In the 2020-21 academic year, just 4.4% of charter school students with disabilities and 2.8% of those in traditional schools took Advanced Placement classes, versus 21% and 15% of general education students, respectively. 

Just 2.6% of charter school special education students and 3.4% of those in district-run schools took dual-enrollment college and university courses, versus 11.5% and 8% of their general education classmates. 

The number of youth with disabilities taking college admissions tests was less than 10% in district-run schools — half the rate of general education students. Almost 9% of special education students in charter schools took the ACT or SAT, compared with 13% of their non-disabled peers.

Researchers cautioned that those rates were likely impacted by COVID-related school closures and an increase in the number of colleges making the assessments optional. But they noted that the disparity has persisted since 2012.

“The bottom line is that the overall percentages are just unacceptable,” says Jennifer Coco, the center’s senior director of strategy and impact. “The research shows that 85% of students in special education are capable of achieving on grade level. There’s no barrier that’s stopping them if their needs are met.”

The report is the center’s fifth analysis of charter and district school enrollment of students with disabilities, based on the U.S. Department of Education’s Civil Rights Data Collection, which documents educational disparities. Analyzing recently released data from the 2020-21 school year, the new report is the first to look specifically at access to career- and college-readiness opportunities.

“In our minds, it’s a clear call to action,” says Coco. 

The center was launched in 2013 as the National Center for Special Education in Charter Schools, with a focus on improving conditions for children with disabilities in the charter sector. Though gaps have narrowed, charter schools have long enrolled fewer students who qualify for special education and are often ill-equipped to serve those with the most profound challenges. 

Charter schools were conceived in part as places where educators could innovate, and the most effective have refined approaches that create better outcomes for low-income children and students of color. But to date, except for a handful of schools, they have not identified better special education practices. 

The proportion of rose from 10.7% in 2018 to 11.5% in 2021, an increase of 87,444 children. During the same period, the number of students in traditional district schools who have Individualized Education Plan, the legal documents that spell out how their needs will be addressed, rose from 13.2% to slightly more than 14%. 

The disparity in enrollment between charter and traditional schools is almost entirely in elementary and middle schools; high schools in both sectors serve special education students at roughly the same rate. Charter schools are much more likely to serve disabled children , a practice that increases achievement for special education students. 

“85% of students in special education are capable of achieving on grade level. There’s no barrier that’s stopping them if their needs are met.”

The report notes 83% of charter school special education students spend more than 80% of their day in a regular classroom, compared with 67.5% in traditional schools. Just 1.3% of children with disabilities participate in gifted and talented programs in district schools, compared with 6.4% of all students. In charter schools, 0.6% of disabled pupils participate in gifted programs, compared with 2.4% of the general student body. 

In the 2019-20 academic year, some , according to the National Center for Education Statistics. They are less likely than non-disabled college students to attain a degree, however, raising concerns about making sure they graduate high school prepared for higher education.

In 2023, the for disabled students attending four-year colleges was 49.5%, compared with 68% of non-disabled students. Just 37% report their disability to their college, and of those who do, many don’t receive accommodations. A bill before Congress, the , would require colleges to make it easier for students to get disability supports.

Finally, the center took at 176 charter schools that have a specific focus on students with disabilities, especially those with autism, emotional disturbances and intellectual disabilities. More than half of these schools are located in Florida, Ohio and Texas. Further study is needed to understand why families choose these segregated schools and how student services may differ from those provided in district-run classrooms.

At a Wednesday meeting of Maryland Higher Education Commission, officials discussed how the implementation of Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, an education overhaul passed by the 2021 Maryland General Assembly, may drastically change how students are assessed for college and career readiness, among other topics.

Emily Dow, assistant secretary of Academic Affairs provided updates on where MHEC stands in the implementation of the Blueprint, which includes goals of increasing access to higher education and career training as well as supporting the education of future public school teachers.

The Blueprint requires that education-focused state agencies to submit a plan for implementation, which MHEC submitted in March. The plan includes providing a teaching fellows scholarship and loan assistance programs for public school teachers.

