City Connects students have significantly lower rates than comparison students of retention in grade (being "held back"), a strong predictor of on-time high school graduation. This chart demonstrates that from kindergarten through grade 9, City Connects students identified as the most at-risk* have lower probabilities of retention in every grade.
The beneficial effect of City Connects persists after students have left the intervention and moved into middle school and beyond. The dotted line after grade 5 represents when City Connects students leave a City Connects school and move into middle school.
*In the City Connects program, a tiering system has been developed as a helpful way to study whether outcomes vary depending on a child's degree of risk. With the input of teachers and other school staff, the level of risk is identified for each student based on the intensity of his or her strengths and needs.
Citation: The Impact of City Connects: Annual Report 2010, p. 31.