ERIC ED603195: Inequities in Advanced Coursework: What's Driving Them and What Leaders Can Do

4.3 MB·English

by  ERIC

INEQUITIES IN
ADVANCED
COURSEWORK:
What’s Driving Them and What Leaders Can Do
EdTrust.org
#AdvancedCoursework
The disparities in access to advanced
coursework are not inevitable. State
leaders, as well as district and school
leaders, can take meaningful steps
to put their state on the path to fair
representation, by setting clear goals
for advancing access to and success
in advanced coursework, using data
to identify the barriers that prevent
students of color and students
from low-income backgrounds from
enrolling in advanced courses, and
implementing the right statewide
solutions for their particular problems.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary ..........................................................................................................................................2
Introduction ......................................................................................................................................................4
Our Analysis .....................................................................................................................................................6
What We Learned ............................................................................................................................................7
State Stories ..................................................................................................................................................16
Why Is This Happening ..................................................................................................................................19
State Policy Solutions ....................................................................................................................................20
What District and School Leaders Can Do ....................................................................................................24
Endnotes.........................................................................................................................................................26
Technical Note ...............................................................................................................................................28
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
INEQUITIES IN
ADVANCED
COURSEWORK:
What’s Driving Them and What Leaders Can Do
Kayla Patrick, P-12 data and policy analyst; Allison Socol, assistant director of P-12 policy;
Ivy Morgan, associate director for analytics
IN THIS REPORT,
The Education Trust with inequitable course assignment, meaning Black
examines the many ways Black and Latino students are and Latino students in particular are being denied
locked out of the advanced coursework opportunities access to courses. Also, within a particular state, the
that can set them up for success in college and problems are often different for Black students than
careers. Here, we paint a picture at both national and Latino students. In all cases, unearthing these barriers
state levels of how these students are denied access to opportunity will help state leaders pursue targeted
to meaningful advanced coursework opportunities, solutions that will actually move the needle for both
from elementary to middle to high school. We also groups of students.
diagnose the particular types of barriers standing in
their way and offer actionable solutions for state, FINDING 1: Black and Latino students are successful
district, and school leaders to address those barriers. in advanced courses when given the opportunity.
In some instances, the problem is that Black and
Latino students attend a school without any advanced FINDING 2: While it is clear Black and Latino
courses; in others, they attend a school that enrolls too students are often successful in advanced
few students in advanced coursework overall, or one coursework opportunities, they are still not fairly
represented in advanced courses.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

FINDING 3: Nationally, inequities are largely due 3(b): Total Seats: The schools that enroll the most
to (1) schools that serve mostly Black and Latino Black and Latino students have slightly fewer students
students not enrolling as many students in advanced enrolled overall in advanced courses than schools that
classes as schools that serve fewer Black and Latino serve fewer Black and Latino students.
students; and (2) schools — especially racially
diverse schools — denying Black and Latino students 3(c): Share of Seats: Among schools that offer
access to those courses. advanced courses, Black and Latino students are often
denied access to those courses. This is especially true
3(a) Courses Offered: Nationally, Black and Latino in racially diverse schools.
students are fairly represented among schools that
offer advanced courses. But there are still too many
schools that don’t offer the courses at all.
WHAT STATE LEADERS CAN DO:
1.
Set clear, measurable goals for advancing access to and success in advanced coursework
and commit to publicly measuring state and district progress toward those goals.
2.
Use data to identify the barriers that prevent students of color and students from low-
income backgrounds from enrolling in advanced courses.
3.
Invest dollars to expand advanced coursework opportunities in schools serving the most
Black and Latino students.
4.
Expand eligibility and increase access so that Black and Latino students have a fair
chance to take advanced courses.
5.
Provide sufficient support for students to prepare for advanced coursework and for their
success once they are enrolled.
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INEQUITIES IN
ADVANCED
COURSEWORK:
What’s Driving Them and What Leaders Can Do
Kayla Patrick, P-12 data and policy analyst; Allison Socol, assistant director of P-12 policy;
Ivy Morgan, associate director for analytics
BLACK AND LATINO STUDENTS across the country hundreds of thousands of students of color and
experience inequitable access to advanced students from low-income backgrounds were
coursework opportunities. They are locked out missing out on these opportunities.3 Yet, despite
of these opportunities early when they are the many relevant studies, there has been little
denied access to gifted and talented programs in widespread progress. The underrepresentation of
elementary school, and later in middle and high Black students in gifted and talented programs, for
school, when they are not enrolled in eighth grade instance, has barely budged since 1993.4
algebra and not given the chance to participate
in Advanced Placement (AP), International Beyond missing out on critical opportunities, Black and
Baccalaureate (IB), and dual enrollment programs. Latino students also are being sent a harmful message
As a result, these students are missing out on that advanced courses are not for them, or worse,
critical opportunities that can set them up for that they are not smart enough to participate. It’s a
success in college and careers.1 dangerous perception that fuels the persistent gaps in
opportunities that exist in schools across the country.
