Spotting Future Dropouts by Grade 1

In Montgomery County, Maryland, administrators have identified early-warning signs for students at risk of dropping out of school. They can identify flags for 75 percent of dropouts—by the second semester of first grade.  Some of the warning signs are reading below grade level, absences of nine days or more, report card grades, incomplete assignments, and behavior.  Montgomery County Evaluation Specialist Thomas (Chris) C. West, who created the formula for his district, commented in an Education Week article (07/29/2013), “You will not reduce dropout rates by identifying] the students; it’s what you do with them. Early-warning systems are not an intervention strategy; they are part of an intervention strategy. They are not a magic bullet.”