The large, bald attendance officer drives around the streets in a turquoise Chevy Lumina, pulling 14-year-olds out of their bedrooms and fast-food restaurants and bringing them to algebra and biology classes. Derrick Howze, who grew up in this tough neighborhood, knows where to find the students who don’t show up for school. Lisa Smith, a social worker with a youthful appearance and a sympathetic smile, works with troubled 9th graders, organizing discussions on topics like sex, drugs, violence, and family problems. This dynamic duo is part of a districtwide initiative that started three years ago to address Detroit’s high dropout rate, which stands at 25 percent, by focusing on 9th graders.
"Ninth grade is a critical and confusing time for young individuals," says Henry McKee, the principal of Kettering High School on the east side of the city. "These students come from smaller, more structured middle schools and are suddenly placed into large high schools with a lot more freedom. They don’t feel welcomed. We’re trying to change that." At Kettering, 9th graders receive additional support from people like Mr. Howze and Ms. Smith, follow a basic curriculum, and have most of their classes located in one wing of the building, making it easier for them to find their teachers and avoid confrontations with older students.
So far, the results are promising. In the district as a whole, the number of 9th graders who drop out decreased by 36 percent from 1995 to 1996. Statistics for 1997 are still being gathered, but school leaders believe the dropout rate continued to decline. The efforts of this school system, which has 183,000 students, reflect a growing awareness among educators nationwide that 9th grade is an important year for determining a student’s success, as many lose interest or drop out entirely. While Detroit seems to be the only district with a program specifically targeted at 9th graders, many schools and districts are experimenting with similar approaches.
Chicago, for example, introduced "junior academies" this year for 9th and 10th graders, where they receive mandatory counseling and follow a basic curriculum in a separate section of the school building. The Carrollton-Farmers Branch district near Dallas and the Alexandria district outside Washington, D.C., offer separate schools for 9th graders. A high school in California’s San Fernando Valley, which is part of the Los Angeles Unified School District, has 60 teachers serving as mentors for the incoming class.
"There is definitely a trend towards treating 9th grade as a distinct unit and providing both firmness and support," said James M. McPartland, a director at the Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed At Risk at Johns Hopkins University. "If we can help 9th graders reach 10th grade, we can make significant progress in solving the dropout problem."
Facilitating the Transition
In the 1960s, concerns about creating a more supportive environment for young adolescents led to the middle school movement, which advocated for replacing junior high schools that served grades 7-9 with middle schools encompassing grades 6-8. According to the U.S. Department of Education, the number of middle schools has grown from 3,916 to 10,205 over the past two decades. This shift moved most 9th graders from junior high schools to high schools. However, with many students struggling to adapt to this new environment, some educators are questioning whether it is wise to expose 14-year-olds to the academic and social pressures that come with high school.
"The middle school movement revolves around the idea of addressing the psychological and physiological changes that occur during early adolescence," said Timothy J. Dyer, the executive director of the National Association of Secondary School Principals. "We need to do a better job of minimizing the difficulties that arise from transitioning out of middle school."
Detroit funds its 9th grade program using $16 million per year from state at-risk and federal Title I funds, which are designated for the education of disadvantaged children. Each of the district’s 27 high schools has some flexibility in how they allocate these funds, but most of their programs resemble the one implemented at Kettering High, which enrolls between 400 and 500 9th graders annually.
Role Models
When the school year begins, these students are required to regularly check in with Mr. Howze, receive after-school tutoring, or receive English and math instruction from teacher Sylvia Sanders, who holds a master’s degree in counseling. Every five weeks, teachers give failing students a warning so they have time to improve their grades before report cards are issued. One of Ms. Sanders’ students last year was Phette Lindsey, who became a mother at the age of 14. Ms. Lindsey had a difficult time adjusting to high school and got involved in several fights. She confessed, "I didn’t want to leave middle school because I had gotten used to the teachers and everyone who worked there," as she stood dressed in all black one recent morning, except for a red Nike cap.
However, with the assistance of Ms. Sanders, Ms. Howard, and Ms. Smith, she managed to raise her grades to a B average. Ms. Lindsey stated, "They taught me how to control my temper. They gave me the courage to not believe the negative things other people said about me." The 9th-grade faculty also includes teachers like Ron Tracy, a young, bearded English instructor who captivated his students one afternoon by animatedly sharing an African folk tale with the lights off and rhythmic music playing from a tape player. Mr. Tracy and other teachers were specifically recruited for the 9th grade program because of their interest in teaching that grade and collaborating on lesson plans. Mr. Tracy recollected, "You start to become disillusioned, dealing with so many parents and students with negative attitudes, and then they came in and said we’re going to rebuild 9th grade. It gave us a breath of fresh air." Ms. Howard, a slim and energetic woman who takes the time to offer hugs in the hallways, supervises the 9th grade teachers and a support team consisting of Ms. Smith, Mr. Howze, a counselor, and a reading specialist. Given that many students come from households where no one has a diploma or a job, numerous faculty members serve as positive role models. Mr. Howze, the attendance officer, remarked, "I have helped several students go from failing to being on the honor roll. Part of the problem was that they weren’t receiving any love at home."
A ‘Flagship’ Program
While Detroit’s 9th grade initiative primarily aims to decrease the district’s dropout rate, school officials also hope that it will improve students’ academic performance. At Kettering High, the 9th grade attendance rate increased from 72 percent in 1994-95 to 82 percent in 1996-97. Furthermore, the percentage of 9th graders who passed all of their classes rose from 60 to 66 over those two years. These success stories are cause for celebration at Kettering High, which is a run-down building with missing ceiling tiles and gum wrappers on the floor. In the spring, rapper L.L. Cool J presented the school with an award for most-improved attendance. Districtwide, the impact of the 9th grade initiative was not as significant. The 9th graders in 1995-96 had the same overall grade point average of 1.5 and 77 percent attendance rate as the previous class in 1994-95. However, the dropout rate decreased significantly. By the end of 9th grade, only 11.7 percent of the 12,200 students had dropped out, compared to 18.3 percent the previous year. Among the 5,600 9th graders who were repeating courses, 34.6 percent dropped out, whereas it was 42.7 percent the year before. This positive development is more than welcome in a district with low student achievement and a chaotic political climate that led to the resignation of Superintendent David L. Snead and one school board member in October.
"The 9th grade restructuring is one of our flagship programs," said April Howard Coleman, a school board member and Kettering graduate who advocated for a special 9th grade program four years ago. A 1996 survey revealed that most principals, teachers, and students support the program. Some of their recommendations included increased parental involvement, additional funding for field trips, and an extended summer session. Bennie Griffin, the 9th grade counselor at Kettering, expressed, "I believe that if we weren’t here, we would lose even more students. We’re still not able to save them all."