ERIC Number: ED509446
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2010-Feb
Pages: 8
Abstractor: As Provided
Reference Count: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
Challenges to Freshman Year Interventions in Philadelphia. Policy Brief
Research for Action
Philadelphia made early investments in reforms designed to address the challenges of large neighborhood high schools, including supports for the critical ninth grade transition year. Well over a decade later, our research shows that freshman year interventions are frequently not implemented in ways that maximize their effectiveness. This policy brief focuses on the challenges to implementing five key interventions to support ninth graders--challenges which are most severe in the large neighborhood high schools that enroll a disproportionate share of students at risk of dropping out. The brief concludes with recommendations to the School District of Philadelphia on how it can build and sustain a strategic focus on freshman year interventions that commits to providing the resources, incentives, and professional development needed to support and sustain effective practices--particularly in neighborhood high schools. (Contains 2 tables and 12 footnotes.) [This brief draws on a larger study, "The Transition to High School: School "Choice" and Freshman Year in Philadelphia".]
Descriptors: Neighborhoods, High Schools, At Risk Students, Grade 9, Transitional Programs, High School Freshmen, Intervention, Program Effectiveness, School Orientation, Teacher Placement, Principals, College Bound Students, Mathematics Instruction, English Instruction, Remedial Instruction, Teacher Effectiveness, Tutoring, Teacher Expectations of Students
Research for Action. 3701 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104. Tel: 215-823-2500; Fax: 215-823-2510; e-mail: info@researchforaction.org; Web site: http://www.researchforaction.org
Publication Type: Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Grade 9; High Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: William Penn Foundation
Authoring Institution: Research for Action
Identifiers - Location: Pennsylvania