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Although the majority of high schools are moving toward aligning courses with college admissions requirements, half of high school principals believe their schools are doing a good job of preparing students for higher education, according to new federal data. It’s not even enough.
Smaller schools, in particular, have struggled to offer the advanced coursework students need to gain a competitive edge for college entrance exams, and the world language offerings often recommended to college applicants have declined. , remains limited in most schools.
This data comes from the January School Pulse Panel, a nationally representative bimonthly survey of more than 1,600 K-12 principals. The National Center for Education Statistics has been conducting the survey to track school practices since the pandemic began.
Although principals give students low marks for preparing them for university, the majority believe their students will graduate job-ready. More than 8 in 10 high school leaders reported adjusting graduation requirements to meet local higher education admissions requirements and provide at least some level of career and technical education.
NCES Deputy Commissioner Chris Chapman said the proliferation of career and technical courses is a positive. “Advanced coursework is not the only way for public schools and other types of schools to prepare students for life after high school,” he said.
Seventy-three percent of principals reported that their schools offer advanced coursework such as Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, or dual credit courses with colleges and universities. Although low-income schools were less likely to offer the course than high-income schools, neither was significantly different from schools overall, and student participation was often lower.
However, in high schools with fewer than 300 students, only half of the instructors offered advanced courses, and nearly all of the schools with 500 or more students offered advanced courses.
World language offerings are limited
Most high schools now offer at least one world language, but only one in five primary schools do so. Research shows that early bilingual education can improve students’ long-term fluency in both English and a second language.
NCES found that Spanish remains the most common world language offered in high schools, accounting for more language programs than all other language programs combined.
Principals also reported that Latin was taught in more schools than modern Arabic, Japanese, or Italian.
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