High school administrators in the United States find students dropping out of school problematic. The federal government created the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) mandate to provide a system of accountability to public schools and school systems, while stressing the importance of teaching research-based lessons. According to the mandate, schools and school systems must demonstrate and maintain satisfactory scores on state-mandated standardized assessments. The state-mandated assessment in West Virginia is the WESTEST. Similar to their peers nationally, many West Virginia high school students do not meet the state-mandated standards on sections of the WESTEST. The purpose of the current study was to determine if relationships exist between student participation in a freshman transition academy, WESTEST scores as reported by the West Virginia Education Information System (WVEIS), and the number of students dropping out of school in a suburban county high school. Study participants were students who did and did not participate in the freshman academy. The null hypotheses were rejected based on the MANOVA and chi-square results. Educational leaders may find the study results helpful for developing strategies to maximize student learning, better preparing students for state mandated standardized tests, and conducting future research evaluating student dropout prevention strategies. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]