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U.S. Department of Education

Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development

Policy and Program Studies Service

Issue Brief: High School Transition Activities

April 2017 

Introduction

In 2014–15, the high school graduation rate reached a record high of 83 percent (U.S. Department of 

Education 2016). Despite the gains, over half a million students still drop out of high school each year 

(U.S. Department of Education 2015). High schools have adopted various strategies designed to keep 

students who are at risk of not graduating in school and on track for earning the credits required to 

graduate. “At-risk” students are defined as those failing to achieve basic proficiency in key subjects or 

exhibiting behaviors that can lead to failure and/or dropping out of school. Dropout prevention 

strategies are diverse; they vary in type of program, services offered, frequency, intensity, and duration 

of contact with target students.

The U.S. Department of Education (Department) sponsored the National Survey on High School 

Strategies Designed to Help At-Risk Students Graduate (HSS), which aimed to provide descriptive 

information on the prevalence and characteristics of dropout prevention strategies for at-risk students. 

The survey collected data in the 2014–15 school year from a nationally representative sample of 

2,142 public high schools and focused on 13 specific high school improvement strategies1 identified by a 

panel of external experts and senior Department officials. This brief on high school transition activities

is the seventh in a series of briefs being released this year with key findings about these high school 

improvement strategies.

Definition of High School Transition Activities 

The HSS defined high school transition activities (HSTAs) as activities for first-year high school students

that are designed to ease the transition into high school. HSTAs can be used to provide support to 

selected students who are identified as needing assistance as they enter high school or can be 

implemented as a strategy for all first-year students. These activities may include new student 

orientation (e.g., summer bridge programs and orientation sessions), specific transition interventions to 

support the academic needs of first-year students (e.g., freshman academies and advisory classes), 

assistance from a student support team, and mentors assigned to help new students.

1 The survey examined 13 strategies designed to improve high school outcomes for at-risk students. These strategies are: 

(1) academic support classes, (2) academic tutoring, (3) career-themed curriculum, (4) case management services, 

(5) college-level coursework, (6) competency-based advancement, (7) credit recovery, (8) early warning systems, (9) high 

school transition activities, (10) mentoring, (11) personalized learning plans, (12) social services, and (13) student support 

teams. See http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/opepd/ppss/reports-high-school.html for the series of briefs.
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Research on High School Transition Activities

More students fail ninth grade than any other grade in high school, and a disproportionate number of 

students who are held back in ninth grade subsequently drop out (Herlihy 2007). Researchers have 

noted the importance of supporting students as they transition to high school, especially students who 

have risk factors related to dropping out (Neild 2009). Research has identified ninth-grade academic 

performance, in particular, as strongly correlated with high school graduation (Allensworth and 

Easton 2007).

Few studies have focused specifically on the impact of HSTAs on high school graduation, most likely

because HSTAs are often implemented as one of several high school improvement strategies. Some 

programs that include HSTAs have promising evidence. A quasi-experimental study was conducted of

one of these programs, Talent Development High Schools, a schoolwide reform model that features a 

freshman academy among other academic support strategies for first-year students. The researchers 

found small improvements in the average number of credits earned and grade promotion for students 

enrolled in a Talent Development High School compared to students who were not enrolled in one

(Kemple and Herlihy 2004).

Survey Findings on High School Transition Activities

This brief describes the prevalence of HSTAs as a dropout prevention strategy. It does not measure the 

effectiveness of HSTAs, but instead describes the implementation of HSTAs in high schools across the 

country. This analysis included an examination of four school characteristics: (1) size, (2) poverty, 

(3) locale, and (4) graduation rate. Only statistically significant differences within school characteristics

(at p < .05) are discussed; non-statistically significant differences are not reported. School characteristics

were defined in the following ways:

School size. School size categories consisted of small schools (fewer than 500 students), medium 

schools (500–1,199 students), and large schools (1,200 or more students) based on 2013–14

Common Core of Data (CCD) student enrollment data.

School poverty. Poverty levels were based on 2013–14 free or reduced-price lunch (FRPL) and total 

CCD school enrollment data. The poverty categories were low-poverty schools (below 35 percent 

students with FRPL), medium-poverty schools (35–49 percent students with FRPL), and high-poverty 

schools (50 percent or more students with FRPL).

School locale. School locale included three mutually exclusive locales from the CCD: rural schools, 

suburban/town schools, and city schools.

Graduation rate. School classification by graduation rate was based on three categories: low

graduation rate (67 percent or lower graduation rate), medium graduation rate (68 to 89 percent 

graduation rate), and high graduation rate (90 percent or higher graduation rate).

Summary of Key Findings

• Overall, 59 percent of high schools offered at least one HSTA to help first-year high school 

students in 2014–15; an estimated 72 percent of all first-year high school students nationwide 

participated in at least one HSTA, according to school principals.

