Approximately 70% of the Philadelphia School District’s eighth graders apply for admission to a high school other than their local, nonselective school. However when the admissions cycle is complete, 55% of those who had applied elsewhere end up enrolled in their neighborhood schools. These often large, nonselective neighborhood high schools are the ones most frequently criticized for failing to meet the needs of students, and contributing to Philadelphia’s low graduation rate of only 59%. In order to improve this statistic, and strengthen the high schools which serve the majority of Philadelphia’s students, every facet of the current system supporting these schools must be examined, including the District’s admissions procedures, a critical aspect which has rarely been a part of the discussion on how to improve Philadelphia’s struggling high schools.
A new study by Philadelphia-based Research for Action maintains that these neighborhood high schools are disadvantaged by Philadelphia’s admissions process. The first policy brief from the study, The Transition to High School: School “Choice” and Freshman Year in Philadelphia, shows how some of the factors which contribute to poor performance in these schools – such as fluctuating student population, lack of student data for teachers and support staff, and low retention of faculty – could be improved by making changes to Philadelphia’s current high school admissions procedures. While clearly the selection process is only one of many factors contributing to poor performance at large neighborhood schools, the new research highlights this issue and offers recommendations to improve the admissions processes currently stacking the deck against neighborhood high school success.
The Philadelphia School District manages a tiered system of high schools which include: special admissions schools which employ stringent admissions criteria; citywide admissions schools which use a combination of specific but less stringent admissions criteria and lottery; charter schools which frequently screen students through an interview process, followed by lottery; and neighborhood high schools which are open to any student in their catchment area. While the majority of Philadelphia’s high school freshmen eventually enroll in their neighborhood schools, the admissions process for other schools occupies them for much of the preceding school year.
“Neighborhood high schools are distinctly disadvantaged by the schedule of the admissions cycle,” explains Dr. Eva Gold, RFA co –founder, Senior Research Fellow and lead researcher of the study. “Students are notified of admissions results in late spring, and the waitlist process can continue though the first day of school. Nearly 20% of
neighborhood high school students end up enrolling in classes after the first day of school, as opposed to 1 – 2% at special and citywide admissions schools. This affects everything, from course scheduling, to the delayed assessment of student needs, the inability to build strong initial relationships with students and their families, to teacher placement which can be directly affected by fluctuating class size. Neighborhood high schools just don’t know who their students are until late in the school year game, which robs them of the opportunity to assess their needs over the summer, prepare accordingly, and have a strong start to the year.”
The Transition to High School also points out inequities in access to information about high school options, a factor that contributes to increased stratification among students attending schools in different admissions categories. The Philadelphia School District’s High School Directory provides much less information than guides from other large urban areas such as New York and Chicago. In addition, access to additional information and District personnel varies greatly among guidance counselors. This circumstance exacerbates the already uneven rates of enrollment, as students do not receive uniformly accurate advice from the beginning of the admissions process.
While chronically underperforming schools are influenced by a wide variety of factors, The Transition to High School highlights ways in which changes to Philadelphia’s admissions system itself could help to strengthen large neighborhood high schools. The report offers a number of recommendations to address the problems uncovered by the study—many of which can be implemented in time for the beginning of the 2010/2011 school year. Specifically:
1. Shorten the school choice and admissions timeline so that students and families know which schools they will be attending earlier.
2. Ensure that student performance data arrives at neighborhood high schools well before school begins.
3. Secure student and teacher stability so that leveling and rescheduling are avoided.
4. Make neighborhood high schools more appealing and supportive work environments and create incentives to attract and retain high quality teachers in the 9th grade.
5. Increase information available about Philadelphia high schools and the choice process.
6. Maintain a focus on ways in which greater personalization can be incorporated into the ninth grade transition.
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