Identifying and Influencing Students at Risk of Not Finishing High School

Fellows: Xiang Cheng, Jacqueline Gutman, Johanna Torrence, Zhe Zhang
Data Science Mentor(s): Ali Vanderveld, Kevin Wilson
Project Manager: Chad Kenney
Project Partner: Muskingum Valley Educational Service Center

Muskingum Valley is the largest of Ohio’s 53 educational service centers (ESCs), which oversee the state’s 1.5 million preschool through 12th grade students. MVESC serves 16 school districts in five counties, over 30,000 students, and nearly 2,000 teachers. They would like to use the data they’ve collected from these schools to better identify students who need help graduating high school on time or at risk of struggling in college.

In 2016, we collaborated with MVESC to adapt and expand upon models built for previous educational partners such as Mesa Public Schools, Montgomery County Public Schools, and other public and charter school networks. Our past work created models that identify students in most need of additional intervention to reach their academic goals, as well as what factors are driving their struggles, so that students can be matched with the most appropriate programs.

More information about our work with Muskingum Valley can be found here.