The App Process
For Philadelphia public school students, choosing the right high school can be a daunting task. There are 60 high schools in Philadelphia, and the admissions criteria, academic character, and school climate vary widely. Students apply to high schools early in their eighth grade year; seventh-grade data are used in admissions decisions.
How do students decide which schools to apply to?
To answer this question — and others about the city's high school admissions process — GSE doctoral candidate Clarisse Haxton examined data from about 12,000 Philadelphia students.
Up to now, school choice research has focused on parents — whether they decide to seek out options, and which options they prefer. But Haxton's research also addresses the students' role in the process, as well as how parents' socioeconomic and immigrant status may affect their participation in the choice process.
"The information students have about the high schools and the high school application process influences whether they decide to apply at all to high schools and it influences where they choose to apply," explains Haxton.
Haxton's study divided the schools into three tiers. The most elite schools, magnet schools for the academically gifted, enroll about 16 percent of Philadelphia's high school students. The second-tier schools — vocational schools, art schools, and themed schools — often have less-rigorous academic criteria; the third group, neighborhood high schools, automatically provide space for any student living within their boundaries. These schools have no criteria for enrollment, although students may apply to any neighborhood high school in the city.
Three-quarters of all the students in the study submitted an application to at least one high school. Haxton's data show that many students who were not qualified for the magnet schools nonetheless applied to at least one, and that students were less likely to apply to the second-tier schools. One middle school counselor said quite bluntly that the admissions process is about avoiding the neighborhood high schools whenever possible — "the kids won't survive there."
The roles that students, parents, and the sending schools play in the application process vary considerably. African-American students are more likely to fill out application forms than their white or Latino classmates; however, white and Asian students are more likely, and Latino students less likely, to be admitted to magnet schools. Immigrant parents — who may be less able to read applications or unfamiliar with the American educational system — tended to be less involved.
At the school level, there are also different approaches. School counselors are charged with managing the process, and some favor a more hands-off approach, giving written information to all students, but more details only to those who request it, while others meet individually with as many students and parents as possible. Early awareness and preparation is key, since seventh grade academic and behavioral records are used for high school admissions. Many students and parents are not aware of this until eighth grade, when it is too late.
Major policy questions remain about Philadelphia high school admissions. Are the admissions criteria for the magnet and themed schools appropriate? How can the school district create better options for more students? How can it improve students' and families' access to information about high schools and the high school admissions process?
As challenging as those questions may be, the answers could make all the difference to Philadelphia's students for, as Haxton observes, "where they go to school influences their learning opportunities, their likelihood of graduation, and the likelihood that they will go to college."