Abstract
Ninth grade transition to high school marks a critical educational juncture and a significant event in the lives of adolescents. This is a pivotal year where transitioning students suddenly find themselves struggling to navigate large, impersonal, and competitive environments. In school districts across the United States the enormity of the problem associated with ninth grade transition cannot be understated. Educators struggle to improve the overall success rate for these students because ninth grade is the most failed grade in public school. The purpose of this quasi-experimental research study was to analyze the impact of a summer school intervention program that focused on preparing students for the transition to high school. The study analyzed critical components associated with high school transition, achievement, and success for 120 students in the Sacramento, California area. The findings from this study will add valuable insight to the body of knowledge and research that currently exists for the development and implementation of ninth grade transition to high school programs. The study has identified trends, practices, and negative factors that are alarming. The significance of socioeconomic conditions and ethnicity has compounded the systemic failure of ninth graders in suburban and urban high schools. Academic achievement, student behavior and attendance are the three overarching areas that have been identified as needing intervention. If left unattended this issue will have a profound and devastating effect on student outcomes, increased dropouts rate, school budgets, and forecasts a dismal future for students of color in public schools. The study used quantitative research methods that examined the relationship and significance between multiple variables in the three general areas of academics, behavior and attendance. An analysis of descriptive statistics, inferential statistics, and t-tests examined the variables and found that there were varying degrees of difference, but there was no significant relationship between the two groups in the study.