The Blueprint also prompts MHEC to work alongside other state and local education agencies to create alternative teacher certification pathways and college readiness standards.

Part of Wednesday’s discussion focused on how to 

The Blueprint’s Accountability & Implementation Board proposed new standards that would measure a student’s college and career readiness. If students have a grade point average of at least 3.0 and a passing grade in algebra 1 by the end of 10th grade, they would meet the standard.

If a student did not reach those criteria, they could still demonstrate proficiency and readiness through standardized testing like the MCAP assessments. If a student struggles to pass those exams, they would receive additional services to reach those metrics by the end of high school.

But Commissioner Chike Aguh raised a concern that the current proposed metrics mostly focus on whether a child is “college ready” but may not adequately determine if a student is “career ready.”

“Usually when we talk about CCR, college and career standards, we end up talking about college readiness. We generally hear very little about career readiness,” Aguh said.

Dow responded that she was not quite sure.

“At least in the meetings with AIB (Accountability and Implementation Board), it is on their radar. I do not know how that is getting addressed with specificity…But just know that there have been opportunities, when it is appropriate, to speak up and say ‘let’s recognize that these are academic metrics that are designed for academic outcomes.’ And you are absolutely right that we are missing a piece to this definition, to this this concept of college and career readiness.”

The committee also discussed some challenges for students transferring from a community college to a four-year institution.

“A student starts off at a community college, and they transfer to a four-year institution, with or without an associates degree… and the four-year institution may say ‘yes, some of your courses can transfer, but some of your courses can’t. And you’re going to have to retake something slightly different because it’s not exactly what we want.’ And then the sending institution would never be the wiser … that they have designed a course that is not transferring or is not well aligned for a student to be successful at a four-year institution,” Dow said.

In 2021, the General Assembly passed the Transfer with Success Act attempting to resolve that issue, and MHEC is still working on implementation of an overhaul on the credit transfer process.

Maryland’s institutions of higher education submitted implementation plans in January describing how they were going to improve credit transfers among institutions.

Dow noted that the plans varied. Some institutions said they were going to focus on improving credit transfers between their immediate partnering institutions, while other indicated that they were going to focus on credit transfers for their most popular majors that receive transfer students.

Maryland Matters is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Danielle Gaines for questions: dgaines@marylandmatters.org. Follow Maryland Matters on  and .

The average ACT test score was 19.5 out of 36 from the class of 2023, compared to 19.8 last year — the sixth consecutive drop, according to the nonprofit organization that administers the test.

New shows Black students scored 3.5 points below this year’s average, continuing the growing trend of historically marginalized students being unprepared for college-level courses.

“These systemic problems require sustained action and support at the policy level,” said ACT chief executive officer Janet Godwin in a . 

“The hard truth is that we are not doing enough to ensure that graduates are truly ready for postsecondary success in college and career,” she added.

Here are four key takeaways from the :

1. Black students had the lowest ACT test scores in nearly every category.

Black students had an overall ACT test score of 16 out of 36.

In English, Black students were more than three points below the average scores of 18.6 for English, 19 for math, 20.1 for reading and 19.6 for science.

American Indian and Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander and Latino students also scored below average in every category.

Stephen Barker, director of communications at , said the scores point to the systemic barriers minority and first-generation students face as they apply to college.

“There isn’t the generational support or knowledge to push kids and prepare them to take these tests,” Barker said. “Kids are throwing their hands in the air and saying ‘I’m gonna take it but I’m not ready’ and it’s stressful for them and bears out in these numbers.”

2. Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander students experienced the greatest ACT test score declines in the last five years.

Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander students saw the largest overall ACT test score decline in the last five years, scoring 16.3 out of 36 — a 1.6 point decrease compared to 2019.

The decline was followed by Latino and white students who decreased 1.3 and 1.1 points, respectively.

“What you don’t see in these numbers are all of the environmental challenges that are stacked on,” Barker said, adding how students, often women, are caretaking for families or working multiple jobs.

“We’re just throwing tests at kids and are surprised when it comes time to enroll them and they aren’t ready,” he said.

