In Chicago, over a quarter of students fail at least one semester of algebra in their ninth grade year, and only 13% of students who fail both semesters of Algebra I in ninth grade graduate in 4 years. Offering credit recovery options is one strategy to deal with high failure rates. The primary goal of credit recovery programs is to give students…

The consequences of failing core academic courses during the first year of high school are dire. In the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), only about one-fifth of off-track freshmen--students who fail more than one semester of a core academic course and/or fail to earn enough credits to be promoted to 10th grade--graduate high school, compared with…