Advanced course offerings and completion in science, technology ...

October 2017

What's Happening

Advanced course offerings

and completion in science,

technology, engineering, and

math in Texas public high schools

Marshall Garland

Amie Rapaport

Gibson Consulting Group

Key findings

? The number of advanced courses offered in science, technology, engineering, and

math (STEM) rose from 2007/08 to 2013/14 in Texas public high schools in all locales (urban, suburban, town, rural), with large or small proportions of economically disadvantaged students, and with large proportions of minority students.

? Schools with the largest proportion of Black or Hispanic students offered a greater

number of advanced STEM courses than did schools with the largest proportion of White students.

? Schools in urban and suburban areas offered a greater number of advanced STEM

courses than did schools in rural areas or towns.

? Almost three-quarters of the state's Black and Hispanic students (78 percent of

each group) and two-thirds of the state's White students (68 percent) attended high schools offering between 19 and 27 advanced STEM courses.

? A smaller proportion of Black and Hispanic students than White students

completed three or more advanced math or science courses, even among students demonstrating comparably high math ability.

U.S. Department of Education

At SEDL

U.S. Department of Education Betsy DeVos, Secretary

Institute of Education Sciences Thomas W. Brock, Commissioner for Education Research Delegated the Duties of Director

National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance Ricky Takai, Acting Commissioner Elizabeth Eisner, Acting Associate Commissioner Amy Johnson, Action Editor Chris Boccanfuso, Project Officer

REL 2018?276

The National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE) conducts unbiased large-scale evaluations of education programs and practices supported by federal funds; provides research-based technical assistance to educators and policymakers; and supports the synthesis and the widespread dissemination of the results of research and evaluation throughout the United States.

October 2017

This report was prepared for the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) under Contract ED-IES-12-C-0012 by Regional Educational Laboratory Southwest administered by SEDL. The content of the publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of IES or the U.S. Department of Education, nor does mention of trade names, commercial prod ucts, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

This REL report is in the public domain. While permission to reprint this publication is not necessary, it should be cited as:

Garland, M., & Rapaport, A. (2018). Advanced course offerings and completion in science, technology, engineering, and math in Texas public high schools (REL 2018?276). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Regional Educational Laboratory South west. Retrieved from .

This report is available on the Regional Educational Laboratory website at ncee/edlabs.

Summary

Taking advanced high school courses predicts such postsecondary outcomes as enrolling in college, persisting in college courses, and completing a degree (see Hinojosa, Rapaport, Jaciw, LiCalsi, & Zacamy, 2016, for a review). In Texas, where Hispanic students make up 51 percent of the student population, their access to and enrollment in advanced courses is an ongoing concern despite recent gains (Aud et al., 2013; Laird, Alt, & Wu, 2009; Texas Education Agency, 2011). In particular, disparities in the proportions of Hispanic adults educated and certified for high-wage jobs in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields raise questions about Hispanic students' equitable access to advanced STEM courses. In 2009 Hispanic employees accounted for 14 percent of the U.S. work force but held only 6 percent of STEM jobs (Beede et al., 2011).

Members of the Texas Hispanic STEM Alliance of the Regional Educational Laboratory Southwest, made up of representatives from Regional Education Service Centers, school districts, postsecondary institutions, and state education agencies, asked whether Hispanic students in Texas are taking advanced STEM courses at the same rates as other students or have equitable opportunities to take them. In response, this study examined course offerings and coursetaking in more than 1,500 Texas high schools over 2007/08?2013/14 to identify differences across Black, Hispanic, and White students, using statewide longitudi nal student education records for more than 240,000 students a year.

The findings of this study can inform regional and local educators and policymakers who are considering policies, interventions, and reforms to equalize STEM achievement across student groups and support for advanced STEM coursetaking, particularly among Black and Hispanic students. The methodology (in addition to the findings) may help states beyond Texas explore questions of course availability and course completion.

How many advanced science, technology, engineering, and math courses did schools offer?

Texas high school offerings of advanced STEM courses rose from an average of 9 in 2007/08 to 14 in 2013/14. A greater number of advanced courses were offered in science (5.5 on average in 2013/14) than in math (4.8) or in other advanced STEM areas (not math or science), such as information technology (3.6). The largest increase in course offerings was for other advanced STEM courses, which rose from 1.4 in 2007/08 to 3.6 in 2013/14.

