Essential Questions for High School Graduation: Leading a School System to Strong Graduation Outcomes

Local education agencies identify and track indicators of risk, including GPA, attendance, and behavior (Institute of Education Sciences).

Responses to student engagement surveys measuring levels of academic engagement.  Sample questions include: “I usually look forward to this class,” “I work hard to do my best in this class,” “Sometimes I get so interested in my work I don’t want to stop,” and “The topics we are studying are interesting and challenging.” (What Works Clearinghouse, Dropout Prevention in Secondary Schools).

Responses to student engagement surveys measuring levels of student-teacher trust. Sample questions include: “When my teachers tell me not to do something, I know they have a good reason,” “I feel safe and comfortable with teachers at this school,” “My teachers always keep their promises,” “My teachers will always listen to students’ ideas,” and “My teachers treat me with respect.” (What Works Clearinghouse, Dropout Prevention in Secondary Schools).

Responses to student engagement surveys measuring how they view the importance of school for the future. Sample questions include: “My classes give me useful preparation for what I plan to do in life,” “High school teaches me valuable skills,” “Working hard in high school matters for success in the workforce,” “What we learn in class is necessary for success in the future,” and “I have someone who is helping me with my college and career goals.” (What Works Clearinghouse, Dropout Prevention in Secondary Schools).

Implement an early warning system to identify students. The system should include indicators on attendance, suspensions, course failures in English or math, and low scores on state English and math assessments (National Dropout Prevention Center).

When a child exhibits two or more warning indicators, a school based team should meet to determine appropriate interventions for the student. Parents should be included and offered at least 10 days notice of the meeting (National Dropout Prevention Center).

Include information and data on the school’s early warning system in its annual school improvement plan, including data on indicators used (National Dropout Prevention Center).

Establish requirements for dropout recovery programs to meet, including offering appropriate supports for students, including tutoring, career counseling, and college counseling. Schools should ensure that each student in a dropout recovery program has an individual graduation plan developed by the student’s assigned academic coach (National Dropout Prevention Center).

Establish a student recovery program that offers specified services, including services designed to enable students to obtain high school equivalency certificates (National Dropout Prevention Center).

Ensure students who are suspended from school for 10 or fewer consecutive days, whether in or out of school, have an opportunity to make academic progress during the period of their suspension to make up assignments and earn credits missed (National Dropout Prevention Center).

Establish a treatment center for planned, individualized programs of educational, medical, psychological, rehabilitative experiences and activities (National Dropout Prevention Center).

Monitor the progress of all students, and proactively intervene when students show early signs of attendance, behavior, or academic problems (What Works Clearinghouse, Dropout Prevention in Secondary Schools).

Organize and analyze data to identify students who miss school, have behavior problems, or are struggling in their courses. Use data routinely collected in school as a starting point for monitoring the three key “ABC” early warning indicators: Attendance (total, unexcused, and excused), Behavior (suspensions, office referrals), Course grades (including intermediate outcomes such as failing tests or missing assignments) (What Works Clearinghouse, Dropout Prevention in Secondary Schools).

Intervene with students who show early signs of falling off track. Use the data collected to identify students who are in need of early intervention to ensure they remain on track for graduation. Early interventions can occur for individual students, groups of students, or the entire school, and they may be academic, social, or emotional in nature. Before planning any intervention, informally check in with students about changes in attendance, behavior, or grades to discover the cause of the problem (What Works Clearinghouse, Dropout Prevention in Secondary Schools).

If data show high rates of absenteeism, take steps to help students, parents, and school staff understand the importance of attending school daily. Provide incentives to students and parents for attending school and for attending on time, as tardiness impacts learning as well. Have inter-class competitions for best attendance or most improved attendance on a weekly basis, and reward both teachers and students for their efforts (What Works Clearinghouse, Dropout Prevention in Secondary Schools).

Monitor progress and adjust interventions as needed. Regularly monitor the effectiveness of interventions by reviewing the data on target students’ attendance, behaviors, and academic progress during team meetings. Pay particular attention to students’ performance on indicators that the intervention is expected to influence. For example, daily wake-up calls would influence attendance during the first period. If no improvement is evident based on the data, determine whether an alternate course of action is necessary. Consider whether the intervention is being implemented as intended and, if not, what can be done to facilitate better implementation (What Works Clearinghouse, Dropout Prevention in Secondary Schools).