• Low-graduation-rate schools were less likely than high-graduation-rate schools to have HSTAs; 

high-poverty schools were less likely than low-poverty schools to have HSTAs.
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• The most common HSTA was an individual high school graduation plan (61 percent), followed by 

support teams that monitored ninth-grade students’ progress (37 percent), yearlong advisory

classes (35 percent), and summer bridge programs (35 percent). The prevalence of specific types 

of HSTAs varied by school size, school poverty level, school locale, and graduation rate.

• Of the high schools with HSTAs, 91 percent of schools offered them to all first-year students

while 9 percent offered them only to selected first-year students, most commonly on the basis 

of a student’s academic performance, discipline records, and attendance.

What was the prevalence of high school transition activities? 

Overall, 59 percent of high schools in 2014–15 reported having at least one HSTA to help first-year high 

school students. An estimated 72 percent of all first-year high school students nationwide participated 

in at least one HSTA, according to school principals. The prevalence of HSTAs varied by school size, 

school poverty level, school locale, and graduation rate (Exhibit 1). 

Exhibit 1. Percentage of high schools offering high school transition activities 

by selected school characteristics, 2014–15

Exhibit reads: In 2014–15, 59 percent of all high schools offered high school transition activities.

*p < 0.05 

NOTE: An asterisk is placed on one case per comparison. Differences across school characteristics with two categories 

were based on comparisons between the two groups. Differences across school characteristics with three categories 

were based on goodness-of-fit across all three categories.

Unweighted n = 1,925 high schools.

SOURCE: HSS survey of high school administrators, 2015 (Question 93).
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Differences by school size. Large high schools were more likely than small high schools to have 

HSTAs (87 percent compared with 42 percent).

Differences by school poverty. High-poverty schools were less likely than low-poverty high schools 

to have HSTAs (52 percent compared with 68 percent).

Differences by school locale. City schools (62 percent) and suburban schools (64 percent) were 

more likely than rural schools (50 percent) to have HSTAs.

Differences by graduation rate. Low-graduation-rate schools were less likely than high-graduationrate schools to have HSTAs (29 percent compared with 66 percent).

What types of high school transition activities did high schools provide?

The most common HSTA was an individual high school graduation plan (61 percent), which school staff

created to help students develop concrete steps toward graduation, including selection of courses

(Exhibit 2). The next most common HSTA was a ninth-grade2 support team that monitored first-year

students’ progress and provided interventions to address any academic or social problems presented by 

the student (37 percent). The third most common HSTA was a yearlong advisory class that provided

information and support to succeed in school such as study skills and time management (35 percent). A 

summer bridge program, which brought first-year students together for academic and social activities

before the school year, was also the third most common HSTA (35 percent). The prevalence of various 

high school transition activities differed by school size, school poverty level, school locale, and 

graduation rate (Exhibit 2).

Differences by school size. Large schools were more likely than small schools to offer a summer 

bridge program (45 percent versus 25 percent), a freshman academy (35 percent versus 16 percent), 

assign student mentors to all first-year students (30 percent versus 15 percent), and assign adult 

mentors to specific high-risk students (21 percent versus 13 percent) and were less likely to help 

students develop an individual high school graduation plan (58 percent versus 66 percent).

Differences by poverty level. High-poverty schools were more likely than low-poverty schools to 

offer a summer bridge program (45 percent versus 29 percent) and assign student mentors to 

specific high-risk students (12 percent versus 7 percent).

Differences by school locale. City schools were more likely than suburban and rural schools to offer 

support teams to monitor first-year students’ progress (43 percent of city schools versus 37 percent 

of suburban schools and 31 percent of rural schools), a yearlong advisory class (40 percent of city 

schools versus 36 of suburban schools and 29 percent of rural schools), a summer bridge program 

(53 percent of city schools versus 33 percent of suburban schools and 22 percent of rural schools), 

and assign a student mentor to specific high-risk students (13 percent of city schools versus 11 

percent of suburban schools and 7 percent of rural schools). Suburban schools were more likely than 

city and rural schools to assign student mentors to all first-year students (25 percent of suburban 

schools versus 22 percent of city schools and 18 percent of rural schools).

 2 The HSS used the term “ninth grade” to represent the first year in high school. Approximately 7 percent of high schools begin 

in a different year, such as eighth grade or tenth grade.
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Differences by graduation rate. Low-graduation-rate schools were less likely than high-graduationrate schools to teach parents strategies to help their child make the transition to high school (25 

percent versus 37 percent) and to assign a student mentor to all first-year students (17 percent 

versus 26 percent).

