Why we do it

Students fall through the cracks every year because we have pockets of excellence but are lacking a systems approach in many schools. Students who read at grade level by third grade are four times more likely to graduate on time.1 Freshman year is key to predicting who will graduate from high school. Failing one semester course decreases the likelihood of graduating from 83% to 60%; two semester Fs decreases the likelihood to 44%; three reduces that to 31% chance of graduating.

More than 7,000 students drop out of high school every school day. 85 percent of all juvenile offenders rate as functionally or marginally illiterate. Students in the lowest 25 percent of their class in reading are 20 times more likely to dropout and 75% of those end up incarcerated.2 70 percent of prisoners in state and federal systems can be classified as illiterate while 43 percent of those whose literacy skills are lowest live in poverty.

Significant and persistent academic and/or behavioral difficulties can limit success in school and postsecondary opportunities. For some students, the typical evidence-based instruction and behavioral supports provided in the classroom are not sufficient to address their educational needs or prepare them for postsecondary opportunities. They will need individualized, more intensive intervention composed of practices that are evidence- based. Recent research on integrating academic and behavioral interventions has demonstrated promise for improving student outcomes.

Research has identified numerous components within schools’ systems of instruction and intervention that can make an intervention more or less effective and sustainable. For example, the need to improve educators’ knowledge and use of evidence-based interventions through teacher preparation5 and professional development has been well documented.

The leadership and organizational supports, such as scheduling, roles of staff, adequate planning time, professional development structure, evaluation, leadership support, policies, and funding, can also facilitate or impede the effectiveness and sustainability of the system of instruction and intervention.

Addressing academic and behavioral difficulties separately, instead of using an integrated approach, may result in inefficiencies in coordinating intervention. By using a more integrated approach, limited resources can be maximized and organizational structures and efficiency can be improved.

If North Dakota increased its overall graduation rate to 90%, the economic benefits from these 300 additional graduates would likely include as much as:

• $2.3 million in increased annual earnings and $200,000 in annual state and local tax revenues;
• 20 new jobs and a $2.8 million increase in the gross state product;
• $3.1 million in increased home sales and $400,000 in increased auto sales