Increasing Opportunity To Learn via Access to Rigorous Courses and Programs: One Strategy for Closing the Achievement Gap for At-Risk and Ethnic Minority Students.

Abstract

This report analyzes the under-representation of North Carolina's black, Hispanic American, and Native American students in honors courses, advanced placement (AP) courses, and academically and intellectually gifted (AIG) programs. Data came from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction's database on all public schools and from surveys that gathered information on elementary and middle level AIG programs and high school advanced curriculum offerings. Site visits were conducted to interview students, parents, teachers, counselors, and principals. Results found a significant, widespread gap between white and minority students in proportional percentages of students enrolled in such programs. Achievement and learning gaps led to lower subsequent identification for AIG programs in early and middle grades, which in turn led to lower enrollments in high school AP and honors courses. Schools generally used multiple strategies for identifying AIG students. Approximately half of the schools allowed self-selection into honors and AP courses and dual enrollment into community college courses. Some schools had better approaches to proportional enrollment in advanced courses for minority students than others. The report makes 20 recommendations (e.g., ensure that all students take Algebra I before entering ninth grade, and systematically seek out high-performing minority students). (Contains 34 references.) (SM) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. Increasing Opportunity to Learn via Access to Rigorous Courses and Programs: One Strategy for Closing the Achievement Gap for At-Risk and Ethnic Minority Students Report prepared for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction by: William Darity, Jr. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Domini Castellino Duke University Karolyn Tyson University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Carolyn Cobb NC Department of Public Instruction Evaluation Section Brad McMillen NC Department of Public Instruction Evaluation Section Submitted to the State Board of Education May 2001 Evaluation Section nivision of Acc,,,,ruAyility Services Instructional and Accountability Services BEST COPY VALABLE PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY