ELSEWHERE To stem the dropout tide early on, Chicago is paying significant attention to the transition from 8th grade to high school. New research from Colorado echoes other studies on the importance of better middle-grades education and lends weight to CPS efforts on that front as well. The study on dropouts in Denver and four other Colorado districts that together produced almost half the state’s dropouts found that middle-schoolers who failed just one math or reading class were more likely to quit school, according to the Dec. 2 Denver Post. Interventions need to begin with students as young as 11, researchers said. “If a student gives off a warning sign, you make it someone’s job that they notice that,” said Martha Abele McIver of Johns Hopkins University, which is now finalizing the research examining school behavior, attendance and grades. “I don’t think it takes that many more resources. It’s a commitment to do things differently.”
Research shows dropping out can start at age 11
