In 2019, the National Academies of Sciences (NAS) published recommendations for monitoring educational equity. Building on these recommendations, the Research Alliance has been working to develop a comprehensive set of equity indicators for New York City schools.
Earlier Spotlight posts highlighted differences in access to middle and high schools with more opportunities overall; conversations with local stakeholders have underscored the importance of also assessing the extent to which students within these schools are actually benefiting from the opportunities available–for example, feeling supported at their school, avoiding being suspended, or, in this case, by taking an advanced class. In this post, we revisit which students attend middle and high schools with low, moderate, and high levels of advanced course offerings. We then examine patterns of course-taking within these schools, with a focus on differences by students’ race/ethnicity, gender, and median neighborhood income, and whether students receive special education or English Learner services. [1] Endnote details
The Value of Advanced Courses
Advanced course is a broad term that includes curricula that go beyond standard sequences of material, providing exposure to more rigorous academic opportunities.
At the middle school level, some students have the option of enrolling in accelerated courses, which cover material typically reserved for later grades.[2] Endnote details Accelerated courses can serve as a gateway to college-level courses in high school. At the same time, access, or lack of access, to these courses in middle school is a form of tracking[3] Endnote details that can reinforce educational inequality. Enrollment in the most frequently offered accelerated course, 8th-grade algebra I, is strongly associated with enrollment in the highest academic opportunity high schools. While the benefits of accelerated 8th-grade algebra are clear for students with adequate preparation, policies that accelerate the majority of students have produced mixed results, highlighting potential harm to lower-performing students who may need an additional year of pre-algebra math. Research shows that targeting acceleration based on prior performance boosts enrollment in college track math courses—especially among qualified students who may have been overlooked as a result of biases.
In high school, enrollment in advanced classes provides the opportunity to earn early college credits and has been shown to be a strong predictor of college enrollment, persistence, and graduation. Research has underscored the value of a college education; in 2022, workers with a bachelor's degree earned 68 percent more than those with only a high school diploma, although this number varied greatly by degree type. With the right preparation and support, advanced coursework in middle and high school can become an important step toward students’ long-term academic and labor market success.
Which students attend schools with the most advanced-course-taking opportunities?
The dashboard below shows the percentage of students who attended schools offering low, moderate, and high levels of advanced coursework in middle and high school by race/ethnicity, students’ median neighborhood income, Individualized Education Plan (IEP) status, English Learner (EL) status, and gender. The interactive elements on the right side of the dashboard allow you to toggle between middle and high school as well as student demographic categories.
Key Takeaways
- Students from affluent and higher-income neighborhoods were more likely to attend a school offering high levels of advanced courses.
- In middle school, White students were the most likely to attend schools with high levels of advanced course opportunities, at just under 50 percent. In high school, White and Asian students were the most likely to attend these schools, at 43 percent.
- Former English Learners and those who never received EL services were more likely to attend schools with high levels of advanced course opportunities compared to current EL students.
While these findings show that opportunities differ across schools, access to advanced courses can also vary among students within the same school. The following analysis considers this possibility.
Which students take advanced courses at schools with low, moderate, and high levels of advanced course offerings?
The interactive graphic below shows the proportion of students who enrolled in at least one advanced course within schools with low, moderate, and high levels of advanced course opportunities.
Key Takeaways
- All groups of students were substantially more likely to take advanced courses in schools that offer more of these opportunities.
- Within schools at all opportunity levels, there are meaningful disparities in the rates at which students actually take advanced courses. These disparities were more pronounced within low-opportunity schools and at the high school level.
- Overall, Black and Latinx students, students from low-income neighborhoods, current English learners, male students, and students with IEPs were less likely to take one or more advanced courses during their time in middle or high school.
Discussion
Our findings reveal inequities in students’ access to schools offering more advanced coursework, as well as the likelihood of actually enrolling in the advanced courses that are offered. Notably, inequities in the middle grades appear to be driven more by sorting into different kinds of schools. By the time students reach high school, there is somewhat greater equity in terms of the availability of advanced courses, but less equity in the rates at which students are actually taking these classes. Black and Latinx students, students from low-income neighborhoods, current English learners, male students, and students with IEPs faced the greatest barriers to advanced coursework. They were more likely to be concentrated in low-opportunity schools and, within those schools, were less likely to take advanced courses, limiting their access to the benefits these opportunities may provide.
Expanding advanced course-taking is challenging because students need adequate academic preparation and support to succeed in these classes. Efforts to make these opportunities more equitable must include a focus on providing students with access to challenging academic experiences at an earlier age, as well as ongoing individualized support.
An upcoming report will take a deeper dive into English learners’ access to advanced coursework and high-school-level strategies that have shown promise for increasing advanced course-taking for these students.
