Research suggests that ninth grade is a critical year for setting the course to high school graduation. The transition to high school is a period of special threat to the academic achievement of many students. On average, students' grades, attendance, and attitudes toward school decline, while their behavioral troubles increase. Urban students and students of color are especially vulnerable and experience more course failure and absenteeism than their peers. Research indicates, therefore, that ninth grade can be accompanied by a confluence of mutually reinforcing, negative indicators. Transition support programs aim to disrupt this downward trajectory or prevent it outright. Research generally shows that a cluster of interventions, rather than a single intervention, most effectively moves the dial toward high school graduation. Although the research base on particular interventions is not large, several studies evaluate three approaches to this type of transition support: (1) Peer Group Connect; (2) Ninth-Grade Academies; and (3) On-Track.