Exhibit 2. Among high schools with HSTAs, the percentage of schools that offered specific transition 

activities, by graduation rate, school size, school poverty level, and school locale, 2014–15

Activity

All 

schools

Low grad 

rate

High 

grad 

rate Large Small

High 

poverty

Low 

poverty City

Suburban Rural

Develop an individual 

high school grad plan

61% 65% 60% 58%* 66% 62% 57% 61% 59% 64%

Support team monitors 

9th-grade students’

progress & provides 

interventions

37% 37% 34% 37% 33% 37% 36% 43%* 37% 31%

Yearlong advisory class

provides information 

& support to succeed 

in high school 

35% 35% 32% 35% 33% 37% 32% 40%* 36% 29%

Summer bridge program 

for incoming 9thgraders 

35% 39% 32% 45%* 25% 45%* 29% 53%* 33% 22%

Teaching parents 

strategies to help their 

child transition to high 

school

33% 25%* 37% 36% 31% 31% 34% 34% 33% 34%

Freshman academy 25% 29% 24% 35%* 16% 27% 23% 31%* 26% 17%

Student mentor assigned 

to all incoming 9thgrade students

22% 17%* 26% 30%* 15% 20% 24% 22%* 25% 18%

Adult mentor assigned to 

specific high-risk 

students

17% 14% 18% 21%* 13% 16% 17% 19% 17% 16%

Adult mentor assigned to 

all incoming 9th-grade 

students

16% 19% 14% 15% 17% 16% 15% 17% 15% 16%

Student mentor assigned 

to specific high-risk 

students

10% 15% 9% 11% 8% 12%* 7% 13%* 11% 7%

Exhibit reads: Among high schools that offered high school transition activities in 2014─15, 61 percent developed an individual high 

school graduation plan with students.

* p < .05

NOTE: An asterisk is placed on one case per comparison. Differences across school characteristics with two categories were based 

on comparisons between the two groups. Differences across school characteristics with three categories were based on goodnessof-fit across all three categories.

Unweighted n = 1,118

SOURCE: HSS Survey of high school administrators, 2015 (Question 94).
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How did high schools target students for participation in high school transition activities? 

Of the high schools with HSTAs, most reported offering or assigning HSTAs to all first-year students. 

Sixty-nine percent offered HSTAs to all first-year students, and 22 percent assigned HSTAs to all firstyear students. A small percentage of high schools offered or assigned HSTAs to only selected students. 

Five percent offered HSTAs to a subset of first-year students, and 4 percent assigned HSTAs to a subset 

of first-year students.

Schools that focused on selected students for participation in HSTAs reported various reasons for 

targeting these students, including academic performance, discipline issues, and attendance issues. 

There were no statistically significant differences in targeting students when examining variations by 

school size, school poverty level, school locale, and graduation rate.

Methodology

The National Survey on High School Strategies Designed to Help At-Risk Students Graduate was a 

survey of 13 high school strategies designed to improve graduation rates among students at risk of 

dropping out and was administered in the 2014–15 school year. The 13 strategies are: (1) academic 

support classes, (2) academic tutoring, (3) career-themed curriculum, (4) case management services, 

(5) college-level coursework, (6) competency-based advancement, (7) credit recovery, (8) early warning 

systems, (9) high school transition activities, (10) mentoring, (11) personalized learning plans, (12) social 

services, and (13) student support teams.

The purpose of the survey was to inform education practitioners and policymakers about the 

prevalence, characteristics, and students served by these strategies in U.S. public high schools. The 

descriptive study did not measure the effectiveness of particular strategies but instead examined 

implementation factors in high schools across the country. The study team identified the 13 strategies 

and designed survey items for each strategy with input from a panel of external experts in the field and 

senior Department officials. 

The researchers selected a nationally representative sample of high schools3 using a random sampling 

approach, stratifying high schools based on graduation rate (from EDFacts)

4 and locale code (from NCES 

2013–14 Common Core of Data). The survey collected data from high school principals (or designees 

knowledgeable about programs and strategies) at sampled schools. The survey response rate was 

90 percent. The survey responses, after cleaning and processing, were analyzed in SAS and Stata using 

 

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 All U.S. public high schools providing instruction to 12th grade students in the fall of 2010 were included in the sampling 

frame unless (1) the lowest offered grade was 11th grade or higher, (2) there were fewer than five students in grades 9 

through 12, (3) the percentage of students enrolled in grades 9 through 12 was under 20 percent of the total school 

enrollment and the total number of students in grades 9 through 12 was fewer than 20, or (4) the school name contained 

one of nine keywords indicating juvenile detention center or hospital. Of the 103,813 total schools listed in the 2010–11 CCD, 

