The 9th Grade On-Track grants funded by the legislature in the Fiscal Year 2026 budget, will enable schools to roll out evidence-based programming to improve graduation and on-track rates.
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The Issue:
Ninth grade remains one of the most decisive years in a student’s academic trajectory, yet many Arizona students fall off track before earning enough credits to advance.
The Stats:
Arizona’s 9th Grade On-Track grants provide about $150 per freshman to fund data-driven support systems — already serving 4,900 students, driving major gains (with on-track rates rising from roughly 40% to nearly 90% at some campuses), and expected to reach nearly 20,000 more statewide.
The Solution:
Arizona is investing in 9th Grade On-Track grants, helping districts build systems that identify struggling students early and intervene before setbacks become permanent.
Several Arizona school districts — including Phoenix Union High School District, Mesa Public Schools, Tolleson Union, J.O. Combs Unified, and Apache Junction Unified — have been awarded 9th Grade On-Track grants, expanding efforts to improve graduation outcomes by focusing on students during their first year of high school.
"The Arizona Department of Education opened up a grant process to accept applications from school districts," said Jacob Sumner, Arizona marketing and communications manager for Stand for Children. "Funding was then administered on a first-come, first-served basis to school districts whose applications met all the requirements."
The grants are funded at roughly $150 per ninth-grade student, a relatively small but targeted investment designed to support staffing, data systems and interventions that keep students on track to graduate.
While the per-student funding is modest, the model focuses on coordination and early intervention — areas research shows can have outsized impacts on graduation rates.
"These grants, funded by the Legislature in the fiscal year 2026 budget, will enable schools to roll out evidence-based programming to improve graduation and on-track rates," the Arizona Department of Education in a press release.
The grants support structured, data-driven approaches that monitor freshman performance in real time, allowing schools to respond quickly when students begin to fall behind.
Building systems around freshman success
At Phoenix Union, the model is taking shape through a restructuring of how ninth-grade students experience high school.
“PXU has created freshman houses to create a small school environment within a large comprehensive school,” said Nikki Alward, director of student achievement for the district. “Freshman teams establish a core group of teachers… servicing the same students through their first year of high school.”
Those teams — typically English, math and science teachers — meet weekly to review student progress, coordinate support strategies and identify opportunities for enrichment.
Campuses also provide centralized freshman spaces with targeted resources, including counselors, social workers and a freshman house coordinator.
Addressing the transition gap
One of the biggest challenges districts are working to solve is the transition from middle school to high school — a shift that introduces multiple teachers, new expectations and increased independence.
“Some of the specific challenges we encounter deal with maintaining student focus when they transition to a high school schedule with multiple teachers and classroom expectations,” Alward said. “There is currently a push to help students understand deadlines, due dates, and the need to complete work to demonstrate learning and not just for completion.”
That shift in expectations, educators say, is often where students begin to fall off track — particularly if support systems are not in place early.
Expanding support through targeted funding
The On-Track grants are designed to strengthen those supports, particularly outside the traditional school day.
At Phoenix Union, funding has expanded access to after-school tutoring with core content teachers, while also improving communication with families and creating more opportunities to recognize student progress.
“The current funding has enhanced opportunities and resources that allow the school to provide after-school tutoring… in a common space,” Alward said. “Additionally, the funding has allowed schools to increase communication to families… and after-school assemblies that celebrate students being on-track.”
The district has also invested in practical tools — such as student agendas — to help freshmen build time management and organizational skills, which are often cited as key barriers to early high school success.
Measuring success in real time
A central component of the On-Track model is continuous monitoring — not waiting until the end of a semester to identify problems.
Phoenix Union uses weekly data reviews within its freshman teams to track student performance and intervene quickly.
“Weekly data is reviewed… to identify student needs and help reduce the number of students who are off track,” Alward said. “This method has helped establish frequent meetings with students to provide support and improve both academic and campus culture.”
Student progress is formally reviewed every three weeks and shared with families, reinforcing a consistent feedback loop between schools and households.
“We have found that maintaining frequent communication helps our families feel supported,” she added.
A proven pathway to graduation
Education leaders continue to emphasize ninth grade as one of the most reliable indicators of whether a student will ultimately graduate.
“9th grade is a critical foundation for high school success, acting as the strongest predictor of graduation rates,” Alward said. “Data shows that freshmen who are on-track… are three times more likely to graduate.”
By investing in early, structured intervention, districts aim to shift outcomes before students accumulate failures that are difficult to recover from later in high school.
For Arizona schools, the expansion of On-Track grants reflects a broader strategy: focus earlier, act faster and build systems that keep students moving forward from the very start.
Editor’s note: A grant from the Arizona Local News Foundation made this story possible. The foundation awarded 15 newsrooms to pay for solutions-focused education reporters for two years. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.
Meet Stacy Stacy Mantle is joining the team at Independent Newsmedia, Inc. as an Education Solutions journalist, thanks to a grant from the Arizona Community Collaborative. She has a long history in education that ranges from teaching junior high and middle school to developing curriculum and standards-based assessments.
Community: A longtime advocate for animal welfare, Stacy is deeply involved in rescue efforts and volunteers with several nonprofit organizations.
Random Fact: Once upon a time, she shared her home with a pet coyote and two wolf hybrids. The experiences were wild enough to become the subject of her first book!
Education: She holds a BA in English with a minor in Political Science, a Post-baccalaureate in Secondary Education, and an MBA with a emphasis on Marketing.
Hobbies: In her spare time, Stacy writes fast-paced urban fantasy novels, crafts small-batch artisan soap, and is always up for hiking or off-roading through the Arizona wilderness with her husband of 23 years.
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