This article is one of a series of articles produced by Word in Black through support provided by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Word In Black is a collaborative of 10 Black-owned media outlets across the country.
By Aaron Allen, The Seattle Medium
The Washington State Charter School Association recently announced that five charter public schools—Rooted School Vancouver, Innovation High School, Spokane International Academy, Summit Atlas, and Why Not Your Academy—will participate in the Ninth Grade Success Initiative, a national program to support schools in increasing high school graduation rates.
The schools will join 57 public high schools participating in the program, jointly operated by the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Schools and the Center for High School Success.
The Center for High School Success provides coaching, peer learning opportunities, data analysis, training, and tools and resources to support high schools in successfully implementing a 9th Grade Success approach to substantially increase 9th grade on-track graduation rates. Henterson Carlisle, Northwest Regional Director for the Center for High School Success, which has been operating in the Pacific Northwest for the past eight years and is a subsidiary of Stand For Children, explains the coach-based relationship the organization has with the schools they work with.
“Our approach is a coach-based approach,” says Carlisle. “Every school gets a coach and then we come out there and work with the schools and work with the success teams. We are building capacity approach. We’re coming in to work with schools for four or five years and then transition out and they should be able to hopefully sustain the work.”
According to education advocates, ninth grade success has become a top meter and gauge for future graduation, as ninth graders who end the year on track are four times more likely to graduate than their off-track peers. Current data suggest that 70-79% of ninth grade students in Washington state are on track for graduation.
The Ninth Grade Success program supports “40 school teams with funds for staff time to participate in team meetings every two weeks. It supports Stand for Children’s coaching on asset-based protocols for data-informed decision-making to offer timely supports. Quarterly collaborative meetings for school teams to share best practices & set goals. Site visits to demonstration site schools Through the grant program, schools will receive resources to enhance student success, including funding, coaching, and site visits.”
The program prioritizes helping ninth graders earn the necessary course credits to complete the school year.
“Ninth grade is indeed the make-or-break year,” says Carlisle. “It is also the year for schools to really pay close attention to the student’s experiences as they enter high school, because we want them to get started on the right foot to accomplish their dreams and aspirations as they move through the educational system.”
Morgen Flowers, Head of School at Spokane International Academy, is inspired by the amount of support the initiative is offering, in schools working to give students the necessary opportunities to succeed.
“Participating in this program builds on our schools’ work to support student success and boost graduation rates,” said Flowers. “We are thrilled that charter public schools in Washington state will offer these supports alongside other public schools to help more students succeed in high school and beyond.”
“We’re excited to include five charter public schools in this group of great public schools. It is important to provide support to as many students as we can reach in Washington state,” says Carlisle.
Participating Washington schools in the Ninth Grade Success Initiative have a 79.3% on-track rate surpassing the state average and outperforming comparison schools by 7%. In addition, ninth-grade Latinx, low-income, multilingual, and students with disabilities in these schools also had higher on-track rates in 2022 compared to their peers.
The initiative is also looking to build on their relationship with Seattle Public Schools as West Seattle High will join the program in the 2024-25 school year.
“I think is exciting this year to bring on the five new charter schools,” says Carlisle. “We know that they have a different funding mechanism, yet they deserve the same attention and care. So, we’re excited to work with them in the 2024-25 school year and beyond.”