Early Warning Systems: Dropping out is a slow process of disengagement and problems predictive of dropping out often emerge early in a student’s life. Many of these problems appear to go unnoticed. Schools need to develop district-wide (or even state-wide) early warning systems to help them identify students who they anticipate are less likely to succeed in the school where they are. This will not only serve those who stay in one school, but will help those students who transfer from school to school to make sure they do not get lost in the various systems in which they are enrolled. Mechanisms need to be developed to ensure such warning systems trigger the appropriate support and provide follow through until the student is back on track. One clear step relates to absenteeism. Every day, schools should have a reliable list of the students who failed to attend school and should notify parents or guardians immediately and take appropriate action to ensure students attend school and have the support they need to remain in school. It is critical that schools address the circumstances that drove students away from the school in the first place  (Civic Enterprises, The Silent Epidemic).

Develop attendance policies with the intent to change behavior, not punish. Reconsider the use of zero-tolerance policies such as suspensions for truancy and instead consider less severe consequences such as community services or in-school detentions (National Dropout Prevention Center).

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires states to identify high schools with graduation rates below 67% and implement evidence-based interventions to improve outcomes. Early Warning Intervention and Monitoring Systems (EWIMS) are recognized as effective tools under ESSA, enabling schools to track key indicators such as attendance, behavior, and course performance to identify and support at-risk students (Graduation Ready – AIR).

The Colorado Department of Education promotes the use of On-Track/Early Warning Systems (EWS) that utilize local and historical data to identify students at risk of not graduating. These systems focus on indicators like attendance, behavior, and course performance, allowing schools to implement timely interventions. The state’s framework supports districts in developing and refining these systems to improve student outcomes (Colorado Department of Education).

The Multilingual Learner/English Language Learner Graduation Rate and Dropout Prevention Planning Tool provides research-informed effective practices and strategies, protocols, and templates for use by districts and schools as they dive into ML and ELL data (New York City Department of Education).

Provide intensive, individualized support to students who have fallen off track and face significant challenges to success. Students who are already off track, who have not responded to previous interventions, or who must overcome large personal obstacles are unlikely to graduate without more intense intervention. Regularly monitoring ABC data will help staff identify which students are chronically absent or have failed multiple courses, which students are not responding to interventions, and which are facing significant personal challenges. A trained adult advocate can help these students by providing individualized support to meet their academic, personal, and emotional needs (What Works Clearinghouse, Dropout Prevention in Secondary Schools).

For each student identified as needing individualized support, assign a single person to be the student’s primary advocate. Provide each high-risk, high-needs student with an adult advocate whose primary task is to help students get back on track for graduation. Advocates provide students and their families with a trusted connection within the school and can act as a liaison among students, their families, and school staff. When students have multiple or acute needs, the advocate may also take on the additional role of a case manager. As a case manager, the advocate coordinates support from multiple sources to address needs he or she cannot handle single handedly. When assigning advocates to students, consider the key qualifications such as: advocacy and communication skills, such as the ability to negotiate, compromise, and confront conflict constructively; familiarity with the schools and community resources; a belief that all students have abilities; willingness to work cooperatively with families and school staff. Try to assign advocates who are from the same community, have similar interests, or share similar cultural or language backgrounds (What Works Clearinghouse, Dropout Prevention in Secondary Schools).

Develop a menu of support options that advocates can use to help students. Create a menu of available services in and around the school community, including academic assistance services, behavioral interventions, mentoring, sources to address basic needs (e.g., provision of food and school supplies), college planning and preparation, rewards for improved behavior, and support for families. Have advocates monitor students’ attendance, behavior, and course performance regularly—as often as daily, if necessary—to determine whether students need additional support and which supports to provide. Advocates can use the support menu to create an individualized plan based on each student’s needs (What Works Clearinghouse, Dropout Prevention in Secondary Schools).

Sample support practices to address student attendance: provide attendance cards for each teacher to sign when students attend class; escort students from class to class; provide wake-up calls to students; organize transportation to school (What Works Clearinghouse, Dropout Prevention in Secondary Schools).

Sample support practices to address student behavior: Provide social and emotional skills training; provide individual counseling sessions; implement daily behavior contract; provide peer mentoring. (What Works Clearinghouse, Dropout Prevention in Secondary Schools).

Sample support practices to address student academic performance: implement individual performance contracts with student and parent; provide one-on-one support with a reading or math specialist; provide after-school homework help; follow-up daily on missed assignments (What Works Clearinghouse, Dropout Prevention in Secondary Schools).

