Anita’s first semester in high school was a rough one. After the first month, she had five F’s. The transition from middle school hit her particularly hard since many of her friends went to a different high school. Although she was smart and charming, she was also in serious trouble. My fellow teachers and I needed a strategy to address her challenges in a hurry.
Unfortunately, Anita is not alone. The transition from middle to high school is a critical inflection point, and students who fall behind in ninth grade are at great risk of dropping out. That is why I support the Middle School Success and High School Graduation Initiative Amendment, which aims to provide struggling schools with tools to help students bridge this gap. This summer, the Amendment, offered by Senators Tammy Baldwin, Sheldon Whitehouse, and others, will be up for discussion at the Senate as it debates reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The amendment replaces a current ESEA grant program with one that will focus on implementing comprehensive systems to help identify struggling students and keep them on track to graduate on-time college- and career-ready...