Recovering Credits in the School District of Philadelphia - High School Student Credit Recovery Utilization in 2018-19

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Angel

Credit recovery is examined as a strategy used by the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) to help high school students re-take failed or missing courses required for graduation. The study analyzes eligibility at the end of 2017–18, then school-year enrollment and course completion during 2018–19 for students entering with one or more failed courses. It also tracks subsequent course-taking through 2019–20 and reports utilization patterns by grade, subject area, recovery mode, and disparities across student identity and schools.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages41

Reading Time1 h 43 min

AccessFree to download

About PERC

Suggested Citation

Summary

Credit recovery eligibility and enrollment

Course completion and pass rates

Disparities and equity focus

Key Findings

Acknowledgments The authors gratefully acknowledge the intellectual contributions of researchers and program office staff at the School District of Philadelphia, including Joy Lesnick, Ted Willis, Lucas Westmaas, Molly Schlesinger, Ebru Erdem-Ackay, Aja Carpenter, Ali Robinson-Rogers, and Nyshewana FrancisThompson. At Research for Action, Jonathan Guevara provided helpful background research and copy editing. Kate Shaw offered helpful feedback on report drafts, and Samantha Slade prepared thereport design and graphics. This work was made possible through the support of the Neubauer Family Foundation and the William Penn Foundation. Neither Foundation exercised editorial control over this report, and the contents ofthe report do not necessarily reflect their views. About PERC The mission of the Philadelphia Education Research Consortium (PERC) is to provide timely, actionable, rigorous, and non-partisan research on the most pressing issues facing Philadelphia public education. To do this, PERC seeks to engage the region’s colleges and universities, nonprofits, and the Philadelphia public education sector in respectful, mutually beneficial research-practice partnerships. By providing Philadelphia’s leaders and citizenry with high-quality information about progress, challenges, and effective education strategies, PERC aims to increase educational opportunities and achievement for all Philadelphia students. Suggested Citation APA Style: Pileggi, M., Turner, A., Liu, L., Fontana, J. (2020). Recovering Credits in the School District of Philadelphia: High School Student Credit Recovery Utilization in 2018–19. The Philadelphia Education Research Consortium. Chicago Style: Pileggi, Molly, Alyn Turner, Lindsey Liu, and Jason Fontana. Recovering Credits in the School District of Philadelphia: High School Student Credit Recovery Utilization in 2018–19. The Philadelphia Education Research Consortium., 2020. Recovering Credits in the School District of Philadelphia: High School Student Credit Recovery Utilization in 2018–19 Molly Pileggi, Alyn Turner, Lindsey Liu, and Jason Fontana • November 2020 Summary Nationally, credit recovery has been used as a strategy to encourage and enable students to re-take previously failed courses needed to graduate. The School District of Philadelphia (SDP) offers both in-person and online options for recovering failed or missing credits required for graduation. This study provides a snapshot of the district’s school-year credit recovery utilization—including eligibility, enrollment, and completion—using newly available data for high school students who entered the 2018–19 school year with a record of one or more failed courses. We first examine credit recovery eligibility in traditional high schools at the end of the 2017–18 school year. SDP high school students are eligible for credit recovery if they failed a course that would have accrued a credit in a core subject area of math, English, science, or social studies. Then, we examine school-year credit recovery enrollment the following school year in 2018–19, among those eligible. Since the goal of credit recovery is for students to re-gain lost credits and get back on track to graduation, we then examine course completion and pass rates among students who enrolled in credit recovery in 2018–19. We also follow students through 2019–20 to examine subsequent course-taking among those who successfully recovered credits the previous year. There are three things to keep in mind in this report: • First, we focus on students attending any of SDP’s 52 traditional high schools, excluding students at charter schools or alternative schools (such as evening schools within the SDP Opportunity Network) . For this report, we use the term “traditional” high school to refer to schools that held courses exclusively during the day and fit into one of the following SDP categories: Neighborhood, Citywide, or Special Admission high school. • Se

FAQs

How does the report define credit recovery utilization in SDP?

It tracks eligibility at the end of 2017–18, then enrollment and course completion among eligible students in 2018–19, and follows students through 2019–20 to examine additional course-taking after successful recovery.

What criteria determine eligibility for credit recovery in this study?

SDP students are eligible if they failed a course that would have earned a credit in a core subject area of math, English, science, or social studies.

Which factors does the study use to analyze credit recovery patterns?

The analyses examine utilization by grade level, course subject area, and mode of recovery, and also highlight disparities by student identity and across schools.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Angel