Sample support practices to address family support: provide training on how parents can actively engage with their child’s school; provide tips for monitoring adolescents’ behavior and academic performance; provide training in accessing community resources and contacting school personnel; provide help with getting welfare benefits or food stamps (What Works Clearinghouse, Dropout Prevention in Secondary Schools).

Support advocates with ongoing professional learning opportunities and tools for tracking their work. Advocates need proper training, ongoing feedback and mentoring, opportunities to share experiences with colleagues, and a system for tracking their work (What Works Clearinghouse, Dropout Prevention in Secondary Schools).

Additional Supports and Adult Advocates: There are a wide range of supplemental services or intensive assistance strategies for struggling students in schools – attendance monitoring, school and peer counseling, mentoring, tutoring, double class periods, internships, service-learning, summer school programs, and more – that have their strong advocates (and usually some research to back it up) that can make a difference in the lives of students who are at risk of dropping out. Such services, together with intensive, best-practices literacy programs, should be made accessible to low-performing students to ensure they learn to read at grade level and stay on the graduation track (Civic Enterprises, The Silent Epidemic).

Schools need to enhance their coordination with community-based institutions and government agencies to ensure that students receive the proper support (Civic Enterprises, The Silent Epidemic).

Schools need to consider the importance of supports for students with special needs, such as pregnant women and students with disabilities (Civic Enterprises, The Silent Epidemic).

The range of programs and supports can be overwhelming and finding the right supports a challenge. Since research shows the value of having an adult at the school who is involved with and familiar with the student, schools should consider developing adult advocacy programs within the school environment. This could involve teachers or other school staff, including administrative and support staff, coaches, and counselors. Ensuring that there is an adult advocate is particularly important in large schools in districts in which the dropout epidemic is most severe. The National Middle School Association supports such an idea, stating that the system works when “the concept of advocacy is fundamental to the school’s culture, embedded in its every aspect. Advocacy is not a singular event or a regularly scheduled time; it is an attitude of caring that translates into action when adults are responsive to the needs of each and every young adolescent in their charge.” The National Association of Secondary School Principals recommends that every high school student have a mentor, or “Personal Adult Advocate,” to help personalize the education experience. This would help identify academic and personal crises earlier, and to head off those things that this survey shows might lead to the student being inclined to drop out (Civic Enterprises, The Silent Epidemic).

For schools with many at-risk students, create small, personalized communities to facilitate monitoring and support. Schools with large numbers of at-risk students may struggle to provide students with personalized attention and support. In a small, personalized community, staff can check in with students more frequently, pay closer attention to their needs, form stronger and more meaningful relationships with them, and keep track of what troubles and motivates them (What Works Clearinghouse, Dropout Prevention in Secondary Schools).

Decide whether the small communities will serve a single grade or multiple grades. Examine school data to determine which type of community would best serve at-risk students: (a) Transition-year academies serve all students in a specific grade and focus on the particular needs experienced by students as they start middle school or high school and must adjust to new demands and expectations and to having more freedom in school; (b) College- or career-focused communities include all students at multiple grade levels and help students see how their education is useful for preparing for future careers; (c) Smaller communities that span all grades allow students to develop strong peer relationships that begin when they enter school and last through graduation (What Works Clearinghouse, Dropout Prevention in Secondary Schools).

Create teams of teachers that share common groups of students. Create teacher teams that work with the same students for the entire time students are part of the small community (either the entire year or multiple years). By teaming and remaining with students longer, teachers can form stronger, longer lasting relationships with their students and provide consistency, even when there is some staff turnover. This allows the teachers to monitor and proactively intervene when students show signs of being at risk for dropping out (What Works Clearinghouse, Dropout Prevention in Secondary Schools).

Identify a theme to help build a strong sense of identity and community and to improve student engagement. Select a small community theme  around which the small communities can be organized (e.g., humanities, science and technology, society and culture, performing arts, environmental justice, social justice in America, communications and media, health, public safety). Themes provide a sense of shared identity for the students in the community; this feeling of belonging helps students feel connected to their schooling.

Develop a schedule that provides common planning time and ample opportunities for staff to monitor and support students. To help students and teachers get to know one another, develop a master schedule that permits teachers and students to remain in their community most of the day. More than half the classes taught by the teacher team should be within the smaller community, and students should take most, if not all, courses from teachers in their communities. Master schedules should also include common planning times for teacher teams, which teacher teams should use to: develop activities that relate to the theme of the community, link course content to the theme, and further engage students in getting to know their community; collaboratively identify concerns and develop solutions; and discuss academic and behavioral progress with students and their parents (What Works Clearinghouse, Dropout Prevention in Secondary Schools).

