In the 1996-97 school year, the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) began a national trend when it included a required summer program, Summer Bridge, as a central component of its efforts to end social promotion. Over 21,000 students in the third, sixth, and eighth, or promotional gate grades, have attended Summer Bridge each year, making it one of the largest and most sustained summer school programs in the country. This report presents a rigorous and careful evaluation of Chicago's Summer Bridge program. It is designed to address the following central questions that arise in the use of summer programs to support low-achieving students under high-stakes testing: - To what extent is Summer Bridge effective in increasing students' test scores and allowing more students to be promoted? And, how do the short-term effects of the program vary by whether students have very low skills or are closer to the test scores required for promotion? - To what extent is there evidence that large-scale mandatory summer programs can produce uniform effects across students and schools? To what extent do summer programs like Summer Bridge provide positive learning environments for students? - How did staffing characteristics, teachers' implementation of the curriculum, and classroom learning environments shape the program's impacts? - Can a summer program provide help for low-achieving students that is sustained over time? Over the last four years, a team of researchers at the Consortium on Chicago School Research has assembled a diverse data set to examine these questions. We analyzed the achievement of all students in Summer Bridge, surveyed and interviewed participating teachers and students about their experiences, and conducted in-depth classroom observations in 12 schools. This report brings together this qualitative and quantitative research to take a multifaceted look at Summer Bridge from its inception through the summer of 2000.

In the 1996-97 school year, the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) began a national trend when it included a required summer program, Summer Bridge, as a central component of its efforts to end social promotion. Over 21,000 students in the third, sixth, and eighth, or promotional gate grades, have attended Summer Bridge each year, making it one of the largest and most sustained summer school programs in the country. This report presents a rigorous and careful evaluation of Chicago's Summer Bridge program. It is designed to address the following central questions that arise in the use of summer programs to support low-achieving students under high-stakes testing: - To what extent is Summer Bridge effective in increasing students' test scores and allowing more students to be promoted? And, how do the short-term effects of the program vary by whether students have very low skills or are closer to the test scores required for promotion? - To what extent is there evidence that large-scale mandatory summer programs can produce uniform effects across students and schools? To what extent do summer programs like Summer Bridge provide positive learning environments for students? - How did staffing characteristics, teachers' implementation of the curriculum, and classroom learning environments shape the program's impacts? - Can a summer program provide help for low-achieving students that is sustained over time? Over the last four years, a team of researchers at the Consortium on Chicago School Research has assembled a diverse data set to examine these questions. We analyzed the achievement of all students in Summer Bridge, surveyed and interviewed participating teachers and students about their experiences, and conducted in-depth classroom observations in 12 schools. This report brings together this qualitative and quantitative research to take a multifaceted look at Summer Bridge from its inception through the summer of 2000.

In the 1996-97 school year, the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) began a national trend when it included a required summer program, Summer Bridge, as a central component of its efforts to end social promotion. Over 21,000 students in the third, sixth, and eighth, or promotional gate grades, have attended Summer Bridge each year, making it one of the largest and most sustained summer school programs in the country. This report presents a rigorous and careful evaluation of Chicago's Summer Bridge program. It is designed to address the following central questions that arise in the use of summer programs to support low-achieving students under high-stakes testing: - To what extent is Summer Bridge effective in increasing students' test scores and allowing more students to be promoted? And, how do the short-term effects of the program vary by whether students have very low skills or are closer to the test scores required for promotion? - To what extent is there evidence that large-scale mandatory summer programs can produce uniform effects across students and schools? To what extent do summer programs like Summer Bridge provide positive learning environments for students? - How did staffing characteristics, teachers' implementation of the curriculum, and classroom learning environments shape the program's impacts? - Can a summer program provide help for low-achieving students that is sustained over time? Over the last four years, a team of researchers at the Consortium on Chicago School Research has assembled a diverse data set to examine these questions. We analyzed the achievement of all students in Summer Bridge, surveyed and interviewed participating teachers and students about their experiences, and conducted in-depth classroom observations in 12 schools. This report brings together this qualitative and quantitative research to take a multifaceted look at Summer Bridge from its inception through the summer of 2000.

