4 Mar 2019
Service

Validate Indicators │ Early Warning Systems in Education

Image of icon showing a checked boxAIR researchers work with schools’, districts’, and states’ own data to identify the indicators that signal students’ readiness for key educational milestones. Starting with indicators drawn from the literature, AIR experts perform appropriate statistical analysis using state-, district-, or school-level data to identify which indicators accurately predict which students are on track.

AIR has extensive experience in identifying and selecting the most appropriate early warning indicators for our clients’ local context. For example, AIR researchers, on behalf of the Regional Educational Laboratory Midwest, identified and selected early warning indicators and thresholds for each of three school districts in Ohio to identify students in grades 8 and 9 who were at risk of failing to graduate high school on time.

Related Centers

Center

Regional Educational Laboratory Midwest (REL Midwest)

The Regional Educational Laboratory Midwest (REL Midwest) helps states, districts, and schools systematically use their data systems; conducts and supports high-quality research and evaluation; and assists educational practitioners and policymakers to incorporate data-based inquiry practices into their decision making.

Related Work

19 Feb 2016
Guide

District Guide for Creating Indicators for Early Warning Systems

While research has validated early warning indicators for high school dropout and other educational milestones in many locations, those indicators may vary across contexts. This step-by-step guide was created to help school districts identify and select their own early warning indicators. Included in the guide is a set of templates to document decisions and organize the analysis to identify and select appropriate early warning indicators for your school or district.
Topic: 
Education, District and School Improvement
19 Jul 2016
Report

Identifying Early Warning Indicators in Three Ohio School Districts

A growing number of school districts are using early warning systems in their strategy for improving rates of student on-time graduation. The study used student-level data and a five-step process to identify the most accurate indicators of students’ failure to graduate from high school on time.
Topic: 
Education, District and School Improvement
7 Dec 2009
Report

What Matters for Staying On-Track and Graduating in Chicago Public Schools: A Focus on Students with Disabilities

This report found that absences, course failures, course credits and GPA all can be used to accurately predict whether ninth-graders with disabilities will graduate from high school. Identifying these early warning indicators is especially crucial for students with disabilities, who drop out of high school at alarming rates.

Topic: 
Education, District and School Improvement, Special Education