In April 2024, the Stoneleigh Foundation hosted a panel discussion on the ways in which gun violence is impacting Philadelphia’s schools and students. Representatives from the School District of Philadelphia presented research that is informing policy and practice and improving public safety.
Together is Better (TIB) is a program that supports the implementation of a co-teaching English Learner (EL) model in a small subset of District schools. This report focuses on the final year of grant-funded TIB program implementation (2022-23) in order to understand program implementation and participants’ experiences with the program, and to inform future supports for teaching EL students and co-teaching.
As part of the Promoting Adolescent Student Health (PASH) grant, the Office of Research and Evaluation (ORE) administers the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) every other year. In spring 2023, the YRBS was administered to a random sample of high school students at 31 randomly selected School District of Philadelphia (SDP) schools, and the CDC compiled a summary of the results.
School-based Youth Court is a student-run restorative justice program that helps students to problem-solve and mediate conflicts instead of relying on traditional forms of punishment. The goal of Youth Court is to support a student in repairing the harm that their actions have caused. SDP started implementing school-based Youth Court in the 2017-18 school year. This brief explores the relationship between the implementation of Youth Court and suspension rates and examines the perceptions of the program among students who participate in the Youth Court jury.
This brief provides information about enrollment patterns for K-12 students in Philadelphia’s public schools. The analyses examine enrollment trends with respect to governing sector, admission type, and student demographics from 2014-15 through the present school year, with a particular focus on 2022-23 to 2023-24.
The Keystone exams are end-of-year standardized state assessments typically administered to Pennsylvania students in grades 8-11 as they near completion of the associated English, Algebra, or Biology course. This brief describes annual Keystone exam performance trends between the 2018-19 (pre-Covid) and 2022-23 school years.
In January 2024, the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) Office of Finance, in partnership with the Office of Evaluation, Research, and Accountability, conducted the Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Priorities Survey. A total of 3,641 stakeholders responded to the survey, representing 229 District schools/programs. This slide deck presents a summary of survey results.
The Senior Exit Survey is administered annually each spring by the Office of Research and Evaluation (ORE). In 2022-23, ORE received responses from 6,620 seniors at 78 District high schools, representing 72% of enrolled 12th grade students. This slide deck presents a summary of survey results.
In January 2024, the Education Recovery Scorecard issued a report on the first year of Covid-related academic recovery for school districts in 30 states. According to the research team, the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) is outpacing other large urban districts nationwide and many districts in Pennsylvania in recovering from the pandemic. In math, Philadelphia students recovered nearly half a grade level of learning during the 2022-2023 school year. In reading, Philadelphia students also made gains over the same period.
This data brief reports on 2022-23 PSSA performance for SDP students who qualify for special education services and have an active Individualized Education Program (IEP). Results are summarized by primary disability category.