Equitable Access to High-Quality Curricula and Instruction

“Interaction between students and their teachers—through curriculum, coursework, and instruction—is at the heart of education …more. Students’ exposure to a rich and broad curriculum, challenging coursework, and inspired teaching is therefore vital for their learning and development. There is no widespread agreement on which specific elements of curriculum, coursework, and teaching matter for student outcomes. Most of the research base is inadequate to support causal inferences about the relationships between these factors and student outcomes. But there is evidence that these core elements are not distributed in an equitable way—in relation to either proportionality or need. Excellence in academic programming and resources needs to include not only equitable access to AP courses and other advanced coursework, but also meeting the academic needs of students on the other end of the achievement distribution. The adequacy of formal academic supports for students who are struggling to achieve is at least as important as fair access to enrichment opportunities for students at the top."¹ …less

Research has long shown that differences in exposure to challenging courses and instruction are associated with disparities in educational outcomes.^{2, 3} Further research has explored the concept of tracking—the process by which students are assigned to different levels of coursework based on their abilities—and how this process has been associated with the disproportionate placement of student groups in courses of differing levels of rigor, even if they have similar ability levels.⁴ Research has also explored the role of teachers in education, and there is widespread agreement that teachers have an important role in student learning and outcomes, ^{5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10} although some research has pointed out limitations of these studies.¹¹ This domain, Equitable Access to High-Quality Curricula and Instruction, is examined by three indicators —access to effective teaching, enrollment in and completion of rigorous coursework, and access to high-quality academic supports—using data from the School and Staffing Survey (SASS), the National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), the High School Transcript Study (HSTS), the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC), the Common Core of Data (CCD), the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) database, and EDFacts. These indicators are based on recommendations in the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) framework. The NASEM report notes that some of the recommended indicators have limitations. Currently, the Equity in Education Dashboard provides data based on published products. Because data in our published products do not always perfectly align with the recommended indicators in the NASEM report, we have indicated where our data differ from recommendations in the report. More findings will be added to the Equity in Education Dashboard over time. While the NASEM report uses availability of advanced rigorous coursework, this indicator examines enrollment in and completion of advanced coursework. The NASEM report also includes International Baccalaureate (IB) courses and gifted and talented programs, however, data for these courses and programs are not presented in this domain and may be available in future versions of this report. Group differences in this domain are examined across several educational equity dimensions: race/ethnicity, sex,¹² socioeconomic status (SES), disability status and type, English learner status, school locale, state, grade level, and language spoken, wherever the data allow.¹³

Key Findings on Equitable Access to High-Quality Curricula and Instruction

• An increase in education levels among public school teachers has been observed over time.
• Higher percentages of public school teachers in 2020–21 than in 2011–12 held a postbaccalaureate degree (master’s, education specialist,¹⁴ or doctor’s degree) as their highest degree.
• During the same time period, some changes in the racial and ethnic diversity of the teaching force in public schools were observed
• Lower percentages of public school teachers in 2020–21 than in 2011–12 were White (80 vs. 82 percent) or Black (6 vs. 7 percent). In contrast, higher percentages of public school teachers in 2020–21 than in 2011–12 were Hispanic (9 vs. 8 percent), Asian (2.4 vs. 1.8 percent), or of Two or more races (2 vs. 1 percent).
• Differences have been observed in the certification routes of U.S. public school teachers by their background characteristics and those of the students they served.
• The percentage of alternative route teachers in public schools in which at least three-quarters of students were racial/ethnic minorities was higher than the national average of 18 percent. 

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• During the 2017–18 school year, a higher percentage of females than males in grades 9–12 in public schools were enrolled in algebra II, advanced mathematics, biology, chemistry, and AP science.
• Higher percentages of Asian public school students were enrolled in calculus (13 percent) and AP mathematics (14 percent) than students of any other racial/ethnic group.
• The percentages of public school students enrolled in calculus and AP mathematics were lowest for Black and American Indian/Alaska Native students (2 percent for both groups and subjects). 
• In 2019, public and private high school graduates’ dual enrollment coursetaking differed by sex, race/ethnicity, EL status, and locale.
• The percentage of high school graduates who took any dual enrollment course, a mathematics dual enrollment course, and a science dual enrollment course was higher for females than males.
• The percentage of high school graduates who took any dual enrollment course, a mathematics dual enrollment course, and a science dual enrollment course was higher for those who were White than for those who were Asian, Black, Hispanic, and of Two or more races.
• The percentages of high school graduates who took any dual enrollment course, a mathematics dual enrollment course, and a science dual enrollment course was lower for those who were ELs than for those who were not ELs.
• The percentages of high school graduates who took any dual enrollment course, a mathematics dual enrollment course, and a science dual enrollment course were higher for those from schools in rural areas than for those from schools in cities and suburban areas.

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• In 2019, there were differences by race/ethnicity, sex, EL status, and locale in the subject areas in which high school graduates earned credits.
• In 2019, the percentage of public and private high school graduates who earned credits in a broad academic curriculum was higher for those who were Asian than for those from all other racial/ethnic groups.
• In 2019, female public and private high school graduates earned more Carnegie credits, on average, than did male high school graduates in social sciences and history, visual and performing arts, and world language and literature.
• In 2019, the percentage of public and private high school graduates who earned Carnegie credits in any STEM-related technical course was lower for those who were ELs than for those who were not ELs.
• In 2019, public and private high school graduates from schools in towns earned fewer Carnegie credits in social sciences and history and world language and literature than did those from schools in cities and suburban areas.

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• Differences have been observed in the number of students served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) IDEA as a percent of total enrollment by race/ethnicity and sex.
• In school year 2021–22, the number of students served under IDEA as a percent of total enrollment was highest for American Indian/Alaska Native and Black students, and was lowest for Pacific Islander¹⁵ and Asian students.
• As a percentage of K–12 students enrolled in public schools in school year 2021-22, more male students (18 percent) than female students (10 percent) received special education and/or related services under IDEA. 
• Differences have been observed in the percentages of students who are identified as English learners (EL).
• In fall 2020, the percentage of students who were ELs was higher for school districts in more urbanized locales than for those in less urbanized locales.
• In fall 2020, more than three-quarters of ELs were Hispanic. 

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