High School Academic Acceleration and Early Postsecondary Outcomes

• In Event: Reducing Disparities in Postsecondary Readiness, Matriculation, and Persistence

Abstract

Objectives
Taking AP, IB, and other dual credit courses in high school (HS) is positively associated with postsecondary success (An & Taylor, 2019; Author, 2020; Evans, 2018; Jackson, 2014). However, inequitable within-school sorting processes, including school staff recommendations or student self-selection, create barriers for students from historically underrepresented backgrounds, whom research suggests would benefit most (An, 2013, Lee et al., 2022; Long et al., 2012). Academic Acceleration (AA) policies address systemic barriers to advanced course participation, and prior research shows they can be effective (Authors, 2022). This study examines whether AA policies’ effects can extend to postsecondary outcomes.

Theoretical framework
Schools create categorical inequalities when they sort students into categories that reproduce societal inequalities, via processes including emulation; resources and opportunity hoarding; and signaling, identity formation, and student motivation (Domina et al., 2017). AA disrupts these processes’ influence on student sorting by (a) universally screening all students, and (b) making advanced courses opt-out instead of opt-in in the subject(s) for which students meet screening criteria. However, processes that produce categorical inequalities also affect student success in advanced courses (Lewis & Diamond, 2015; Tyson, 2011). AA focuses almost entirely on increasing access rather than student experience once enrolled, so the extent to which AA may positively impact postsecondary outcomes is an open question.

Methods
We used difference-in-differences (DID) models to compare the postsecondary outcomes of Washington state HS students in 72 early-adopting districts—those adopting between 2013–14 and 2015–16 and implementing in 2014–15 [n=45], 2015–16 [n=12], and 2016–17 [n=15]) with students in 168 districts that did not adopt a policy before Washington passed legislation making policy adoption mandatory. We examined whether students enrolled in college, their enrollment type, and persistence to a second year; and, for first-year students in Washington public colleges, number of credits and upper-level courses taken and completed.

Data
We used student-level administrative data, including HS and postsecondary information for all students in 11th and 12th grade in Washington public schools from 2010/11–2018/19, obtained through data-sharing agreements with Washington state educational agencies.

Results
Among students considered qualified for advanced ELA or math courses, AA did not change students’ probability of enrolling in college but increased their probability of persisting to a second year by 2 percentage points. Qualified students who attended Washington public colleges attempted 1.7 fewer credits in their first year, which may indicate they could apply college credits earned from their advanced HS courses. Students qualified in math were more likely to take and pass upper-level math courses in their first year.

Significance
These early results indicate that identifying and enrolling all qualified HS students into advanced courses may increase college readiness, regardless of students’ experience in those courses. Students benefit by needing to take fewer credits in their first year and more quickly moving into upper-level courses. Patterns differed by race/ethnicity and FRL status, suggesting that students’ advanced course experiences may differently shape their postsecondary pathways and success. Full findings and implications will be discussed in the panel.

Authors

• Megan Austin, American Institutes for Research

• Ben Backes, American Institutes for Research

• Bingjie Chen, American Institutes for Research

• Dan Goldhaber, American Institutes for Research