Increasing Retention Rates in the 8th and 9th Grades As A Means to Improve High School Graduation Rates

This capstone project for the field of education leadership explores the need of administrators and curriculum developers to explore the creation of intervention curriculum to reduce the percentage of students that suffer an academic setback in the transition from middle school into high school to such a degree that the students consider dropping out of the K-12 education system. The state of Michigan considers a school’s graduation rate as part of the official school ranking system and if a school receives a low ranking the risk of the State intervening which could result in elimination of employees, consolidation, or even liquidation of the school district. This project is identifies the ways in which an educational leader can create an intervention curriculum that can reduce high school dropout rates and reach students struggling in that transition from middle school to high school through the use of highly researched intervention techniques such as peer mentoring and transitional and orientation programs.