3. Male students scored higher in math and science compared to females.

Male students scored 19.4 in math and 19.8 in science compared to female students scoring 18.8 and 19.6, respectively — a difference of 0.6 and 0.2 points.

Female students scored 19.2 in English and 20.6 in reading compared to male students scoring 18.2 and 19.7 — a difference of 1 and 0.9 points.

“I can tell you that I definitely see this disparity,” Medha Kukkalli, a first-year student at the University of Houston, told ����Ӱ��.

Kukkalli, who’s currently studying human development and family studies, said most of her classmates are women and her peers in STEM courses are predominantly men. 

4. Fewer students have taken the ACT test in the last five years.

Nearly 1.4 million students took the ACT test compared to last year — an increase of 40,000 students.

But there’s been a dramatic decline from the nearly 1.8 million students who took the test in 2019 — a decrease of about 400,000 students.

This comes as several universities have made standardized admissions tests optional, including the that doesn’t even consider ACT or SAT scores.

Kukkalli opted out of taking the ACT test because she said it wouldn’t reflect how successful she could be in college.

“It’s more about time management skills, having resilience, support systems and mental fortitude rather than solely whether you have a high ACT score,” Kukkalli said.

Barker said Kukkalli’s thinking is not surprising as the ACT and SAT tests experience a “brand crisis,” with the number of students taking standardized tests declining.

Rhode Island is phasing in new standards for high school graduation after a multi-year evaluation revealed that nearly half of graduates were not meeting the minimum criteria for entry into the state’s public colleges and universities.

The class of 2028 — current seventh graders — will be required to take at least two years of a world language and complete math courses in geometry and Algebra II in order to earn their diploma. Seniors will also graduate having written professional resumes and completed the federal college financial aid form, known as FAFSA, a first nationwide, Rhode Island officials say. (Some other states have also made FAFSA a graduation requirement but offer students alternatives, such as filling out a state-level financial aid application instead or seeking an opt-out.) At the same time, Rhode Island will support high schools to add offerings in computer science, civics and financial literacy.

The new regulations also add flexibility for students who work jobs or are caregivers to receive credit for their real-world learning experiences. The changes will eliminate seat time in the classroom from being a criteria used to award academic credit, placing the emphasis instead on subject mastery and student proficiency.

The State Council on Elementary and Secondary Education the new standards in November and officials are now beginning implementation.

“This is going to be a gamechanger for us across the state,” Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green said.

The shift comes after the Rhode Island Department of Education partnered with the XQ Institute in 2020 to audit how well its high schools were preparing their students for success in college and careers. Researchers at the nonprofit analyzed more than 4,800 surveys and over 2,250 transcripts from a representative sample of students, finding that high schools were falling short on preparing their graduates for college and careers. They provided their work at no cost to the state.

While about 80% of students said they wanted to attend college, just 60% enrolled in the courses necessary to be eligible for higher education and only about 50% passed those classes.

“It was just really shocking to see the number of students that didn’t meet this bar of college eligibility,” said Keith Dysarz, who led the XQ analysis. 

Low-income students, English learners and students with disabilities saw even wider gaps, with the first two groups completing college prep coursework 42% of the time while the latter hit that mark in just 12% of cases.

In many cases, high schoolers would sign up for classes and have no idea that their selections could disqualify them from access to higher education, Infante-Green explained.

“Kids didn’t even know that they were not being provided the courses [they needed for college],” she said.

She and her colleagues were surprised to find the issues were pervasive in school districts not typically thought of as struggling. Several urban school systems in Rhode Island have a reputation for needing improvement, with Providence and Central Falls both actively under state takeover for underperformance, but wealthier suburban districts were also falling short on college and career preparation, the commissioner said.

In Bristol, an oceanside town with roughly 3,000 students in a regional school district, Madison Rodriques said the college entry requirements were easy to miss. The only time she remembers hearing she needed two years of world language to be college-eligible was during a high school orientation at the end of eighth grade. Though she luckily was paying attention, she believes many of her peers were tuning out. Now a junior at Bristol’s Roger Williams University, she had to step in on behalf of her younger brother, who is a high school senior, she said. 

