Most HS Rate Themselves Favorably on Preparing Students for College

 

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) releases today the latest round of findings from the School Pulse Panel (SPP). These SPP data examine topics on college and career readiness, world language programs, school crime and safety and principal autonomy during the 2023-24 school year, as reported by school leaders in U.S. public schools. Key Findings College and Career Readiness Among public schools offering any of grades 9 or above (“9-12 schools”), 73 percent offer at least one of the following types of advanced coursework: Advanced Placement (AP), Pre-Advanced Placement (Pre-AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), or dual enrollment courses. Among these schools, 78 percent offer dual enrollment courses, 76 percent offer AP courses, 22 percent offer pre-AP courses, and 5 percent offer IB courses. Compared to the national estimate for 9-12 schools that offer one of the types of advanced coursework listed above (73 percent), higher percentages of these schools with the following characteristics reported offering at least one of these types of advanced coursework: With 1,000 or more students (100 percent) With 500-999 students (89 percent) In the Northeast (89 percent) With a student body made up of 0-25 percent students of color (84 percent) A lower percentage of 9-12 schools with fewer than 300 students (50 percent) offer at least one of these types of advanced coursework compared to the national estimate (73 percent). For 9-12 schools offering AP courses, an average of 10 AP courses are offered. Compared to this national average (10 AP courses), schools with the following characteristics reported offering more AP courses, on average: With 1,000 or more students (15 AP courses) In suburban areas (13 AP courses) Compared to this national average (10 AP courses), schools with the following characteristics reported offering fewer AP courses, on average: In towns (8 AP courses) With 500-999 students (8 AP courses) In high-poverty neighborhoods (7 AP courses) In rural areas (6 AP courses) With 300-499 students (6 AP courses) With fewer than 300 students (4 AP courses) Eighty-seven percent of 9-12 schools align their graduation requirements to public postsecondary admissions requirements and 62 percent include college and career milestones in their graduation requirements. The table below displays the percentage of 9-12 schools by their response to the prompts “My school does a(n) __________ job preparing students for college” and “My school does a(n) __________ job preparing students for the workforce.   Poor Fair Good Very good Excellent College 1%! 20% 30% 32% 15% The workforce 1%! 12% 36% 35% 15% ! Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation is between 30 and 50, which indicates that the standard error for this estimate is 30 to 50 percent of the estimate’s value. A higher percentage of 9-12 schools that enroll 1,000 or more students (74 percent) reported doing a “very good” or “excellent” job preparing students for college compared to the national estimate (47 percent). Compared to the national estimate of 9-12 schools that reported doing a “very good” or “excellent” job preparing students for college (47 percent), lower percentages of these schools with the following characteristics reported doing a “very good” or “excellent” job preparing students: In high-poverty neighborhoods (30 percent) With fewer than 300 students (30 percent) World Language Programs Forty-three percent of public schools teach one or more world languages as independent classes at their school. The world languages taught in the highest percentages of schools are Spanish (40 percent), French (12 percent), American Sign Language (4 percent), and German (4 percent). Independent world language classes are more commonly offered in high/secondary schools (82 percent) compared to middle/combined schools (61 percent), and least commonly offered in elementary schools (20 percent). Among public schools that teach one or more world languages as independent classes at their school, the following percentages teach these classes in these selected settings or modes: Traditional classroom (76 percent) Online (19 percent) Hybrid (5 percent) Twenty-five percent of all public schools operate some type of dual language program, which includes a developmental program, a two-way immersion program, a one-way immersion program, or a heritage language program.1 Specifically, 13 percent of all public schools offer a one-way immersion program, 9 percent offer a two-way immersion program, 6 percent offer a developmental program, and 3 percent offer a heritage language program (definitions below). Among public schools offering any type of dual language program (25 percent), 82 percent require educators to be certified to teach in these dual language programs and 28 percent offer a Seal of Biliteracy, which is an award given by a school, district, or state in recognition of students who have studied and attained proficiency in two or more languages by high school graduation. School Crime and Safety Forty-eight percent of public schools have a School Resource Officer (SRO) present at school at least once per week during the 2023-24 school year. Eleven percent have a sworn law enforcement officer (SLEO) and 22 percent have a security officer present at school at least once per week during the 2023-24 school year. (See definitions below.) Among public schools with an SRO or SLEO at their school at least once per week, the following percentages reported that their officers routinely: Carry a firearm (92 percent) Carry physical restraints (86 percent, a statistically significant decrease from 2022-23 school year [90 percent]) Carry chemical aerosol sprays (62 percent) Wear a body camera (60 percent, a statistically significant increase from 2022-23 [53 percent]) The table below displays the percentage of public schools that have various types of security personnel at their school at least once per week, by their level of agreement with the statement “The [type of security personnel] at my school makes a positive impact on our school community”:   Strongly disagree Somewhat disagree Neither agree nor disagree Somewhat agree Strongly agree School Resource Officer 10%* 2% 5% 17% 66% Sworn law enforcement offer 10%* ‡ 5%! 19% 63% Security officer 7% 3% 4% 22% 63% * Statistically significantly higher (p < .05) compared to 2022-23 school year. ! Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation is between 30 and 50, which indicates that the standard error for this estimate is 30 to 50 percent of the estimate’s value. ‡ Reporting standards not met. The coefficient of variation is greater than 50 or there are too few cases for a reliable estimate. Four percent of public schools reported that they have a staff member, aside from any security personnel, who legally carries a firearm on school property. Principal Autonomy The following percentages of public schools reported that their principal has a “major influence” on decisions concerning selected activities at their school: Evaluating teachers (93 percent) Hiring new full-time teachers (90 percent) Setting discipline policy (61 percent) Deciding how the school budget will be spent (60 percent) Determining the content of in-service professional development programs for teachers (59 percent) Setting performance standards for students (43 percent) Establishing curriculum (29 percent) The findings released today are part of an experimental data product from the School Pulse Panel, NCES’s innovative approach to delivering timely information regarding the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on public K-12 schools in the U.S. The data, collected between January 9 and 23 of 2024, came from 1,625 participating public K-12 schools from every state and the District of Columbia. Experimental data products are innovative statistical tools created using new data sources or methodologies. Experimental data may not meet all of NCES’s quality standards but are of sufficient benefit to data users in the absence of other relevant products to justify release. NCES clearly identifies experimental data products upon their release. All data released today can be found on the School Pulse Panel dashboard at https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/spp/results.asp.