Research shows that one of the most important and vulnerable points in a young student’s career is making the transition from eighth to ninth grade.
During this transition, students are at an uncomfortable stage of adolescence; they move from the relatively nurturing environment of middle school to the more unstructured life of high school. For the first time, they begin to get more independence and flexibility. But, as they search for ways to demonstrate maturity to their peers and upperclassmen, they are often tempted to engage in antisocial behavior.
Education researchers consider this transition to be the point at which most students who eventually drop out first consider it. In fact, many researchers agree that even those students who move on to the tenth grade and beyond are more likely to drop out before graduation if they had an unsuccessful ninth grade year.
ACF’s Response
To help address this transition, ACF has created Project MARS (Motivating Achievement, Resiliency and Success), a demonstration project that is designed to increase graduation rates by helping students make the important transition from middle school to high school.
MARS is a voluntary three-year demonstration project that began in September 2004 targeting children who were academically at risk in sixth grade, and supporting them in an afterschool and Saturday program during the seventh and eighth grades.
A large part of MARS’ curriculum is to show students how they can impact and take leadership roles within their communities. The best way we’ve found to do this is to encourage them to be informed and engaged with a vitally important but often overlooked issue: environmental stewardship in an urban context.
Now in its third year, Project MARS continues to support the program for ninth graders with environmental education, mentoring and enrichment activities. Project MARS is designed to both improve academic achievement and keep participants in school until graduation.
Project MARS was developed based on research that determined the best school retention programs for at-risk children provided adult mentors, child centered family counseling, and cultural enrichment. All elements of the MARS programming are designed to augment the participant’s academic skills training, self-esteem, and self-awareness and ultimately improve their resiliency and ability to succeed beyond the ninth grade.
Each child who participates in Project MARS is expected to:
- Complete the difficult transition between ninth and tenth grade, and stay in school through twelfth grade to graduate from high school
- Improve their educational achievement each consecutive year from seventh grade through ninth grade
- Increase their participation in extra-curricular activities that promote cultural enrichment and education
- Begin to identify and develop long-term and career goals
- Develop meaningful relationships with adult mentors from their communities and/or professionals within their chosen career path
In the three years MARS has operated, we’ve recruited114 students 100% of whom graduated from the program and have made the successful transition to the ninth grade.
Our Youth Development initiatives are supported by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.