Improve Instruction and Access to Supports for Struggling Students. In a survey administered by researchers of The Silent Epidemic report, four out of five participating dropouts (81 percent) wanted better teachers and three-fourths wanted smaller classes with more individualized instruction. Over half (55 percent) felt that more needed to be done to help students with problems learning. Seventy percent of survey participants believed that more after-school tutoring, Saturday school, summer school and extra help from teachers would have enhanced their chances of staying in school. While some of the students’ best days in school were when teachers paid attention to them, many others had classes that were so big that teachers did not know their names. In focus groups, participants repeated again and again that they believed smaller class sizes would have helped ensure that teachers maintained order in the classroom and would have provided more individual attention. The problem of large schools and the need for smaller class sizes and more personal instruction emerged more than 12 separate times from the participants in our four focus groups in Philadelphia and Baltimore. Seventy-five percent of survey participants agreed that smaller classes with more one on one teaching would have improved students’ chances of graduating (Civic Enterprises, The Silent Epidemic).

There are studies suggesting that small schools are more likely to promote the engagement of both students and staff that is so critical to reducing the number of dropouts, and that the largest direct effect appears to be in low socioeconomic status schools, although there is debate about the appropriate size of such smaller schools (Civic Enterprises, The Silent Epidemic).

There is a body of literature that reveals that small learning communities and interdisciplinary teaming are associated with lower dropout rates. And there is some evidence that alternative schools serving students at risk of dropping out can also reduce dropout rates (Civic Enterprises, The Silent Epidemic).

In The Silent Epidemic survey, only 56 percent of respondents said they could go to a staff person for school problems and just two-fifths (41 percent) had someone in school with whom to talk about personal problems. More than three out of five (62 percent) said their school needed to do more to help students with problems outside of class. Seven out of ten favored more parental involvement. These young people craved one-on-one attention from their teachers, and when they received it, they remembered it making a difference. Participants in the focus groups recounted that some of their best days were when their teachers noticed them, got them involved in class, and told them they were doing well. Studies have shown that if students perceive their teachers to be of a higher quality, there is a lower likelihood that the students will drop out. In our survey, four out of five agreed that better, more qualified teachers who could keep class interesting would improve students’ chances for graduating (Civic Enterprises, The Silent Epidemic).

Small learning communities with one-on-one instruction that engage students in their studies and relate the material to their lives and goals, and interdisciplinary teaming of teachers and students have each shown promise in lowering school-wide dropout rates (Civic Enterprises, The Silent Epidemic).

High school graduation rates for homeless students (Civic Enterprises, Building a Grad Nation).

Raise awareness in schools and communities about the presence and needs of homeless students (Civic Enterprises, Building a Grad Nation).

Improve identification of children and youth experiencing homelessness in schools (Civic Enterprises, Building a Grad Nation).

Implement existing federal policy with fidelity in schools and districts across the country (Civic Enterprises, Building a Grad Nation).

Build a strong network of supports around schools and students to connect them to social/emotional supports, as well as tangible supports like housing (Civic Enterprises, Building a Grad Nation).

Find and share best practices and efforts across the nation that are working to help homeless students succeed (Civic Enterprises, Building a Grad Nation).

Spokane Public Schools’ Homeless Education and Resource Team (HEART) has contributed to an overall upward trend in on-time graduation rates for students experiencing homelessness since 2013. An intra-district data management system, School Data Tools, allows district staff access to real-time information to support the needs of every student. School Data Tools tracks assessment scores, course completion rates, absenteeism rates, graduation rates, FAFSA completion rates, discipline counts and trends, and school improvement plan progress (Civic Enterprises, Building a Grad Nation).

Spokane Public Schools’ HEART program leveraged its extensive data tracking to develop and assign a new position. The Homeless Community Specialist role, created to provide highly engaged support for students experiencing homelessness and their families, initially worked with two high schools identified by the district’s quarterly point-in-time report as having the greatest number of unaccompanied homeless youth with the highest risk of dropping out and the lowest graduation rate. HEART augmented this specialized role with the Check & Connect mentoring program, the only dropout prevention program reviewed by the United States Department of Education’s What Works Clearinghouse found to have strong evidence of positive effects on staying in school. Highly relationship-driven, Check & Connect provided HEART with guidance on effective strategies, a means to document their work, and a conduit to communicate with administrators, teachers, and other district staff (Civic Enterprises, Building a Grad Nation).