Texas high schools enrolling the largest proportions of Black or Hispanic students offered a greater number of advanced STEM courses on average than did schools that enrolled the largest proportions of White students. High schools with the largest proportions of Black students offered about 15 advanced STEM courses on average, those with the largest proportion of Hispanic students offered 17, and those with the largest proportion of White students offered 9 in 2013/14. These differences are closely tied to the schools' locale. Schools in suburban locales offered about 19 advanced STEM courses on average and those in urban locales 18, substantially more than schools in towns, with 13, and in rural locales, with 10.

The economic characteristics of a school's population were associated with even larger differences. Across all school locales, as the percentage of economically disadvantaged stu dents (as proxied by participation in the federal school lunch program) rose, the number

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of advanced STEM course offerings declined. In 2013/14 schools enrolling the smallest proportions of economically disadvantaged students averaged 17 advanced STEM courses, while schools enrolling the largest proportions of economically disadvantaged students averaged 14. Schools in rural areas enrolling large proportions of economically disadvan taged students offered an average of 9 advanced STEM courses, fewer than schools in urban areas with large proportions of economically disadvantaged students, which offered 16 courses, or in suburban areas, which offered 17. Because a majority of Texas high school students reside in urban and suburban areas, a majority (75 percent in 2013/14) attend schools in the top two quintiles of advanced course offerings (between 19 and 27 on average). Approximately 78 percent of Black and Hispanic students are enrolled in these urban and suburban schools, a larger proportion than the 68 percent of White students enrolled there. How many advanced STEM courses did students complete? Among students who were continuously enrolled in Texas high schools for four years, White students completed a slightly greater number of advanced STEM courses on average (4.6) than did Hispanic students (4.3) or Black students (4.0). Greater differences by race/ethnicity emerged in analyses of the percentage of students who completed three or more advanced STEM courses in math or in science than in analyses of the mean number of advanced STEM courses completed. Among students demonstrating high math ability in grade 8, approximately 52 percent of White students completed at least three advanced math courses during high school, compared with 41 percent of Hispanic stu dents and 39 percent of Black students. In science the difference was smaller but persistent: 58 percent of White students completed three or more advanced science courses compared with 51 percent of Hispanic students and 51 percent of Black students.

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Contents

Summary

i

Why this study?

1

What the study examined

1

What the study found

4

Advanced science, technology, engineering, and math course offerings increased statewide

from 2007/08 to 2013/14

4

Schools enrolling the largest proportion of racial/ethnic minority students offered

substantially greater numbers of advanced science, technology, engineering, and math

courses than schools enrolling the largest proportion of White students

5

A greater number of advanced science, technology, engineering, and math courses were

offered in schools with a low percentage of economically disadvantaged students

6

A greater number of advanced science, technology, engineering, and math courses were

offered in urban and suburban schools than in rural or town schools

6

Schools in towns and rural areas that enrolled large proportions of economically disadvantaged

students offered the fewest advanced science, technology, engineering and math courses

7

Seventy-five percent of the state's student population attended schools in the top two

quintiles of advanced science, technology, engineering, and math course offerings

7

White students completed a slightly higher number of advanced science, technology,

engineering, and math courses than Black and Hispanic students on average across the

four cohorts examined

9

Economically disadvantaged students completed, on average, slightly fewer advanced math

and advanced science courses than did other students

9

Despite the greater availability of advanced science, technology, engineering, and math

courses in urban and suburban schools than in schools in other locales, the average

number of courses that students completed did not differ much by locale

11

A greater proportion of White students than of Black or Hispanic students completed

three or more advanced math or advanced science courses, even among students

demonstrating high math ability

11

A substantially smaller proportion of economically disadvantaged students than of other

students completed three or more advanced math or three or more advanced science

courses, even among students demonstrating high math ability

12

A greater proportion of students in schools in urban and suburban areas than in towns or

rural areas completed three or more advanced math or three or more advanced science

courses, regardless of whether they demonstrated high math ability in grade 8

14

Implications of the study findings

15

Limitations of the study

16

Appendix A. Literature review

A-1

Appendix B. Data sources and analytic methods

B-1

Appendix C. Texas graduation requirements

C-1

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