Big Questions
- What would it take to increase the number of advanced classes being offered in schools with low opportunity levels? What capacity barriers would such schools need to overcome (e.g., size, teacher qualifications, scheduling, etc.)?
- What supports would help lower-performing students take advantage of these opportunities, in both middle and high school?
- To what extent are inequities in high school course-taking driven by unequal access to advanced classes beginning in middle school? Our findings show that substantial numbers of low-income, Black, and Latinx students attend middle schools offering less than one accelerated class per 25 students.
- How do we ensure that students at all levels have access to rigorous, engaging coursework? What more nuanced measures of academic rigor might be developed for future use by researchers, policymakers, educators, and families?
- How can we create individualized learning opportunities that meet students where they are, without contributing to the inequity caused by ability sorting?
This Spotlight post was authored by Erin Readling, James Kemple and Chelsea Farley.
Suggested Citation
Readling, E., Kemple, J., and Farley, C. (2026) “Equity Indicators: How Does Access to Advanced Coursework Vary Between and Within NYC Middle and High Schools?” Spotlight on NYC Schools. Research Alliance for New York City Schools.
Endnotes
[1] Our categories for gender (“male” and “female”) are based on gender marker data collected by NYC Public Schools. Students are able to change their gender marker in their permanent record with parental approval. Gender marker X – Neither Female nor Male (e.g. identifies as non-binary, gender expansive, or gender fluid) became an option in 2022-23, but because this set of analyses follow a cohort of students who enrolled in NYC middle and high schools in 2019, we do not have an X subgroup. Neighborhood income categories are as follows: Affluent = median household income in the top 20th percentile of all NYC Census tracts (>$110,250); Higher Income = median household income between the 50th and 80th percentile ($74,696-$110,250); Modest Income = median household income between the 20th and 50th percentile ($47,500-$74,695); and Low Income = median household income in the bottom 20th percentile(< $47,500). For middle school analyses, EL Status is based upon whether a student was receiving English language services upon entry in their 6th grade year. For high school analyses EL status is based on English language services received when entering 9th grade. The EL Status categories are as follows: Never EL: has never received EL services, Current EL: was receiving EL services at the start of 6th/9th grade, Former EL: was not receiving EL services at the start of 6th/9th grade but was at some point in the past. To learn more about EL status in NYC, click here. For middle school analyses, IEP Status is based upon whether a student had an IEP upon entry in their 6th grade year. For high school, this categorization is based on IEP status upon enrolling in 9th grade. The sample of students with IEPs includes those identified for special education services that are included in or are offered in addition to education provided in general classroom settings. The sample does not include students enrolled in District 75 schools or who receive services primarily or exclusively in settings comprised of students with disabilities. To see more about IEP status in NYC, click here. ↩
[2] Some middle school accelerated courses provide the opportunity for high school credit, such as Algebra I, Living Environment, and Earth Science. ↩
[3] Student sorting, sometimes called tracking or ability grouping, is the placement of students into classes of different levels based on academic performance. Evidence suggests that student sorting policies can exacerbate segregation and inequity; students in lower-level classes are more likely to be Black, Latinx, and low-income and are more often exposed to novice teachers and under-resourced peers. ↩
Figure Notes
Advanced Course Opportunity Dashboard
Source: Research Alliance calculations based on data obtained from NYC Public Schools
Notes: The advanced course opportunity measure for middle schools captures the number of “accelerated” course sections that were available to students in Grades 6-8. The number of course sections was determined by calculating the total number of students enrolled in courses coded as “accelerated” and dividing by 25 (the typical middle school class size). To account for the size of the school, the measures reflects the number of course sections for every 25 students in Grade 8 (the year when students typically take accelerated courses, most commonly Algebra I). Groupings were determined by 25th and 75th percentile of this number’s distribution for all middle schools. High = Average 3.5 or more accelerated course sections for every 25 students in Grade 8. Low = Fewer than 1.0 accelerated course section offered for every 25 students in Grade 8. Moderate = Between 1.0 and 3.5 accelerated course sections offered for every 25 students in Grade 8. The advanced course opportunity measure for high schools captures the number of college-level course sections that were available to students in Grades 9-12. College-level courses include those coded as Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, or Early College. The number of course sections was determined by calculating the total number of students enrolled in college-level courses and dividing by 25 (the typical high school class size). To account for the size of the school, the measures reflect the number of course sections for every 25 students 11th and 12th grade (the years when students typically take college-level courses). Groupings were determined by 25th and 75th percentiles of this number’s distribution for all high schools. High = Average 3.6 or more college course sections for every 25 students in Grades 11 and 12. Low = Fewer than 1.5 college course sections offered for every 25 students in Grades 11 and 12. Moderate = Between 1.5 and 3.6 college course sections offered for every 25 students in Grades 11 and 12.
Advanced Coursetaking Dashboard
Source: Research Alliance calculations based on data obtained from NYC Public Schools