Introduction

This report examines the 4-Year Graduation Rate for the 2020–2021 cohort in the School District of Philadelphia. Only the 2020–2021 cohort and the “4-Year Graduation Rate” were selected, corresponding to students who entered 9th grade in 2020–2021 and were expected to graduate in 2023–2024. All suppressed values (“s”) were removed, and the variables for cohort size (denom), number of graduates (num), and graduation rate (score) were converted to numeric for analysis.

Bargraph of All Schools by Sector

Before plotting, the dataset was filtered to include only “All Students.” The sector variable was converted into a factor to control the order of categories, showing “District” (SDP K–12) first and “Alternative” second. This bar chart displays the number of schools in each sector, illustrating how most schools in the dataset belong to the SDP District sector compared to the smaller group of Alternative schools.

## Histogram of Cohort Size

The variable denom represents the total number of students in each school’s 2020–2021 cohort. After removing suppressed values and converting the column to numeric, a histogram was created using a bin width of 50 to show how cohort sizes are distributed. The figure indicates that most schools have moderate cohort sizes, while only a few have very large or small enrollments.

Density Plot of Graduates

The num variable represents the total number of students who successfully graduated within four years. The curve highlights that most schools cluster within a middle range of graduate counts, with fewer schools at the low or high ends. The smooth curve without multiple peaks suggests relatively consistent graduation patterns across schools.

Boxplot of Graduation Rate

The score variable shows each school’s 4-Year Graduation Rate expressed as a percentage. The boxplot summarizes the distribution of graduation rates across all schools, revealing the median performance and the spread of outcomes. The graduation rate distribution is generally high, with most schools’ four-year graduation rates between 80% and 95%.

Boxplots Comparing Male and Female Scores

The data were filtered to include only records where the subgroup variable equals “Male” or “Female.” The figure shows visual comparison of the central tendency and variability of 4-Year Graduation Rates by gender. Those plots show similar distributions of graduation rates. The median graduation rate for females is slightly higher, and the spread is narrower, meaning female students tend to graduate at marginally higher rates and with less variability.