The Make-or-Break Year: Solving the Dropout Crisis One Ninth Grader at a Time

Whether you're working in policy, district leadership, site administration, or as a classroom teacher, this book offers an exceptional insight into the core principles of effective education reform. By telling the story of the Freshman OnTrack efforts in the Chicago Public Schools, the author illuminates the value of reflective practice, collaborative student support, and the potential of data informed decision making. The author also shines a light on how political processes and upheaval can both enable and disrupt education reforms, often bringing change for the sake of politics rather than student learning and well-being. With engrossing stories of students and educators to make the story human and dynamic, this serves as an exceptional case study in education reform.

A must read for freshmen teachers.

This book was both informative, explaining the critical nature of the first year in high school, and heartwarming, with how dedicated and valuable teachers can be.

An insightful book given the times we live in. Although entirely written with an American audience in mind, this book has some important lessons for educators globally. A compelling analysis on how a research-backed education policy can succeed, giving hope to education practitioners. It was fascinating to learn the criticality of the freshman year in high school from a data perspective, a brain science lens, and a developmental mindset viewpoint. This book will keep you engaged if you have an interest in education policy and also gives all of us hope to make up for the learning losses that the pandemic has generated.

This is a must-read for researchers, school administrators, anyone working to improve high school graduation rates in under-served communities. Phillips distills important research into digestible steps for principals, teachers, school social workers and parents. The Make or Break Year tells the important journey of Chicago Public Schools and illustrates how relevant and applicable Freshman OnTrack is for students all around the U.S.