A new study is looking at whether online courses help prevent high school students from dropping out.

Nineteen high schools across Massachusetts, including Springfield, Holyoke, Pittsfield and North Adams are participating in the study by the UMass Donahue Institute. The Institute’s Eliot Levine says the research will focus on online programs that are similar to traditional summer school classes.

“Many students have gotten credits that they wouldn’t have earned otherwise, or have been able to rejoin their grade level, or have been able to graduate as a result of the flexibility and alternative pathway that these programs offer,” Levine adds.

Levine says it seems likely this will be a promising approach for some. But he says there’s not enough evidence to determine whether the courses are effective for students who are considered high-risk of dropping out. And that what this study, involving some six thousand students, will try to figure out.