partnership with Stand for Children’s Center for High School Success (CHSS). Stand provides direct coaching support to grantee schools to help implement evidence-based practices and improve student success.t 

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