The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act is the blueprint for helping homeless students attain their high school diploma. The Every Student Succeeds Act’s (ESSA) amendments to the McKinney-Vento Act went into effect in October 2016, but implementation remains a work in progress (Civic Enterprises, Building a Grad Nation).

States can support school districts to ensure adequate homeless liaison capacity by helping LEAs to conduct their own needs assessments of the ability of the liaison to carry out his or her responsibilities, and identifying supports that may be needed from other LEA personnel to help the liaison carry out these responsibilities (Civic Enterprises, Building a Grad Nation).

States can provide virtual or in-person networking opportunities for liaisons in the state to learn from each other and borrow best practices from other school districts (Civic Enterprises, Building a Grad Nation).

States can help ensure adequate Title I set-asides for homeless students. Title I Part A of ESSA is the largest federal preK-12 education program, funded at over $15 billion and reaching the majority of school districts in the United States. Under ESSA, all LEAs that receive Title I Part A funds must reserve funds to support homeless students. The amount of Title I funds reserved for homeless children and youth must be based on the total allocation received by the LEA, and set aside prior to any allowable expenditure of transfers by the LEA (Civic Enterprises, Building a Grad Nation).

States can help LEAs to conduct their own needs assessments to determine an appropriate set-aside amount (Civic Enterprises, Building a Grad Nation).

States can provide specific examples of ways in which other LEAs in the state are using Title I funds to assist homeless students (Civic Enterprises, Building a Grad Nation).

States can include a specific line item for the homeless student set-aside funds in the LEA consolidated plan for Title I (Civic Enterprises, Building a Grad Nation).

ESSA requires that SEAs and LEAs implement procedures to identify and remove barriers that prevent homeless students from receiving appropriate credit for full or partial coursework completed at a prior school. States should review, and possibly revise, state policies on credit accrual to ensure that such barriers are removed (Civic Enterprises, Building a Grad Nation).

State plans should clearly describe how youth experiencing homelessness will receive assistance from school counselors to prepare and improve their readiness for college (Civic Enterprises, Building a Grad Nation).

Several states have successfully passed legislation that complements these federal requirements for supporting high school students experiencing homelessness. For example: (a) In California, when partial credit is awarded in a particular course, the student shall be enrolled in the same or equivalent course, if applicable, to complete the entire course (b) In New Mexico, a student who changes schools at least once during a single school year as a result of homelessness is entitled to priority placement in classes that meet state graduation requirements, and timely placement in electives comparable to those in which the student was enrolled at the previous school(s); (c) In Oregon, a school district or charter school must waive graduation requirements that exceed state requirements for students who experienced homelessness at any time from grade 9 to 12 (Civic Enterprises, Building a Grad Nation).

States should ensure students with disabilities have access to and are expected to participate in CCR diploma pathways to ensure that more students with disabilities graduate college and career ready (Alliance for Excellent Education, Paper Thin).

States should eliminate the use of specific pathways for students with disabilities that lead to a diploma that is less rigorous than the state’s regular diploma, as was discovered in four states (Alliance for Excellent Education, Paper Thin).

States should ensure that students with disabilities complete the same high school graduation requirements as students without disabilities for the state’s regular high school diploma, and should significantly reduce opportunities to waive or modify certain graduation requirements (such as assessments or course requirements) for students with disabilities, as was found in fourteen states. If requirements are waived or reduced for these students, the alternative assessment and/or course options should be just as rigorous and lead to similarly meaningful postsecondary options for students. Additionally, parents must be fully informed about the impact decisions to waive or alter graduation requirements have on the postsecondary options for their students if opting for less rigorous requirements (Alliance for Excellent Education, Paper Thin).

Engage students by offering curricula and programs that connect schoolwork with college and career success and that improve students’ capacity to manage challenges in and out of school (What Works Clearinghouse, Dropout Prevention in Secondary Schools).

Directly connect schoolwork to students’ options after high school. Make classes relevant by offering curricula and academic programs that are clearly connected to a career pathway or postsecondary education. Schools with a college or career theme also provide a common focus for teachers and students, making it easier for teachers to collaborate, share information about student progress, and create a coherent schoolwide curriculum (What Works Clearinghouse, Dropout Prevention in Secondary Schools).

