The Freshman Transition Initiative was founded in 2004 by Dr. Rebecca Dedmond as a grassroots effort to address the critical need for a classroom-based, comprehensive guidance effort, in either the 8th or 9th grade, to stem the rising tide of dropouts (both high school and college). Working with some of the top experts in the field and the best state standards, she developed the Course Standards for Freshman Transition Classes. Realizing that institutional change required focused leadership and systems, the 10-Step Plan was developed and featured in a November 2005 article in the National Association of Secondary School Principals Principal Leadership magazine.
Since 2004 the FTI has created and produced:
- The Course Standards for Freshman Transition Classes
- The 10-Step Plan for institutionalizing a Freshman Transition Initiative within a school
- Standards Correlations to curriculum and course tools
- An extensive planning manual: The Project Planning Guide for Implementing A Freshman Transition Initiative
- www.freshmantransition.org
- Articles and briefs in various magazines and newspapers
- 2 and 3-day Freshman Transition Leadership Institutes
- A variety of conference and workshop presentations
- Provide policy makers with the vision of what is possible, as they deliberate their high school reform.
- Serve as a roadmap for educators so they can choose the appropriate curriculum and not be forced.
- Help administrators upgrade their district or state’s standards for Freshman Transition courses.
- Encourage professional curriculum developers and textbook/software publishers to update or create resources for the classroom.
- Learn about themselves—a topic guaranteed to capture the attention of every teen.
- Determine what they want out of life.
- Prepare a personal course of action, a 10-year plan that will take them through high school, post-secondary and into productive employment or work.
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Freshman Transition Initiative web site Course Standards for Freshman Transition Classes A Personal Plan for Life from NASSP’s Principal Leadership |