The District announces launch of High School Student Forums. Learn more here.
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.
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.
During the summer of 2022, the Office of Research and Evaluation held a series of focus groups to better understand how students interpret and respond to key Philly School Experience Survey questions related to school climate and instructional environment. This slide deck presents findings with a focus on student perceptions of school safety, using both qualitative and quantitative analyses to explore the factors underlying specific survey results.
Through Listening and Learning sessions held from February to May 2023, we sought to better understand the factors that most impact teacher attendance and retention. This slide deck presents the findings from sessions with School-Based Teacher Leaders (STBLs), school leaders, and Central Office staff.
Each year, SDP and its partner organizations offer a variety of summer programs to ensure that students, especially those most vulnerable to experiencing summer learning loss, have the opportunity to continue learning during the summer months. This report provides a summary of the 2023 summer programs, including information about enrollment and attendance, and findings from surveys and observations.
The annual Philly School Experience Survey (PSES) is one of the best tools we have for monitoring conditions in Philadelphia public schools. This deck summarizes the 2022-23 survey results for District and alternative schools, highlighting system-level trends across the six core survey topics.
In the fall of 2021, the School District of Philadelphia administered the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) to 1,351 randomly selected high school students from 30 District schools. This report highlights statistically weighted results from the 2021 Philadelphia YRBS, which means that the results are considered representative of high school students in the entire District.
Through Listening and Learning sessions held from February to May 2023, we sought to better understand the challenges and barriers that prevent students from attending school on time every day. This slide deck presents the findings from sessions with school leaders and students.
Attendance is important for positive educational outcomes. Research has found that high attendance is associated with reading at or above a student’s grade level, scoring at or above grade level in math, and being prepared for college and career. This brief uses attendance data across all students enrolled in District schools, including alternative programs, to identify trends in student attendance from 2017-18 to 2021-22.