Report: 'High school choice an illusion'

by Paul Socolar on Feb 03 2010 Posted in Latest news

Fewer than half of the Philadelphia eighth graders who tried to gain admission to a high school other than their neighborhood school were successful, according to a new policy brief released today by Research for Action (RFA).

The brief is based on a larger, forthcoming RFA study that studied the transition to high school in Philadelphia for the class that entered ninth grade in 2007.

Seventy percent of that cohort of students participated in the District's high school selection process, but only 45 percent of those who completed the application ending up attending a school to which they applied.

"What we saw is that for most District eighth graders, high school choice is an illusion," said researcher Eva Gold of RFA.

"What this brief really points out is the way in which the high school choice process disadvantages both students who don't have robust support systems and neighborhood schools - by creating challenges to their ability to support students in their critical ninth grade year," Gold said.

The report recommends changes to the application process and also calls for an SRC commission to explore how to "distribute students with different achievement levels and diferent learning needs across a broader range of schools."

In Philadelphia's "tiered system of schools" - selective admission, citywide admission, and neighborhood high schools - the RFA study finds a stratified system in which the neighborhood schools have the deck stacked against them. They end up with most of the District's high-needs students and yet get the least information about who is enrolling at their schools. Late enrollment is a big issue:18 percent of ninth graders in the neighborhood high schools arrive after the first day, compared to only 1 percent at selective admissions schools.