Dive Brief:
- An initiative to keep 9th graders on track is credited with helping to boost high school graduation rates by 10.2 percentage points over the last seven years in the School District of Philadelphia.
- The district's 9th Grade On-Track strategy was launched in 2018 to identify barriers to success early in students' high school careers, monitor their progress and ensure they're set to graduate and be prepared for college and careers.
- “When kids graduate from high school and are college and career ready, we know they have a much better life chance, we know they're likely to have better health care and better job incomes,” said Tony Watlington, the Philadelphia district’s superintendent. These students are also more likely to be civically engaged, he told K-12 Dive.
Dive Insight:
The transition from middle school to high school is crucial to student success, but this transition can be fraught as students encounter new academic challenges and increased responsibility for their own learning, according to a 2024 report by national nonprofit Education Resource Strategies.
Moreover, the report found that these changes can contribute to increased academic or behavioral concerns for struggling students. Those who don’t master foundational skills in 9th grade are less likely to do well in the rigorous high school courses that lead to postsecondary success, the report said.
To closely monitor this transition and keep students from falling through the cracks, Philadelphia’s program provides teachers and administrators with tools for monitoring attendance and progress. Parents can also access summary reports to help them understand their children's strengths and challenges.
In the Philadelphia district, a 9th grader is considered “on track” for graduation if they earn at least one credit in each of the four core areas — English, math, science and social studies — in addition to one credit from a non-core class. Students who earn all As and Bs in these requirements are considered “firmly" on track.
A December 2023 report from the district showed that while being firmly on track is associated with the best graduation outcomes, any variety of on-track status indicates a high likelihood of graduating in four years. The study found a roughly 14-percentage point difference between the graduation rates of 9th graders considered firmly on track and those who were on-track but at risk.
While all 331 schools in the district have access to the monitoring tools, initiative partner Philadelphia Academies — a nonprofit working to improve outcomes for Philadelphia youth — works with a cohort of schools that receive weekly coaching and teacher professional development.
For the 2024-2025 school year, this 9th Grade Success Network cohort includes 24 campuses. The district plans to expand that to 32 schools in future years. Watlington said schools selected for the network tend to have graduation rates below 90% and to have expressed interest in incorporating the strategies.
For educators and administrators interested in introducing something similar into their schools or district, Watlington said it's important not to put the bulk of the workload on school staff. Instead of overburdening teachers and principals, he suggests figuring out how to also build partnerships with parents and community and philanthropic organizations.
Apart from expanding to more schools next year, Watlington said the district is looking into academic patterns that manifest during middle school so the district can assist students even before they enter high school.
