Advanced Course Completion Rates Among New Mexico High School Students Following Changes in Graduation Requirements

In an effort to promote college readiness, New Mexico passed a law in 2008 requiring that high school students complete at least one advanced course to graduate. Advanced courses are designated at the district level and may include Advanced Placement, dual-credit, gifted and talented, honors, and International Baccalaureate courses. Numerous studies have shown that completing advanced courses in high school is associated with positive academic outcomes, such as higher high school graduation and postsecondary enrollment and persistence rates.

This study examined the completion of advanced coursework among the first three cohorts (2009/10, 2010/11, and 2011/12) of New Mexico high school students that had to meet the new graduation requirement. Descriptive statistics were used to examine differences by student subgroups and characteristics and by school characteristics.

Among the key findings:

• Over 56 percent of public school students in New Mexico completed one or more advanced courses in high school.

• A higher percentage of White students than American Indian and Hispanic students completed at least one advanced course. The gaps across racial/ethnic groups were smaller when high-performing students were examined separately.

• The percentage of students who completed at least one advanced course was substantially lower among students at small schools (those with fewer than 750 students) than among students at bigger schools. The gap across school size was about the same when high-performing students were examined separately.

• The percentage of students who completed at least one advanced course was higher among students at schools with a performance rating of A on the state's A-F scale than among students at schools with a lower rating.

Although this study was not designed to investigate the causes of gaps in advanced course completion rates, the finding that a large share of American Indian and Hispanic students did not complete advanced courses highlights the need to further investigate the extent to which these courses are available to students across the state, particularly in small schools and schools with low performance ratings. In addition, state and local education agencies can use the findings to improve supports aimed at increasing access to advanced courses and the supply of advanced course offerings in schools with low advanced course completion rates.