On-Time Graduation Project

 

1

Purpose of the Project

One in four students in the United States fails to 

graduate from high school on timeand graduation rates 

are significantly lower for students who are racial or 

ethnic minorities, economically disadvantaged, migrant 

and/or limited-English proficient, or receiving special 

education services. However, strong foundational 

research highlights critical indicators in ninth and tenth 

grade that powerfully predict whether students are “on 

track” for high school graduation. These indicators, which 

typically focus on student engagement measures 

(attendance) and course performance (grades, credits 

earned), can be used as part of an early warning system 

to flag at-risk students early, assign appropriate 

interventions, and get students back on track for 

graduation.

Schools in Indiana have many alternative approaches to 

increasing on-time graduation. Use of an early warning 

system is one strategy that schools can use to achieve 

the recent commitments by the Department of 

Education to improve graduation rates to at least 90% by 

the year 2012 as outlined in the state’s ESEA waiver 

request.

One such early warning system is the Early Warning and 

Intervention Monitoring System (EWIMS) developed by 

the National High School Center. The EWIMS model 

encourages educators to use data to consider and 

provide appropriate interventions to students, and 

provides a meansfor monitoring student progress over 

time. At the core of EWIMS is the use of simple tools that 

encourage educators to routinely examine indicators that 

identify students as “off track” and take action. 

Despite increasingly widespread implementation of early 

warning systems by states, districts, and schools, there 

have been no rigorous studies testing the impact of using 

an early warning system to improve student outcomes 

such as staying in school, progressing in school, and 

probability of graduating. There is also little research 

examining how using an early warning system can shape 

a school’s culture for data use including how schools 

allocate their limited dropout prevention resources.

To address this gap, the On-Time Graduation Projectwill 

provide thefirst rigorous testof the impact of an early 

warning system. This project, funded by the U.S. 

Department of Education’s Institutes of Educational 

Sciences, is being conducted by the Midwest Regional 

Educational Laboratory at the American Institutes for 

Research. 

The projectwill examine the impact of EWIMS on (1) 

student outcomes including student risk status for 

dropout, scores on graduation tests, persistence and 

progress in school and likelihood of on-time graduation; 

and (2) school outcomes including how schools allocate 

dropout prevention interventions for students and their 

data-use culture. Participating in this high-profile, largescale projectwill give your school and district an 

opportunity to access these innovative resources at no 

cost and help inform educational policy in the Midwest

and at the nationallevel.

Project Approach

The project will take place in approximately 70 high 

schools in Midwest region, including Indiana, during the 

2013–14 and 2014–15 school years. All schools that 

participate in the project will receive the early warning 

system at no cost. Participating schools will be assigned 

by lottery to receive access to the EWIMS model, 

including the tool and high-quality professional 

development for implementation, in the 2013–2014 

school year or the fall of 2015 (following the completion 

of the project). Schools assigned to receive the EWIMS 

model in the fall of 2015 will continue “business as usual” 

practices to identify at-risk students and allocate dropout 

prevention resources through 2014–15. 

The project will examine student outcomes for all 

students in Grades 9 and 10 during the 2013–14 school 

year and all students in Grades 9 through 11 during the 

2014–15 school year for schools that implement EWIMS 

in 2013–2014 and those that do not implement EWIMS 

until the fall of 2015. All student outcome data will be 

collected from school or district administrative data, the 

early warning system tool or the Indiana Department of 

Education. There will be no primary student data 

collection for this project. To understand how EWIMS 

may impact schools, all participating schools will be 

asked to complete an annual Web-based survey about 

data use practices and schools implementing EWIMS 

during the two-year project may be asked to participate 

in interviews about their experiences using the tool.
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EWIMS Intervention

The EWIMS process is designed to identify students who 

are at risk of dropping out of school and to support and 

monitor at-risk students through school-wide strategies 

and targeted interventions. EWIMS is currently in use in 

67 districts in six states, and the tool has been 

downloaded more than 20,000 times from the National 

High School Center’s website. 

EWIMS Tool. At the heart of the EWIMS model is an early 

warning data tool used to flag students as “at risk” based 

on attendance, course performance (grades, credits, 

GPA), and behavior indicators. The tool enables users to 

identify students who are at risk of dropping out of 

school, record assignments to available interventions, 

and monitor students’ response to those interventions. 

The tool provides a number of reports accessible to 

users, including: 

 School-Level Reports: Graphical reports that show 

trends in student risk status across the school

 Student-Level Reports: Lists of students, grouped by 

indicators of risk and/or assigned intervention 

programs, that include summary information

 Detailed Student Reports: Simple reports that can be 

generated for each individual student and show 

student information, indicators of risk status, and any 

assigned interventions

 Student-Level Intervention Summary Reports: Lists of 

students, their indicators of risk (flagged or not 

flagged), and the number and types of interventions to 

which each student was assigned

EWIMS Implementation Process. In addition to the tool, 

the National High School Center has devised a seven-step 

EWIMS implementation process to support 

implementation. The process guides users to make 

informed decisions about how to use data to support atrisk students and how to continue to monitor their 

progress over time. In addition to focusing on individual 

students, the process guides users to examine the 

success of specific supports or interventions and to 

examine possible systemic issues (school climate) that 

may relate to dropout trends.

EWIMS Seven-Step Implementation Cycle

Initial Criteria for Participation

The projectwill include approximately 70 high schools in 

the Midwest. To qualify, schools must (1) have at least 

150 ninth-grade students; (2) a graduation rate between 

25 and 95 percent and (3) not already be implementing 

an early warning system tool for using data to flag at-risk 

students. 

Project Timeline

Through January 2014, the project team will discuss 

participation with districts and schools that meet the 

initial criteria and conduct on-site or virtual meetings 

with school principals, guidance counselors and dropout 

prevention coordinators. Participating schools will sign 

memoranda of understanding in January 2014 and be 

assigned by lottery to receive access to the EWIMS 

model, including the tool and high-quality professional 

development on the implementation process, in January 

2014 (treatment group) or the 2015–2016 school year 

(“business as usual” control group). Training for EWIMS 

implementation in treatment schools will begin in early 

2014. Data collection activities will continue throughout 

but not beyond the 2014–15 school year.

For Additional Information

For more information or to begin a conversation about 

partnering on this project, contact Dr. Nicholas Sorensen 

(nsorensen@air.org or 312-283-2318) or Dr. Mindee 

O’Cummings (mocummings@air.org or 202-403-5254).

STEP 1—

Establish Roles 

& Process

STEP 2—Use the 

EWIMS Tool

STEP 3—Analyze 

EWIMS Data

STEP 4—

Interpret 

EWIMS Data 

STEP 5—Assign 

& Provide 

Interventions

STEP 6—

Monitor 

Students

STEP 7—

Evaluate & 

Refine EWIMS