This indicator identifies students as on-track if they earn at least five full-year course credits and no more than one semester F in their first year of high school. On-track students are more than three and one-half times more likely to graduate from high school in four years than off-track students. The indicator is a more accurate predictor of graduation than students' previous achievement test scores or their background characteristics.

Perhaps the most important finding from this report is that failures during the first year of high school make a student much less likely to graduate. Based on their findings, the authors believe that parents and teachers should carefully monitor students' grades, especially in the first semester of freshman year, when there are still many opportunities to improve grades. Helping students make a successful transition to high school during the first semester could make students more likely to graduate.

This report also finds that on-track students are not necessarily the students with the highest achievement test scores. Many students with strong achievement fail to graduate, and many students who have demonstrated weaker achievement succeed in graduating.

Finally, this report concludes that the particular school a student attends plays a large role in whether the student is on-track. While we expect schools to have students with differing levels of preparation for high school, differences in the number of students on-track at each school remained even when the authors controlled for students' eighth-grade test scores and socioeconomic status. This suggests that school climate and structure play a significant role in whether students succeed in high school.

Schools can use the on-track indicator, which makes use of readily available data on course credits and failures, to understand what aspects of the school may be leading students to drop out.

This indicator identifies students as on-track if they earn at least five full-year course credits and no more than one semester F in their first year of high school. On-track students are more than three and one-half times more likely to graduate from high school in four years than off-track students. The indicator is a more accurate predictor of graduation than students' previous achievement test scores or their background characteristics.

Perhaps the most important finding from this report is that failures during the first year of high school make a student much less likely to graduate. Based on their findings, the authors believe that parents and teachers should carefully monitor students' grades, especially in the first semester of freshman year, when there are still many opportunities to improve grades. Helping students make a successful transition to high school during the first semester could make students more likely to graduate.

This report also finds that on-track students are not necessarily the students with the highest achievement test scores. Many students with strong achievement fail to graduate, and many students who have demonstrated weaker achievement succeed in graduating.

Finally, this report concludes that the particular school a student attends plays a large role in whether the student is on-track. While we expect schools to have students with differing levels of preparation for high school, differences in the number of students on-track at each school remained even when the authors controlled for students' eighth-grade test scores and socioeconomic status. This suggests that school climate and structure play a significant role in whether students succeed in high school.

Schools can use the on-track indicator, which makes use of readily available data on course credits and failures, to understand what aspects of the school may be leading students to drop out.

This indicator identifies students as on-track if they earn at least five full-year course credits and no more than one semester F in their first year of high school. On-track students are more than three and one-half times more likely to graduate from high school in four years than off-track students. The indicator is a more accurate predictor of graduation than students' previous achievement test scores or their background characteristics.

Perhaps the most important finding from this report is that failures during the first year of high school make a student much less likely to graduate. Based on their findings, the authors believe that parents and teachers should carefully monitor students' grades, especially in the first semester of freshman year, when there are still many opportunities to improve grades. Helping students make a successful transition to high school during the first semester could make students more likely to graduate.

This report also finds that on-track students are not necessarily the students with the highest achievement test scores. Many students with strong achievement fail to graduate, and many students who have demonstrated weaker achievement succeed in graduating.

Finally, this report concludes that the particular school a student attends plays a large role in whether the student is on-track. While we expect schools to have students with differing levels of preparation for high school, differences in the number of students on-track at each school remained even when the authors controlled for students' eighth-grade test scores and socioeconomic status. This suggests that school climate and structure play a significant role in whether students succeed in high school.

Schools can use the on-track indicator, which makes use of readily available data on course credits and failures, to understand what aspects of the school may be leading students to drop out.