This is not a new problem. Researchers have known Yet, when advanced opportunities are extended to
for decades that Black and Latino students are students of color and when teachers receive training
assigned to advanced courses at much lower rates and resources, these students thrive alongside their
than their peers.2 In 2013, The Education Trust, for peers.5 In general, students in advanced courses work
example, looked closely at AP and IB participation harder and engage more in school, leading to fewer
rates nationally and by school and found that absences and suspensions and higher graduation
This report was produced with data analysis and research support from
Dorothyjean Cratty, research consultant.
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rates.6 This is in part due to higher teacher and coursework overall, or one that denies them their
counselor expectations and support that come with fair share of seats in those courses. Also, within a
being enrolled in advanced coursework. particular state, the problems are often different for
Black students than Latino students. In all cases,
The truth is that Black and Latino students are not unearthing these barriers to opportunity will help
receiving these opportunities for reasons that have state leaders pursue targeted solutions that will
everything to do with policies, adult decisions, and actually move the needle for both groups of students.
practices and little to do with students’ academic
abilities.7 This paper and the accompanying state The disparities in access to advanced coursework are
data tool tell that story. In this analysis, we paint a not inevitable. State leaders, as well as district and
picture at both national and state levels of how these school leaders, can take meaningful steps to put their
students are denied access to meaningful advanced state on the path to fair representation, by setting
coursework opportunities, from elementary to middle clear goals for advancing access to and success in
to high school. We also diagnose the particular types advanced coursework, using data to identify the
of barriers standing in their way and offer actionable barriers that prevent students of color and students
solutions for state, district, and school leaders to from low-income backgrounds from enrolling in
address those barriers. In some states, the problem advanced courses, and implementing the right
is that Black and Latino students attend a school statewide solutions for their particular problems.
without any advanced courses; in others, they attend We offer corresponding policy solutions that state
a school that enrolls too few students in advanced leaders should pursue to address these barriers.
In some states, the problem is that Black and Latino students attend
a school without any advanced courses; in others, they attend a school
that enrolls too few students in advanced coursework overall, or one that denies
them their fair share of seats in those courses. Also, within a particular state,
the problems are often different for Black students than Latino students.
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OUR ANALYSIS
While there are many more courses and programs that can make up a challenging and engaging curriculum,
this report focuses solely on gifted and talented programs, eighth grade Algebra I, and Advanced Placement
(AP). The public availability of data for these opportunities for all schools in the country allows for
comparisons across states. While these opportunities are not exhaustive, we also selected them because
they clearly illustrate the inequities that exist at a variety of critical points in a student’s time in school.
We begin our analysis by looking at eighth grade Algebra I success rates to debunk the myth that students
of color do not excel in advanced courses. Next, we examine whether Black and Latino students are “fairly
represented” in advanced coursework opportunities. If Black and Latino students were fairly receiving advanced
coursework opportunities, their share of enrollment among all students would be comparable to their share
of enrollment among students in the course. For example, if 20% of students in a given state are Black, fair
representation means that 20% of students enrolled in advanced courses in that state are Black. Finally, we
show how different types of inequities play out in states.
Specifically, we analyzed data from the U.S. Department of Education’s 2015–16 Civil Rights Data
Collection (CRDC) and Common Core of Data (CCD) to compare the proportion of Black and Latino
students enrolled in each advanced coursework opportunity (gifted and talented programs, eighth
grade Algebra I, and Advanced Placement) to the proportion of Black and Latino students enrolled
in schools.8 For each opportunity, our analysis includes the following measures:
• Percentage of students attending schools who are Black or Latino
• Percentage of students attending schools that offer the course who are Black or Latino
• Percentage of students enrolled in the course overall who are Black or Latino
• Percentage of students enrolled in the course in schools with the highest and lowest
percentages of Black and Latino students
Our findings include nationwide comparisons of these percentages. In an accompanying data tool,
we present state-by-state comparisons of these percentages. For more details on our data and
measures, please see the technical note on page 28.
WHAT IS FAIR REPRESENTATION?
If Black and Latino students were fairly represented in an advanced course, we would
expect their share of enrollment overall to be similar to their share of enrollment in the
advanced course.
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WHAT WE LEARNED:
In this section we present national findings. However, the story is different
from state to state. See our state data tool for state-level information.
