Transition to High School Key to Retention, Graduation

Newswise — The high school dropout rate remains a significant U.S. social problem, and Olga Reyes, UIC professor of psychology, says the transition to high school is often overlooked when addressing the issue. "Most students experience some decline in performance during this transition, and many never recover these losses," says Reyes. She describes interventions, such as school visits by prospective freshman, mentor programs and creating "schools within a school," as effective in preventing school failure and dropout. Reyes says that transition difficulties are exacerbated by coinciding adolescent developmental changes.