On May 1, 2025, GRAD Partnership organizing partner, RISE Network, released a new study demonstrating the efficiency of the On-Track Coach (OTC) strategy. Research shows Grade 9 on-track achievement (i.e., whether a student earns enough credits to be promoted on time to sophomore year) is the best predictor of whether a student will graduate from high school within four years — more so than test scores, family income, or race/ethnicity. Students who are off-track are at far greater risk of disengagement and disconnection from school.

On-Track, or Student Success Coaches, provide essential support for their students by serving as key collaborators with multiple stakeholders. They work closely with educators and administrators, enhancing their understanding of student progress through collaborative practices such as grade-level improvement (student success) team meetings and classroom push-ins. They also act as a critical bridge linking school staff and caregivers, sharing vital information and building supportive relationships. Most importantly, they engage in consistent check-ins with students, fostering trusting relationships that allow their students to access support during the ninth grade.

Key findings of the internal evaluation include:

• Students on an OTC caseload – those demonstrating high needs (i.e. students with low grades and/or low attendance in eighth grade) end their ninth grade year just as on-track as their peers who are not on a caseload. This is significant, in that students who showed academic and/or attendance challenges in Grade 8 are just as successful with regard to Grade 9 on-track achievement as their peers, when they have an OTC.
• OTCs narrow the gap between students on a caseload and students off a caseload with college-ready grade point averages (GPAs) by 12 percentage points.
• OTCs narrow the gap between students on a caseload and students off a caseload who are not chronically absent by 11 percentage points.

Read the executive summary or full report.