Provide curricula and programs that help students build supportive relationships and teach students how to manage challenges. Districts and states can help by developing social and emotional learning standards with benchmarks for skills students should develop at each grade level. Skills taught through curricula and programs might include how to make better decisions in high-stakes situations, strategies for stress and anger management, setting and tracking progress toward goals, and relationship-building skills (What Works Clearinghouse, Dropout Prevention in Secondary Schools).

Regularly assess student engagement to identify areas for improvement, and target interventions to students who are not meaningfully engaged. Administer school climate and student engagement surveys annually. Analyze survey results along with regularly monitored ABC early warning indicators, such as attendance and grades to assess schoolwide strengths and weaknesses (What Works Clearinghouse, Dropout Prevention in Secondary Schools).

Different Schools for Different Students: In a survey conducted by researchers John M. Bridgeland, John J. Dilulio, Jr. and Karen Burke Morison, students who had dropped out of high school reported wanting classes to be more relevant to their interests and lives and longed for smaller learning communities with more individualized attention. Great schools learn to treat each student differently, rather than demanding that all students fit into the “one size fits all” format of schooling that is widely used today (Civic Enterprises, The Silent Epidemic).

Options offered to students, and supported by the research, can include alternative high schools that offer individualized plans for each student. This model can be an effective way to address the varied needs of potential dropouts. Options can include schools with traditional structures, but with a commitment to providing all students with a rigorous curriculum which prepares them for college or a family-wage job. Theme-based schools, such as ones that focus on science and technology or the arts, are another way to prepare students for their future (Civic Enterprises, The Silent Epidemic).

Improve Teaching and Curricula to Make School More Relevant and Engaging and Enhance the Connection between School and Work. Respondents to a survey administered by researchers of The Silent Epidemic report had many thoughtful ideas about the specific actions schools could take to improve the chances that a student would stay in high school. Their most common answers related to classroom instruction – making what is learned in classes more relevant to their lives, having better teachers who keep classes interesting, and having smaller classes with more one-on-one instruction, involvement and feedback. Eighty-one percent of survey respondents said that if schools provided opportunities for real-world learning (internships, service learning projects, and other opportunities), it would have improved the students’ chances of graduating from high school. Outside studies have noted that clarifying the links between school and getting a job may convince more students to stay in school (Civic Enterprises, The Silent Epidemic).

Student internships are motivating to some students, helping them see that there is potential after high school for greater opportunities and lead to a choice-filled life. Often the opportunity to continue in the work that they have had an internship experience requires HS Graduation, and possibly continued education (Appalachian Cradle to Career)

Active Learning—Active learning and student engagement strategies engage and involve students in meaningful ways as partners in their own learning. These strategies include student voice and choice; effective feedback, peer assessment, and goal setting; cooperative learning; thinking critically, creatively, and reflectively; and micro-teaching, discussion, and two-way communication. To be most effective, teachers must provide students with tools and strategies to organize themselves and any new material; techniques to use while reading, writing, and doing math; and systematic steps to follow when working through a task or reflecting upon their own learning (The National Dropout Prevention Center/Network, 15 Effective Strategies for Dropout Prevention).

The “AP credit funnel,” that is, the level of AP course availability for a high school student; the likelihood of a student’s enrollment in an AP course; the likelihood of a student taking an AP test; and the likelihood of a student earning a passing score on an AP exam. All data disaggregated by student demographic (Center for American Progress, Closing Advanced Coursework Equity Gaps for All Students).

Differences in the participation rates for students from key demographic subgroups in rigorous courses and programs relative to those students’ representation in their school population as a whole, including opportunities, such as the following: Gifted and talented programs; Algebra I in middle school; Higher-level math courses in high school (that is, Algebra II, calculus); Early college courses (AP, International Baccalaureate [IB], and dual enrollment) (Education-to-Workforce).

School actions to provide access to advanced course work: (a) Schools offering access to AP coursework; (b) Student identification and course enrollment; (c) Engagement and exam funding; (d) Teacher and student supports (Center for American Progress, Closing Advanced Coursework Equity Gaps for All Students).

Share of students enrolling in advanced coursework (Urban Institute, Robust and Equitable Measures to Identify Quality Schools).

Average performance on advanced coursework exams (Urban Institute, Robust and Equitable Measures to Identify Quality Schools).