“College wasn’t really on his radar when he was going into high school. I was the one to be like, ‘Oh, if you want to go, we need to do this and this,’” she said. “Not everyone has that older sibling or parent that’s going to be on top of that.”

After looking at the transcript data and holding 18 focus group conversations with students, state leaders acknowledged they had a problem to address. In the summer of 2021, they convened a working group that met over several months to hear the feedback of over 350 stakeholders.

“We do not want to be right; we’re here to get it right,” Stephen Osborn, the state education department leader spearheading the process, would tell educators and families.

Rodriques joined and spoke up about the disconnect between the courses laid out for her and her peers and the transcript requirements to be eligible for nearby colleges. She also advocated for more real-world skills like budgeting and how to do her taxes.

The leaders of the sessions “were so good at making sure voices were heard and elevated,” she said. “I could feel that they valued our presence there.”

The resulting proposal became the most commented-on set of K-12 regulations in the state’s history.

Now, schools are working to implement the new standards. Westerly High School Principal Michael Hobin is adding options for his students to gain certifications in life skills such as information technology, cosmetology or Spanish translation. He hopes that every member of the class of 2026, his current freshmen, will graduate with both a diploma and a credential awarded by an outside organization such as OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

“We want our kids … preparing for the rest of their life, whatever that means to them. If it means they’re going to go to college, then I want them prepared for college. If it means that they’re going into work, I want them prepared for work. If they’re going into the military, I want them prepared for the military,” Hobin said.

The new state regulations also call for more flexibility in awarding credit for the learning experiences students engage in outside the classroom. That’s a move to more equitably serve the numerous students in the state who are breadwinners for their family or caregivers, Osborn explained.

“Our kids are literally lifting their families out of poverty and then they’re being punished by their schools because they don’t have that time in their day to be able to go deeper into their academic schoolwork,” he said.

Schools may also combine courses for “flex credits” in two or more subjects, the new rules specify. That could mean delivering algebra in tandem with physics; English alongside performing arts or any number of other combinations, Osborn said.

Taken together, he hopes the standards send a clear message to school leaders.

“Coming from the Department of [Education], this is permission to be innovative.”

Disclosure: XQ provides financial support to ����Ӱ��.

Before the pandemic, almost two-thirds of Latino and more than half of Black graduates from the Los Angeles Unified School District were completing the series of 15 courses required by both the University of California and California State University systems. In 2020, the rate fell to 54 percent for Latino students and 46 percent for Black students.

First-time enrollment in Los Angeles’s community colleges also saw a sharp decline — another indicator of the pandemic’s impact on students’ post-secondary plans.

“We can’t allow the pandemic to let us go backwards,” said Audrey Dow, senior vice president of the Los Angeles office for the Campaign for College Opportunity, which produced the report. “We all know that a bachelor’s degree, a college credential, is the new entry level into work.”

The district’s overall graduation rate reached 82 percent last school year, but that doesn’t mean students are well-prepared for college. The authors of the report commend the district for requiring students to take math, English and other courses needed for college admission in order to graduate. But they urge leaders to take the next step by requiring higher grades in those courses to get a diploma — a C instead of a D.

The findings contribute to the many challenges facing Alberto Carvalho as he prepares to take over as superintendent of the predominantly-Latino Los Angeles district on Monday. 

“Los Angeles is ripe, is primed for rampant and rapid expansion of advanced academic opportunities for the students,” Carvalho said Thursday during a virtual event honoring him for improving college enrollment in Miami-Dade County Public Schools, where he was chief for 14 years. He’s the first to win Superintendent of the Year from the , a nonprofit that brings courses from the nation’s top universities into high schools. 

The Los Angeles district already has two schools working with the organization, but Carvalho said he plans to “forcefully” expand the model throughout the district. He said he’d also like to expand dual enrollment programs and work closer with colleges and universities, as he did in Miami-Dade, to have college professors teach high school and high school students attend college courses. 

