AbstractsEducation Research & Administration

The transition from middle school to high school is a critical stage in the educational development of teenage students. Despite comprehensive education reforms aimed at helping all students graduate high school, many students who struggle academically and socially in middle school continue to fail when they reach high school. National and local initiatives seek to redesign educational programs to help struggling students experience success by supporting them through the challenging academic and social requirements of high school. This research question-driven quasi evaluation investigates the impact one high school intervention program has on incoming freshman students who have experienced a history of school failure. The freshman bridge program known as ESPIN seeks to provide strong supports to help low-performing students maneuver through the academic and social requirements necessary to graduate from high school. The ESPIN intervention program is a theory of planned change that builds upon the idea that a transition program which focuses on relationships and relevance (inputs) though increased time, transition curriculum, leadership training, career exploration, and academic development (throughputs) can achieve a series of quantitative and qualitative goals (outputs) for students entering high school who have had a history of school failure as measured by state testing standards, high occurrences of behavior incidents, and frequent attendance issues. This study provides a description of the ESPIN intervention program along with the methods, findings, and implications of the study. Advisors/Committee Members: Frick, William (advisor), Beach, Sara (committee member), Ford, Tim (committee member), Maiden, Jeffrey (committee member), Mackey, Hollie (committee member).