Analysis of Outcomes for Students Attending High Schools with 9th Grade Interventions

About the Program

All high schools in the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) are implementing strategies to improve student attendance, behavior, and achievement as part of the District’s Action Plan 3.0. During the 2016-17 and 2017-18 school years, SDP provided select high schools with additional resources to improve student outcomes, directing particular energy and attention toward supporting the 9th grade year.

High schools were selected for 9th grade interventions based on their level of demonstrated need for additional support, as indicated by low baseline scores for attendance, out-of-school suspensions, and 9th Grade On-Track rates.

About the Research

The Office of Research and Evaluation (ORE) is examining student outcomes in schools implementing at least one of three 9th grade interventions: 9th Grade Academy; College and Career Readiness Pilot; or Institute for Student Achievement (ISA).

The three metrics used to measure student outcomes are attendance (percentage of students attending 95% of school days), suspensions (percentage of students receiving zero out-of-school suspensions), and 9th Grade On-Track (percentage of first-time 9th graders who earn at least one credit each in English, math, science, and social studies, as well as an additional fifth credit).

Using these metrics, ORE has produced a research brief examining early trends in student outcomes at high schools implementing 9th grade interventions. ORE will continue to report on the progress of students involved in these ongoing interventions and will eventually be able to examine long-term outcomes, such as graduation rates.

Early Key Findings

  • After a year of implementation, student outcomes at intervention schools were still lower than at non-intervention schools. However, with only isolated exceptions, all schools with interventions showed improvement from 2016-17 to 2017-18.
  • Schools receiving contracted support from ISA have shown the most consistent improvement among all interventions, and for all metrics.

Click here for the full research brief.