In 2010, the Wake County Public Schools began assigning middle school students to accelerated math and eighth-grade algebra based on a defined prior achievement metric. Such a measure would identify students who might be overlooked for the recommendation to take accelerated-level courses as a result of variation in course-grading practices and subjective beliefs about which students are capable of success in these courses. This policy reduced the relationship between course assignment and student characteristics such as income and race/ethnicity, while increasing its relationship to academic skill. The policy increased the share of students on track for algebra by eighth grade. Students placed in accelerated math were exposed to higher-skilled peers but larger classes (Dougherty, S. et al. Middle School Math Acceleration and Equitable Access to Eighth-Grade Algebra).

The federal government should resume collecting disaggregated school-level data on advanced coursework in the Civil Rights Data Collection (Center for American Progress, Closing Advanced Coursework Equity Gaps for All Students).

States should include detailed disaggregated data on advanced coursework on school report cards (Center for American Progress, Closing Advanced Coursework Equity Gaps for All Students).

States should develop and invest in partnership organizations that can support schools to expand offerings, provide professional development to teachers, and help students prepare for and succeed in advanced courses, not just AP courses (Center for American Progress, Closing Advanced Coursework Equity Gaps for All Students).

States and districts should leverage available federal funding, including Title I, Title II, Title III, and Title IV of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and funding from the American Rescue Plan Act, to expand and improve advanced coursework offerings (Center for American Progress, Closing Advanced Coursework Equity Gaps for All Students).

States should invest in strategies to address and elevate the rigor of all of their high school courses (Center for American Progress, Closing Advanced Coursework Equity Gaps for All Students).

States and districts should work to vertically align standards critical for student success at the high school level with earlier grades to prepare students for advanced coursework.

Districts should invest in ongoing collaboration between elementary, middle, and high school staff to continually improve alignment and coordination of instructional concepts and vocabulary (Center for American Progress, Closing Advanced Coursework Equity Gaps for All Students).

States and school districts can expand access to advanced coursework by: (a) Making investments in statewide partnerships focused on equitably expanding advanced coursework; (b) Working to optimize schoolwide master schedules to reduce conflicts and open up more slots for students in advanced coursework; (c) Remaining open to leveraging technology to expand offerings, which could entail virtual offerings across schools within a district, in regional partnerships, or through high-quality state virtual schools (Center for American Progress, Closing Advanced Coursework Equity Gaps for All Students).

States and districts should analyze data to reduce opportunities for bias in systems used to identify students for advanced courses from elementary through high school (Center for American Progress, Closing Advanced Coursework Equity Gaps for All Students).

States and districts should implement automatic enrollment or academic acceleration policies that automatically place students with demonstrated proficiency in the subsequent highest available course (Center for American Progress, Closing Advanced Coursework Equity Gaps for All Students).

Districts should recruit and mentor students early in their high school careers to prepare them for enrollment and success in advanced coursework (Center for American Progress, Closing Advanced Coursework Equity Gaps for All Students).

States and districts should invest to eliminate subscription or examination fees for advanced coursework (Center for American Progress, Closing Advanced Coursework Equity Gaps for All Students).

Districts should initiate regular conversations with families in their home languages about advanced coursework registration timelines, program availability, and cost reductions (Center for American Progress, Closing Advanced Coursework Equity Gaps for All Students).

State-level partnerships and districts should invest in professional development and communities of practice for advanced coursework instructors (Center for American Progress, Closing Advanced Coursework Equity Gaps for All Students).

State-level partnerships and districts should create supplemental opportunities for advanced coursework students to connect with and learn from peers and experts (Center for American Progress, Closing Advanced Coursework Equity Gaps for All Students).

Students have access to the full set of courses needed to meet the requirements for admission at most colleges (Education-to-Workforce).

Percentage of high schools offering each of the following sets of college preparatory courses: four years of English, four years of math (including at least four of the following: pre-algebra, algebra, geometry, Algebra II or trigonometry, precalculus, calculus, statistics, quantitative reasoning, and data science), three years of laboratory science (including biology, chemistry, physics), two years of social science, two years of foreign language, one year of visual or performing arts (Education-to-Workforce).

Percentage of middle schools offering Algebra I (Education-to-Workforce).

Percentage of high schools that offer select math and science courses (e.g., Algebra II, Calculus, Chemistry, Physics).  More than half of high schools nationwide do not offer Calculus, while more than 20 percent of schools fail to offer Algebra II. In science, 40 percent of schools fail to offer physics while 38 percent do not offer chemistry. Black and Hispanic students have less access to high-level math and science courses than their peers. Schools with high Black and Hispanic populations (at least 75 percent Black and Hispanic enrollment) are significantly less likely to offer Calculus, Physics, Chemistry, and Algebra II compared to schools with low Black & Hispanic enrollment (schools with less than 25 percent Black and Hispanic enrollment) (U.S. Department of Education, 2016). Nearly 3 in 10 schools with high Black and Hispanic enrollment do not offer Algebra II, a course required by most colleges across the country. Moreover, nearly 7 in 10 do not offer Calculus (Civic Enterprises, Building a Grad Nation).

