Determining High School Students Essay

Academic Concerns Regarding Incoming High Students. A critical educational shift occurs in ninth grade; from a primary school focus of learning skills to a new high school focus of attaining credit and meeting state and local school district graduation requirements. Low academic achievement and grade promotion in middle school has created students who are academically deficient in skills needed to be successful in a more independent environment. A high percentage of students who are at risk for early dropout or an alternative timeline for graduation are retained in the ninth grade (Samel et al., 2011). Promotion to the tenth grade includes, passing at least “five full-year courses is a common standard for promotion to the tenth grade” (Neild, 2009, p. 55). Similarly, Easton et al. (2017) indicated the same determination of passing five courses as the determining factor for identifying students’ on-track to graduate.

“Students with poor math and reading skills are overwhelmed by the academic demands of high school,” as evidenced by its high predictive ability in determining at risk students (Neild, 2009; Samel et al., 2011; McKee & Caldarella, 2016). Additionally, teachers express similar academic concerns; however, many high school teachers lack the pedagogical training needed to teach study skills to academically lacking students (Neild, 2009). The lack of preparation for the rigor and amount of homework, assessment schedule, and stamina to complete all assignments, are a part of numerous concerns of freshman teachers (Roybal et al., 2014). Therefore, the academic concern of earning credit, coupled with the academic skills necessary, must be addressed in order to assist students in a positive transition to the high