District Leaders’ Perspectives on the Landscape of High School Credit Recovery in U.S. Public Schools

• In Event: Multiple Perspectives on the Use and Experience of Credit Recovery for High School Students

Abstract

Objective and perspective
Multiple studies over the past 15 years have documented that many districts use online learning to offer credit recovery (CR) classes (e.g., Queen & Lewis, 2011). However, these studies have not described how districts implement online learning for CR or provided details about the types of CR options available more generally, including options where instruction is provided primarily by teachers. Given the concerns about declining graduation rates after the COVID-19 pandemic (Sparks, 2022), this paper presents results of a study designed to describe various approaches that school districts use to provide CR opportunities for high school students, whether districts believe they are meeting students’ needs for CR, and how districts decide which CR options to offer.

Methods and data sources
We collected data for this descriptive study using a brief survey and a semi-structured interview protocol. To identify the sample, we randomly sampled 300 districts across U.S. regions and locale types. Forty-five districts representing all twelve sampling strata completed the survey and leaders from 10 districts participated in a 45-minute interview. As presented in Table 4.1, districts that participated in the survey and interviews represent districts from all four regions and all three locale types.

We collected data using a two-step process. First, we invited district leaders to complete a 10-question survey that asked about basic characteristics of their district’s CR program. At the end of the survey, respondents indicated whether they would participate in an interview to provide more detailed information about CR in their district. Together, the survey and the interview asked about the instructional format, scheduling, content, and grading practices of CR courses; supports available to CR students; and the district’s perspective on its success in meeting students’ needs for CR. We conducted descriptive analysis of the survey data and thematic analysis of the interviews (Braun & Clark, 2006).

Results
Survey results indicate that 96% of districts use online instruction for CR and of these, 65% offer both online and teacher-directed CR classes. Of the districts using online instruction, most have students meet in a classroom at a scheduled time either with a teacher credentialed in the academic subject (42%) or another school staff member (81%). However, only 30% strongly agreed that their district is effectively providing CR to all students who need it. Emerging themes from the interviews include that most districts (1) strive to provide programs that are both academically rigorous and accommodate students’ schedules, (2) consider students’ prior academic achievement when selecting what CR course format to enroll students, and (3) believe it is important to provide in-person support for students using online instruction for CR.

Significance
After seeing graduation rates increase from 2010 to 2019 (National Center for Education Statistics, 2023), declining graduation rates and growing dropout rates are raising concerns in some states (Shen-Barro, 2023). As districts grapple with how to keep students on track to graduate, this paper provides insights from a national sample of district leaders about their innovative approaches to implementing online and teacher-directed CR courses.

Authors

• Peggy Clements, American Institutes for Research

• Jordan Rickles, University of California - Los Angeles

• Iliana Brodziak de los Reyes, American Institutes for Research