Why grade 9 is the pivotal year for dropping out of high school

I bet you didn't realize that the first high schools were intended only for the best students and that grade 9 was therefore designed as a sort of gatekeeping, make-it-or-break it year. And although today's knowledge-based culture has made it critically important that everyone attend high school nowadays, some of the structural weeding-out elements remain. The result is that many students falter in grade 9 and are never able to get back on track, making them at high risk of dropping out.

This article identifies the most important gate-keeping elements to be cumulative grading and credit systems, and the author would like to move towards project-based learning and demonstration of mastery instead. Links are provided to some high schools that are doing this.  H/T TB

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