Specialized curricula at MPS enhancing college enrollment

A report released by the Milwaukee-based Public Policy Forum finds that Milwaukee Public Schools students recently enrolled in Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, Project Lead the Way, and Career and Technical Education curricula were more likely to attend college than students who had not been exposed to such curricula. The report also cautions, however, that the positive impacts associated with those curricula may vary by gender, race and other factors.

Key Findinggs:

_ MPS students who enroll in specialized high school courses generally are more likely to enroll in a postsecondary institution. Broadly speaking, specialized curricula “works.” Every specialized program demonstrated a statistically higher rate of postsecondary enrollment for participants over the sample period as compared to students who were not exposed to specialized curricula. In addition, students who took greater numbers of specialized courses were even more likely to enroll in postsecondary schooling.

_ Postsecondary enrollment trends for students with specialized high school coursework are not the same for all student groups. The effect of specialized courses varies widely by student demographic group and by type of curricular program. Some programs show promise for shrinking the racial matriculation gap.

The report also includes the following key findings on specific specialized programs:

_ MPS graduates with AP and International Baccalaureate experience are more likely to attend a postsecondary institution than graduates with no such experience. Furthermore, the greater the number of AP and IB courses taken by a student, the greater the likelihood of that student attending a postsecondary institution.
_ MPS graduates with Project Lead the Way experience are more likely than non-PLTW graduates to enroll in postsecondary institutions, with particular success for male, Hispanic, white and at-risk PLTW graduates.
_ Between 2008-2011, a greater percentage of Career and Technical Education graduates reported attending a postsecondary institution than the average MPS graduate.