Education Week - March 4, 2020 - S11

● March 2010
The Federal Way district

Tackling
Racial,
Poverty
Gaps in
Advanced
Course
Enrollment

ƫƺƬȒȅƺɀɎǝƺˡȸɀɎǣȇ
Washington state to adopt
an academic acceleration
policy.
"Advanced programs
and course work are
ƏɮƏǣǼƏƫǼƺǔȒȸƏǼǼɀɎɖƳƺȇɎɀً‫ٺ‬
that policy says. "When
a student has attained
established standards for
academic achievement
and demonstrated
acquisition of required

knowledge and skills as
evidence of preparedness
to be successful at the
next level, said student will
automatically be enrolled in
ɀɖƬǝȵȸȒǕȸƏȅٖɀِ‫ٺ‬
● 2010-11
Federal Way sees growth
in overall advanced course
participation and in the
percentage of students of
color enrolling in Advanced
Placement and dual-credit
programs.

● May 2013
Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee
signs a bill that encourages
districts to adopt academic
acceleration policies. The bill
creates a new grant program
"to support teacher training,
curriculum, technology,
examination fees, and
other costs associated with
offering dual-credit courses
ɎȒǝǣǕǝɀƬǝȒȒǼɀɎɖƳƺȇɎɀِ‫ٺ‬
The law requires the state's
education department to
collect racially disaggregated

data on participation and
pass rates for rigorous
courses.
● June 2013
The Tacoma district
becomes another early
adopter of academic
acceleration, approving its
own policy. That year, about
33 percent of the district's
11th and 12th graders took
an advanced course. By
2018-19, that number would
grow to 71 percent. About a
dozen other districts follow
suit within months after the

No state has made such a broad attempt to tackle disparities in advanced courses in this fashion, but other states
have adopted narrower policies.
North Carolina lawmakers passed a bill in 2018 that
requires districts to enroll students in grades 3-12 in advanced-math courses if they scored at the highest level
on the previous year's state test. That effort followed an
investigation by The News & Observer in Raleigh that
found the state's schools failed to enroll thousands of
qualifying low-income students in gifted coursework.
Colorado lawmakers last year created a grant program
for districts that voluntarily adopt acceleration policies.
Grant funding can be used to add advanced courses, to
provide incentives for educators to teach them, or for efforts to engage students and families in selecting classes
that fit students' goals.

'Huge Opportunity'
Supporters of Washington's law said they expect to hear
more from researchers and advocacy groups in other states
as it takes effect. "It's a huge opportunity," Binder said.
"We feel a lot of responsibility to get this right and to make
sure we are always leading the conversation with equity so
that we don't just revert to old practices."
A policy change is sort of a "blunt instrument" to fix a
complicated problem, she said. Rather than just changing the text of their policies, schools will also have to reengineer their approaches to engaging students and help
change the mindsets of their educators, she said.
At Spokane's North Central High, that meant more oneon-one meetings with students, confronting the internalized beliefs some teenagers carry that they "just aren't
math people," and working with parents who may be concerned about their child's ability to keep up with more rigorous courses, said Jessica Everman, an assistant principal.
"Every kid comes into a building with a different luggage
or suitcase packed based on experiences at home and their
feeder elementary and middle schools," she said.
The school also uses students' PSAT and state test scores
to project their scores on an AP exam before they take the
course. Even if a student doesn't eventually pass that endof-course exam, teachers strive to help them increase their
score beyond the projection.
"We need to have high expectations for all students and

provide them with the same amount of supports to access
those classes we are asking them to take," Everman said.
Stand for Children Washington works with principals
and superintendents around the state to help improve efforts to place students in advanced courses. Their strategy
includes brief surveys that ask students about career goals,
why they may be hesitant to enroll in advanced courses,
and their perceptions of the school environment.
Another barrier: Students may avoid advanced or dualenrollment courses if they can't afford fees associated with
gaining college credit or taking year-end exams. Washington provides some grants for those and other expenses.
Some districts have already taken on those costs.
Changing enrollment policies doesn't address the
lack of advanced courses at some schools. Nationwide,
high-poverty and rural schools often have fewer rigorous
courses than those in more-affluent and higher-population
areas.
That reality spurred big changes in Bridgeport, a town
2,500 people in north-central Washington. Educators
there found creative ways to expand college-credit-bearing
classes for students, even though the nearest community
college, Wenatchee Valley College, is about 50 miles away.
In 2003, the district began getting its high school teachers onboarded as adjuncts through the two-year college so
their high school courses yielded college credit. Bridgeport
pays students' enrollment fees and AP exams.
The majority-Latino district faced some resistance, Superintendent Scott Stattler said. Some parents who hadn't
been to college themselves were hesistant to ask their children to take on that challenge in high school. And some
worried it would have domino effects on other areas, like
athletics. But participation has become a norm, he said.
Bridgeport hasn't yet adopted a formal acceleration
policy, but it may as well have, Sattler said. Administrators
expect about 11 of the district's 55 seniors will get an associate degree along with their high school diploma when they
graduate this spring. Every year, about 70 percent of graduates immediately enroll in college or vocational-training
programs, a big change. "Before, we would celebrate if
even five went," Sattler said.
"Over time, our philosophy has remained steadfast," he
said. "We knew where we wanted to get with this program.
We were able to get that vision in mind and keep marching
toward it." ■

state law is signed, advocates
estimate.
● 2018
Stand for Children
áƏɀǝǣȇǕɎȒȇًƏȇȒȇȵȸȒˡɎ
that advocated for the state
law, estimates that 50 school
districts have adopted
academic acceleration
policies. By 2020, the
organization would estimate
that 31 of those districts
had reached racial parity in
advanced course enrollment
or that they had made
‫ٹ‬ɀǣǕȇǣˡƬƏȇɎȵȸȒǕȸƺɀɀِ‫ٺ‬
● May 2019
Inslee signs an education bill
that includes a requirement
for all districts to adopt
academic acceleration
policies.
● January 2020
Washington lawmakers
begin considering a bill
that would cover advanced
course enrollment and
exam fees for all students.
Some districts already cover
those costs, but proponents
of the bill hope it would
permanently eliminate a
barrier that keeps some
students from participating.
● 2021-22
All districts must have
acceleration policies in place.
SOURCE: Education Week

Uprooting Inequities | 11

Education Week - March 4, 2020

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