MIDDLE GRADE SUCCESS

The transition from middle to high school is a critical juncture for young people. It’s easy to fall off track, but incredibly difficult to regain lost time when they do.

Fortunately, we now know which children and youth are at risk of dropping out as early as 6th grade. Researchers from Johns Hopkins University have determined three strong Early Warning Indicators of high school dropouts, the ABC’s. Sixth graders with any one of the following indicators have approximately a 15 percent chance of graduating from high school:

low attendance
poor behavior
course failure in math or English

United Way’s Early Warning Response System is based on Diplomas Now^™ – a proven approach to helping the toughest schools in America’s largest cities ensure that students graduate ready for college or career. Developed in partnership with The Philadelphia Education Fund, this program helps schools identify and intervene with each student in need of academic and behavioral help to get back on track for graduation.

In addition, United Way recruits volunteer tutors and mentors to provide one-on-one attention and support to targeted students. We also offer young people opportunities to explore career options, helping them connect their academic studies to a future job. And we meet kids where they are through after-school programs – in their neighborhoods – with activities that they’re already interested in – cars, sports, comics, spoken word. United Way knows that many of these programs are the lynchpin between our kids and success. So we help to support these programs and support staff, volunteers and parents through training, tools and resources.

By connecting with students during the school day, after school and through caring mentoring relationships, we’re helping kids realize their dreams…and achieve them.