Inequities in Advanced Coursework

Black and Latino students across the country experience inequitable access to advanced coursework opportunities. They are locked out of these opportunities early when they are denied access to gifted and talented programs in elementary school, and later in middle and high school, when they are not enrolled in eighth grade algebra and not given the chance to participate in Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), and dual enrollment programs.

But disparities in access to advanced coursework are not inevitable.

What State Leaders Can Do
1) Set clear, measurable goals for advancing access to and success in advanced coursework and commit to publicly measuring state and district progress toward those goals.

2) Use data to identify the carriers that prevent students of color and students from low-income backgrounds from enrolling in advanced courses.

3)Invest dollars to expend advanced coursework opportunities in schools serving the most Black and Latino students.

4) Expand eligibility and increase access so that Black and Latino students have a fair chance to take advanced coursework.

5) Provide sufficient support for students to prepare for advanced coursework and for their success once they are enrolled.