Studies have shown the impact of focusing on indicators in middle school with regards to preparing students to be successful post-secondary (DiPrete & Buchmann, 2014). Furthermore, educational research has demonstrated that middle school achievement (i.e. grades, grade point average) are the most accurate predictors of college attainment (EdSource, 2014). We know that college and career readiness begins before students even enter high school. The stage is set to focus on early awareness and the time is now to Magnify the Middle! Magnify The Middle is the newest initiative in the Riverside County Educational Collaborative (RCEC) and one of the processes to create a collective consciousness is the Middle School Transcript Analysis (MSTA).

Modeled after the High School A-G Transcript Analysis, the MSTA aims to examine how students interact with their current system with the hope of identifying choke points, patterns and areas to take action in order to improve middle school outcomes.

By assessing how an 8th grade cohort fares in attainment of C’s or better in the four core content areas (math, English language arts, science and history), schools are able to capture a High School Readiness Indicator which can be used to engage in improvement science via tools such as problem and AIM statements and root cause analyses in order to maximize student achievement. By engaging in the process, schools will able to more accurately answer the question, “if your 8th grade cohort had a graduation rate, what percent of your students would be on-track?”

This service is offered to all middle schools within Riverside County and our unit will work with your school leaders to establish a team, acquire transcripts and generate a report of relevant findings based on your school’s data for you.