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.
As part of a strategic plan to accelerate academic achievement, in 2024-25 the School District of Philadelphia adopted EL Education for grades K-8, a standards-aligned core instructional resources for English Language Arts with a focus on the Science of Reading. In Year 1 of EL Education implementation, the Office of Research and Evaluation conducted focus groups to answer the question: Do teachers, school leaders, and central office support staff believe they have enough materials, training, and support to implement the new ELA curricula with integrity/fidelity (as intended)?
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 this issue brief, we present a short summary of research findings about school grade configurations and their relationship to the academic and socioemotional development of K-12 students.
In this brief we present Philadelphia public high school graduation rates from 2013-14 to 2023-24 and examine the trends in this metric by different student groupings.
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.
In spring 2025, the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) administered a survey and conducted a series of listening sessions to gather feedback from parents and guardians about their priorities for the Parent and Family University program. This slide deck summarizes results from both the survey and the listening sessions.
Each year, the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) administers a budget priorities survey to gather stakeholder feedback that will inform the next year’s budget. A total of 5,508 stakeholders representing 254 District schools/programs responded to the survey.