22,447 high schools met the criteria to be included in the sampling frame. 4

 There were 3,302 schools without graduation rate information in the 2010–11 EDFacts public use data set. The researchers 

used an imputation approach to assign these schools to either the high- or low-graduation-rate stratum. The imputation 

process began by examining the distribution of the high/low graduation rate classification for the 19,145 schools by sampling 

locale. The percentage of schools classified as high graduation rate was calculated separately for each locale sampling 

stratum: 68.4 percent of rural schools were classified as high graduation rate, 63.0 percent of suburban schools were 

classified as high graduation rate, and 41.0 percent of city schools were classified as high graduation rate. The research team 

randomly assigned each of the 3,302 schools with unknown graduation rates to the high graduation rate stratum with 

probability 68.4 if the school was classified as rural, with probability 63.0 if the school was classified as suburban, and with 

probability 41.0 if the school was classified as urban. The sample size was adjusted upwards to account for potential 

misclassification due to this method. In analysis, the researchers used the restricted-use 2013–14 EDFacts data and 

graduation rates published on school and district websites to fill in this missing data.
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descriptive techniques that apply the appropriate statistical population weights to account for 

stratification by graduation rate and locale. 

Results reported in this brief reflect the full survey sample unless otherwise noted and are 

representative of U.S. public high schools nationwide. References in the text to differences between 

subgroups based on sample data refer only to differences that are statistically significant using a 

significance level of p < 0.05.

References

Allensworth, E. M., and J. Q. Easton. 2007. What Matters for Staying on Track and Graduating in Chicago 

Public High Schools. Chicago, IL: Consortium on Chicago School Research. 

http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED498350.pdf

Herlihy, C. 2007. State and District-Level Supports for Successful Transition into High School. Washington, 

DC: National High School Center

Kemple, J., and Herlihy, C. 2004. The Talent Development High School Model: Context, Components, and 

Initial Impacts on Ninth-Grade Students’ Engagement and Performance. New York: MDRC.

Neild, R. C. 2009. “Falling Off Track during the Transition to High School: What We Know and What Can 

Be Done.” The Future of Children, 19(1), 53–76. 

U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics. 

2016. “Table 1. Public High School 4-Year Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate (ACGR).” 

https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/tables/ACGR_RE_and_characteristics_2014-15.asp

U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics. 

2015. “Table 219.57. Population of 15- to 24-Year Olds Enrolled in Grades 10 through 12, Number 

Who Dropped Out (Event Dropouts), Percentage Who Dropped Out (Event Dropout Rate), and 

Percentage Distribution, by Selected Characteristics: 2014.” 

https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d15/tables/dt15_219.57.asp 
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Appendix: High School Transition Activities (Survey Excerpt)

National Survey on High School Strategies to Help At-Risk Students Graduate

93. In the 2014-15 school year, does your school have any middle to high school 

transition activities (past or planned)? 

(Please select only one) 

Yes No

 

94. In the 2014-15 school year, does your school have any of the following middle to 

high school transition activities (past or planned)? 

(Check all that apply)

Summer bridge program for incoming 9th graders (more than a one-day orientation) 

Freshman academy (students housed together as a smaller unit within the high 

school campus with an assigned group of teachers)



Support team that monitors 9th-grade student progress and provides interventions 

A student mentor assigned to specific high-risk students 

A student mentor assigned to all incoming 9th-grade students 

An adult mentor assigned to specific high-risk students 

An adult mentor assigned to all incoming 9th-grade students 

A year-long advisory class to provide information and support to succeed in high 

school (e.g., lessons on organizational and study skills or graduation requirements) 



Teaching parents strategies to help their child make the transition to high school 

(e.g., graduation requirements, strategies for academic success)



Develop an individual high school graduation plan 

Other

(Please specify ____________________)



This section asks about Middle to High School Transition. For the purposes of 

this survey, middle to high school transition includes planned activities to ease 

the transition from middle to high school, such as special outreach and 

transition programs (e.g., summer bridge program, freshman academy), 

and/or providing adult or student mentor.
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95. How are middle to high school transition activities allocated to 

students entering high school? 

(Please select only one) 

Offered of all students (school-wide) 

Offered to a subset of students 

Assigned to all students (school-wide) 

Assigned to a subset of students 

If user responds “Subset of students” to Q095, ask Q96 & Q97. Otherwise, skip to Q98. 

96. On average, approximately what percentage of high school 

students in your school participates in middle to high 

school transition activities in the 2014-15 school year?

{Slide bar for 0% to 100%}

97. Are any of the following subsets of students targeted for receiving middle to 

high school transition activities? 

(Check all that apply)

Students with attendance issues (e.g., truancy) 

Students with discipline or behavioral issues 

Students performing below standards or grade level 

Students performing above standards or grade level 

Students recommended by high school staff (e.g., counselor or teacher) 

Re-entry students 

English Language Learners 

Other

(Please Specify________________)



The full survey is available at: http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/opepd/ppss/reports-highschool.html