Advanced Course Offerings and Completion in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math in Texas Public High Schools. Policy Brief

Although the percentage of high school students in advanced STEM courses has risen steadily in the past two decades throughout the United States, disparities persist across student subgroups, such as racial/ethnic groups (Aud et al., 2013; Laird, Alt, & Wu, 2009; Texas Education Agency, 2011). Racial/ethnic minority student enrollment in advanced STEM courses in high school continues to lag behind nonminority enrollment, both nationally and in Texas. This study examined advanced STEM course offerings in all regular-instruction public high schools in Texas, including charter schools that served students at any time from 2007/08 to 2013/14. The study also examined advanced STEM course completion among all students continuously enrolled in public high schools for four years (or five years in public schools when a math performance measure from grade 8 is included) for four cohorts of students in grades 9-12 between the 2007/08 and 2013/14 school years. Results are reported on average across the state in the full public report and are summarized in this brief. [For the full report, "Advanced Course Offerings and Completion in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math in Texas Public High Schools. REL 2018-276," see ED576983.]