Case Study: MindPrint Learning Data Enhances Student Retention

Although students must pass an entrance exam to be admitted to Walnut Hills (the top high school in Ohio Public Schools), historically, 20% of 7th and 8th graders had two or more failing grades and were not invited to return to the elite school. The failing students were disproportionately students of color. School leaders needed to address this problem with an innovative educational plan.

In 2018, Walnut Hills secured an Accelerate Great Schools grant to implement MindPrint Learning with their students. Every student takes the MindPrint assessment to identify their strengths and needs to inform their personalized learning plan.

Walnut Hills established a Student Success Center to provide additional support for students who were considered "at risk" either upon acceptance based on their performance at their prior school, or after they were notified of failing two or more classes at Walnut Hills. Every student in the program takes the MindPrint assessment and Student Success Coordinators create a personalized learning plan for every student using the MindPrint data, teacher observations, and parent and student feedback. Students work with their Student Success Coordinators a minimum of twice per week.

Christine Wickemeier, head of Walnut Hill’s Student Success Center, explains the benefits of MindPrint:

Traditional cognitive or neuropsychological evaluations can be time-consuming and costly, Wickemeier says. They also require a level of training and expertise.

“The average teacher or special educator does not have a strong understanding of cognitive functioning,” Wickemeier says. “[MindPrint] makes it possible for teachers and students at Walnut Hills to understand strategies that are going to be most effective based on students’ cognitive strengths and needs without having to know the science behind why,” she adds.

Within two years of implementing MindPrint Learning, the drop-out rate among 7th and 8th graders at Walnut Hills declined from 20% to less than 5%. Through the Student Success Center and MindPrint, the majority of students developed the self-efficacy skills necessary to succeed in the competitive environment at Walnut Hills.

Cincinnati Public Schools has plans to implement this successful model in all of their high schools.