Similar to the well-established Ninth Grade On-Track (9GOT) metric, SDP also uses a Tenth Grade On-Track (10GOT) metric to track student progress towards graduation. This research brief examines 1) the relationship between students’ 9GOT and 10GOT statuses, and 2) the relationship between students’ 10GOT status, their four-year graduation status, and credits earned.
The Senior Exit Survey is administered annually each spring by the Office of Research and Evaluation (ORE). In 2024-25, ORE received responses from 7,369 seniors at 79 District high schools, representing 73.9% of enrolled 12th grade students.
The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) requires school districts to conduct a follow-up survey with graduates of their Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs. The 2025 graduate follow-up survey asked whether CTE graduates from the class of 2024 had enrolled in college, continued to work or train in their CTE field of study, or pursued other activities.
In the School District of Philadelphia (SDP), the summer melt rate is calculated as the percentage of graduating 12th grade students who intend to go to college but do not matriculate within the first fall after graduation. This brief examines patterns in summer melt rates from 2015-16 to 2023-24 and then looks more closely at characteristics of summer melt for the graduating classes of school years 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24.
The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) requires school districts to conduct a follow-up survey with graduates of their Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs. The 2024 graduate follow-up survey asked whether CTE graduates from the class of 2023 had enrolled in college, continued to work or train in their CTE field of study, or pursued other activities.
This Philadelphia Education Research Consortium (PERC) study focuses on recent patterns of high-school student mobility within SDP and seeks to deepen our understanding of how ELs experience mobility.
Pennsylvania’s Act 158 created a statewide graduation requirement for all Pennsylvania high school students. Students who were in 12th grade during the 2022-23 school year were the first graduates who needed to satisfy the Act 158 requirements. This brief summarizes completion rates of the five pathways for this group of students.
The Philadelphia Education Research Consortium (PERC) study explores the “when and how” of Keystone Exams in the School District of Philadelphia, examining the timing of when students first take Keystone-associated courses, the share of students that pass those courses upon their first attempt, and the Keystone exam-taking patterns of those who pass and fail those courses.
The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) requires school districts to conduct a follow-up survey with graduates of their Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs to learn about their experiences after graduation. This graduate follow-up survey asked whether Class of 2022 CTE graduates had enrolled in college, continued to work or train in their CTE field of study, or pursued other activities.
This brief provides a summary of the major assessments administered in the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) and student participation in these assessments during the 2022-23 school year.