“If we simultaneously continue to lift the performance of Miami and we lift the performance of Los Angeles, America as a whole is elevated,” he said.

Carvalho’s track record in Miami — eliminating F schools in the district and increasing the graduation rate from less than 60 percent to 90 percent — is why the board recruited him and unanimously approved his contract, Jackie Goldberg, a member of the board, said last month when Carvalho was in town for his first school visit. 

“He struck some chords that just seemed to ring the bell,” she said. “We don’t vote 7-0 on much of anything.”

Carvalho is under pressure to combat trends that have only worsened during the pandemic. Those include reversing , narrowing persistent achievement gaps and, with over 18 percent of students chronically absent, increasing attendance. 

“He is inheriting a district that, quite frankly, parents have lost a lot of faith in,” said Jay Artis-Wright, executive director of Parent Revolution, an advocacy group that was involved in a lawsuit related to reopening and now wants the district to provide more tutoring and individualized academic support. “There is a disconnect between the [learning] loss and the recovery that’s supposed to be happening right now.”

High school students are on a shorter timeline to make up for lost instruction before applying for college. This year’s juniors, she said, were in ninth grade when schools closed for the pandemic and might have missed out on opportunities to learn about financial aid and which courses to take.

The pandemic also “forced kids to make tough choices,” added Elmer Roldan, executive director of Communities In Schools of Los Angeles, part of a nationwide nonprofit that focuses on keeping low-income students on track toward graduation and college. High school students “felt the financial burdens” of their families, sometimes forcing them to work, delay college or choose a trade school as an alternative, he said.

But he agrees with the report’s recommendation that the district should increase the graduation requirement from a D to a C in those classes. That would make them eligible for admission to one of nine University of California or 23 California State University campuses. 

“Now is the time, because there is money on the table” for counselors and other programs to help students prepare for college, Rodan said, adding that if there’s hesitation from teachers and administrators it’s because “you’re asking folks to raise the standards without providing additional resources.”

The class of 2016 was the first to be required to complete the classes for graduation. The Los Angeles school board set a goal of 75 percent of graduates earning a C or higher in those courses by 2026. But not requiring a C for graduation sends students the wrong message, Dow said.

“The whole impetus behind the policy change was so they could have a shot” at the UC or CSU systems, Dow said. “They are not going to be eligible applicants.”

According to the district, graduation requirements are not changing.

Raising the standard to a C is a worthy goal, said Ana Ponce of Great Public Schools Now, which funded the report. But she added that it could lead to a decline in graduation rates if too many students miss the C cutoff or “grade inflation” to ensure they make it.

Reforming remediation

While the report focuses on getting more students into four-year universities, data shows that almost half of the Los Angeles district’s Black and Latino students who enroll in higher education attend community college. And once enrolled, they’re often placed in remedial courses that don’t contribute toward a degree. Those in remedial classes are also less likely to transfer to a four-year school, .

In 2017, California passed a law to reduce the number of students in remedial courses. Community colleges must consider multiple factors throughout a student’s four years of high school, including grade point average, before deciding that the student is “highly unlikely” to pass a credit-bearing course. 

But the Los Angeles Community College District’s nine campuses “have been slow to adopt and implement” those reforms, according to the new report. Three of the schools have reduced the number of remedial courses available in English, thereby placing more first-year students in college-level courses. But none has taken similar steps in math, the report said.

Less than 10 percent of Black and Latino students earn a degree or certificate within three years of enrolling in a Los Angeles community college, the report finds, and they are far less likely than white students to transfer to a four-year university within four years — 13 percent compared to 46 percent. 

The report recommends community colleges place more students in transfer-eligible English and math courses during their first year.

One of Carvalho’s first steps, Dow said, should be forming a partnership with Francisco Rodriguez, the chancellor of the community college district, to address the report’s recommendations. 

Of the 28,047 Latino students who graduated in 2021, 17,352 completed the required courses, and of those, 14,125 enrolled in college, the report shows. 

“There has to be a focus from the district to ensure that students are enrolling in college,” Dow said. “What is happening to these students who aren’t going anywhere?”