The consequences of failing core academic courses during the first year of high school are dire. More students fail courses in ninth grade than in any other grade, and a disproportionate number of these students subsequently drop out (Herlihy, 2007). As shown in Chicago and elsewhere, academic performance in core courses during the first year of high school is the strongest predictor of eventual graduation (Allensworth & Easton, 2005). Credit recovery online courses are a promising and popular strategy strategy to address high failure rates. This paper describes the design and initial implementation of a randomized control trial that was designed to strengthen the evidence base for online credit recovery. Using a sample of Chicago Public School first-time freshman who failed second semester Algebra (Algebra IB), the study tests: (1) the impact of online Algebra I for credit recovery against the standard face-to-face (f2f) version of the course; and (2) the effects of offering expanded credit recovery options with online algebra, relative to business as usual (i.e., summer programming that schools would offer in the absence expanded credit recovery efforts).