The funding is available under the Basic Skills Program for High School Students created by the Texas Legislature in 1999. The goal of the program, also known as the Ninth Grade Success Initiative, is to increase graduation rates in Texas public schools by reducing the number of students who are retained in the ninth grade or who drop out that year. The ninth grade is a critical year. Historically, we have our highest retention rate at the ninth grade.
Students also begin dropping out in large numbers that year.
This program will help districts address both the retention and dropout problems. That was the largest number of dropouts for any grade level in 1997-98. Success on this test is a strong predictor of whether students will pass the exit-level TAAS test, which is given in 10th grade. being retained in one or more grades between the sixth and eighth grade. The Ninth Grade Success Initiative grants will tackle these risk factors by funding expansion or enhancement of existing programs or creating new programs that attempt to increase academic performance and attendance rates and reduce the dropout rates. The grant funds are available to districts from March of this year to August 2001.