Rate of completion of a college-track curriculum (Urban Institute, Robust and Equitable Measures to Identify Quality Schools).

Career and technical education (CTE) pathway offerings are aligned to in-demand occupations, as defined by regional labor market data (Education-to-Workforce).

Number and percentage of a high school’s CTE program offerings considered “in demand.” (Education-to-Workforce).

Share earning a career readiness certificate by high school completion (Urban Institute, Robust and Equitable Measures to Identify Quality Schools).

Share earning a military or workforce certification by high school completion (Urban Institute, Robust and Equitable Measures to Identify Quality Schools).

Share possessing marketable trade skills by high school completion (Urban Institute, Robust and Equitable Measures to Identify Quality Schools).

Rate of completion of a career pathway program while in high school (Urban Institute, Robust and Equitable Measures to Identify Quality Schools).

Improved alignment between CTE offerings and local job openings.  Recent studies of CTE offerings indicate that CTE programs are frequently misaligned with projected job openings in local regions. For example, one study of CTE programs in high schools in West Virginia found that only about half of the state’s CTE programs were aligned to at least one occupation in high demand among employers in the region. An earlier study in Tennessee found that only 18 percent of graduates concentrated in program areas aligned to high-demand occupations (Education-to-Workforce).

Research shows that the benefits of CTE vary widely across fields, with certain high-demand fields such as health yielding greater economic returns to participants  (Education-to-Workforce).

Schools should prioritize career development and job training programs to engage students in authentic experiences that utilize project-based learning, community-based learning, and other forms of active learning where a community need is identified and met (National Dropout Prevention Center).

The Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (known as Perkins V) went into effect in July 2019, introducing a new requirement: states and local education agencies would need to use data to assess and demonstrate alignment between their program offerings and labor market needs. As described in this brief by Advance CTE, states have operationalized this requirement in different ways, developing their own definitions for what occupations count as high skill, high wage, or in demand based on labor market data and making that data more or less available to the public. In Nebraska, the state’s H3 website provides detailed information on occupations that are high skill, high wage, and high demand (H3) at state or regional levels. For example, across the state, the number one H3 occupation based on the number of annual openings, net change in employment, and growth rate is currently heavy and tractor-trailer truck driver. Users can easily explore H3 occupations by career cluster, accessing data on average wages; number of annual openings; and required education, job training, and work experience. Data are updated weekly to reflect new or rapidly growing industries. As part of its Perkins V state plan, Nebraska requires that all secondary and postsecondary CTE programs use the data tool to demonstrate alignment to H3 occupations (Education-to-Workforce).

Expanded income support during training. Workers who must choose between training and a return to employment are likely to face strong financial incentives to return to work, even if it means accepting low-wage work or returning to an industry clearly in decline. Recent proposals for wage insurance or reemployment insurance over the short- to medium-term could make engagement in, and completion of, training more feasible for a significant segment of the workforce (Ann Huff Stevens, What Works in CTE?).

Support for capacity building among public sector training providers, especially community colleges Given the greater fiscal variability at the state level, a federal role in supporting CTE provision, especially during economic downturns, is likely to be essential to avoid capacity constraints that limit effective training. Federal funding for programs aimed at individual workers should be accompanied by funding for CTE programs (Ann Huff Stevens, What Works in CTE?).

Improve student access to information about program quality and expected outcomes Additional investments in training opportunities for individual workers need to be accompanied by well-designed access to information. Training often raises earnings and employment, but results vary dramatically by the training provider, field of study, and across individuals with different work and career histories (Ann Huff Stevens, What Works in CTE?).

Offering career and technical education is one way that high schools are working to build stronger bridges to a career or credential. In the 2016-17 school year, 98 percent of public school districts offered CTE programs to high school students. While districts were the most likely to provide CTE programs (77 percent of districts), regional CTE centers or a consortium of school districts (54 percent), two-year community or technical colleges (46 percent), and four-year colleges or universities (11 percent) also partnered with districts to provide CTE programs. Almost three in every four of these programs allowed students to earn high school as well as postsecondary credit (Civic Enterprises, Building a Grad Nation).