Leveling Up: An Academic Acceleration Policy to Increase Advanced High School Course Taking

Dory Li
,
Francie Streich

Taking advanced courses in high school predicts many positive postsecondary and labor market outcomes, but many students who are prepared to take an advanced course are overlooked for participation using current student nomination practices. Policies such as “Algebra for all” that accelerate middle school students into advanced courses are well studied, but little is known about newer academic acceleration policies for high school students that target students who are academically prepared. This study is among the first to produce rigorous estimates of changes following the adoption of targeted automatic enrollment policies or programs.

Academic acceleration policies use universal screening and behavioral nudges to identify and enroll students in advanced courses if they scored proficient or higher on state standardized tests. The policy requires schools to automatically identify students for advanced coursework based on their standardized test scores. Students are then automatically enrolled into an advanced course (e.g., dual credit English instead of regular English, AP Pre-Calculus instead of regular Pre-Calculus), and are given information about the benefits of advanced courses and an opportunity to opt-out if desired. Beginning in 2021–22, the state required all districts to adopt an automatic enrollment policy. 

In this study, AIR experts used difference-in-differences models to examine how the policy changed advanced course enrollments, grade point averages (GPAs), and high school graduation in more than 70 districts in Washington state that adopted a policy between 2013/14 and 2015/16.  
 

Key Findings

We found advanced course enrollment increased after districts began implementing an academic acceleration policy and did so without harming student performance. In districts that implemented the policy:

  • Advanced course enrollment increased across subject areas for all students.
  • Advanced course enrollment for qualified students previously underrepresented in advanced courses began to catch up to enrollment rates among other students.
  • Students’ GPAs and their chances of on-time high school graduation remained stable overall.

The study findings demonstrate support for automatic enrollment as a lever to increase advanced course enrollment for all students with potential to succeed.

The findings can inform the increasing number of district, state, and federal policymakers considering or beginning to implement similar policies across the United States. They also contribute to the growing body of behavioral economics research on nudges and the power of changing defaults, as well as the broader literature on policies designed to accelerate course taking and expand participation in advanced courses.