Changing the Finish Line: Implications of new graduation requirements in the School District of Philadelphia

Interactive map of District high schools

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Summary

Beginning with the class of 2023, Pennsylvania high school students will need to demonstrate career or postsecondary preparedness to meet statewide graduation requirements and receive a diploma. The new graduation requirements, enacted in 2018 by Pennsylvania’s Act 158, are intended to codify high standards for all students and improve student achievement across Pennsylvania while also taking into account student strengths, interests, and career goals.

This map can be used to explore the potential impact of Act 158 for each District-operated high school in Philadelphia, based on pre-pandemic data on Keystone performance.

Based on these data, we find:

• Of the 80 School District of Philadelphia high schools in this study, there were only 13 schools–all of which are criteria-based schools–where we might expect Act 158 to have the least impact. In those thirteen schools at least 75% of students either would have met or been close to meeting the Keystones graduation pathways
• There are 61 schools where Keystone performance rates indicate that less than half of the students would have met or nearly met the requirements for graduation through the Keystone pathways. This group of schools includes all of the District’s catchment and alternative schools and the Philadelphia Virtual Academy.
• There are 49 schools where less than 25% of students would have either met or almost met the requirements for graduation through the Keystone pathways, including all but one of the District alternative schools.