Enhanced Early Warning Solution Supports Educators With Customized Indicators, Simplified Implementation

Early warning systems can alert educators that students are struggling well before they fail to meet learning objectives. AIR has led the way in validating early warning indicators to identify those at-risk students—and in supporting educators to use data to provide appropriate interventions to ensure that students are on track to meet educational milestones. AIR connects research and evidence to actionable guidance and tools, including the only evidence-based implementation process for early warning systems.

Student Success module—a collaboration between AIR and BrightBytes, a California-based education technology firm—harnesses AIR’s extensive work on early warning systems and helps states, districts, and schools easily and seamlessly monitor students’ readiness along the entire K–20 continuum.

With the Student Success module, educators have access to:

  • Locally validated indicators. Early warning systems typically use nationally recognized, common indicators to identify students who are off track to complete high school on time. Most also use common thresholds, such as an absentee rate of 10% or higher, or a grade point average below 2.0. However, early warning indicators and thresholds typically vary at the local level, as AIR discovered in a recent study of three Ohio districts. Student Success analyzes historical and new data from districts and schools to predict local indicators more precisely.
  • Indicators for postsecondary readiness. While on-time high school graduation is a critical milestone, it’s equally important to monitor students’ readiness for college enrollment. Student Success taps into readily available data to track additional indicators of students’ preparedness for postsecondary enrollment.
  • Simple data integration and automatic updates. The process of integrating data from student information systems and other databases with an early warning system can be cumbersome. Student Success offers data integration services to make data collection easier—and the module automatically updates data frequently.
  • Professional development. AIR offers professional development services to BrightBytes clients. A cadre of trained coaches is ready to work with educators through the early warning system implementation process—and help coordinate efforts to keep students on track toward high school graduation and continued success in their postsecondary education endeavors.

To learn more, please contact Jenny Scala, senior researcher and project manager of AIR’s early warning system services.

Contact
Jenny Scala headshot
Principal Researcher and Practice Area Director