1: THE DATA SHOWS THAT BLACK AND LATINO STUDENTS ARE SUCCESSFUL IN
ADVANCED COURSES WHEN GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY.
Let’s start here. Despite a widely held myth, Black and Latino students can succeed in advanced opportunities
when given the chance. Consider eighth grade Algebra I success rates. Data shows that Black and Latino students
pass eighth grade algebra at a rate proportional to their overall enrollment, meaning a similar share of Black and
Latino students who take the course, pass the course.9 Among schools for which we have passing data for Black
students, those students represent 20% of the students enrolled in eighth grade algebra and 19% of the students
who pass eighth grade algebra. Similarly, Latino students represent 27% of the students enrolled in eighth grade
algebra and 26% of students passing (Figure 1).10
FIGURE 1: Percentage of Black and Latino Students Enrolled in Eighth Grade Algebra and Percentage of Those Passing
BLACK STUDENTS: LATINO STUDENTS:
ENROLLED: 20% ENROLLED: 27%
PASSING: 19% PASSING: 26%
Note: This is among schools that have unsuppressed passing data for Black or Latino students.
Source: Ed Trust calculations based on data from the 2015–16 Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) and the 2015–16 Common Core of Data (CCD).
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2: BLACK AND LATINO STUDENTS many four-year colleges. For example, students who do
ARE STLL NOT FAIRLY REPRESENTED not take algebra in eighth grade will not reach calculus in
high school without doubling up on math courses or taking
IN ADVANCED COURSES.
summer courses. In addition, taking eighth grade algebra
has a wide range of positive effects on students. Studies
While it is clear that Black and Latino students can show that students who take algebra in eighth grade,
be — and very often are — successful in advanced regardless of prior preparation, have higher grade-point
coursework, too many never get the chance to averages and ACT scores, and are more likely to graduate
participate in gifted and talented courses, eighth high school and go to college.14
grade Algebra I courses, and AP courses.
Black students make up 15% of the eighth grade student
Gifted programs: Access to gifted and talented programs body in the United States, but only 10% of students
is one of the first barriers to opportunity that students of enrolled in eighth grade Algebra I. Similarly, a quarter of
color encounter in the K-12 system. In elementary schools, eighth graders are Latino, but only 18% of the students
gifted programs — which often emphasize enrichment, enrolled in eighth grade Algebra I are Latino (Figure
self-esteem, and parental engagement — can prepare 3). If Black and Latino students had a fair opportunity to
students for advanced middle school courses. Although participate in eighth grade Algebra I across the country,
gifted and talented programs vary widely across states schools would enroll an additional 43,019 Black
and districts and have mixed results,11 the research students and 59,452 Latino students in eighth grade
makes clear that gifted and talented programs change Algebra I courses.15
educators’ perceptions of Black children. More specifically,
when Black students are enrolled in gifted and talented Advanced Placement courses: At the high school
programs, educators are more likely to view them as level, AP courses help prepare students for college-
capable or advanced. This perception subsequently opens level coursework, increase students’ chances of college
the door for advanced course opportunities, like Advanced admission, and improve students’ odds of future success.16
Placement, in the future.12 In fact, one of the strongest predictors of success in
college is access to rigorous courses in high school.17
Our analysis shows that although Black students make up Enrolling in high-level high school courses also allows
16% of elementary schoolers, they make up only 9% of students to fulfill important prerequisites for college
students in gifted and talented programs. Similarly, 1 in 4 courses, helping avoid additional college costs.
elementary school students are Latino, but Latino students
make up just 18% of gifted and talented enrollment While eight states and the District of Columbia require all
(Figure 2). If Black and Latino students were actually given high schools to offer AP courses,18 there is a lot of work
a fair chance to participate, we would expect to see an to do across the country to ensure that Black and Latino
additional 75,893 Black students and 103,026 Latino students have the same access to those AP courses as
students enrolled in gifted and talented programs in their peers and that they enroll in those courses.19 Black
elementary schools around the country.13 Denying access students make up 15% of high schoolers nationwide, but
to these students sends the message that the earliest “on- only 9% of students enrolled in at least one AP course.
ramp” to advanced opportunities is not for them. Latino students are also underrepresented. Although
nearly a quarter of high school students are Latino, only
Eighth grade Algebra I: Lack of access to critical 21% of AP students are Latino (Figure 4).20 If Black and
opportunities continues in middle schools. Taking eighth Latino students had a fair chance to enroll, we would see
grade Algebra I helps set students on a path to take high 157,513 more Black students and 68,102 more Latino
school math classes that are required for admission to students in AP courses.21
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