High School Graduation Survey Office of Academic and Professional Standards March 2007

High School Graduation Survey  Data collected on the 2005 graduating class  Total number of schools responding varied by question and type of school Charter schools Vocational-Technical Schools Adult High Schools/Evening Schools Comprehensive High Schools

High School Graduation Survey Purpose  To identify courses required for ALL students in four content areas: Mathematics English/Language Arts Literacy Science Social Studies

High School Graduation Survey Purpose  To obtain information about the availability of AP courses  To determine how many high schools utilize Option Two of the graduation requirements

What percentage of the 2005 graduating class took one or more Advanced Placement courses? # Schools % Students taking AP classes 700% 810% 6625% 5733% 550% 375% 3100% 6 Abbott15%

Has the local board adopted Option Two policy?  Option Two permits schools to approve “alternative” activities to seat time for “credit”  89% of responding schools had adopted Option Two policy

Current Graduation Requirements  20 credits English/LAL  15 credits Math  15 credits Science  15 credits Social Studies  5 credits in World Languages  5 credits in the Arts  5 credits in Career Ed (Practical Arts)  3¾ credits per year in Health and PE  Technology integration

Credits in Mathematics  All schools reported requiring 15 to 40 credits 91% required 15 credits 1 school required 16 credits 8% required 20 credits 1% required more than 20 credits

Mathematics: Algebra I, II and Geometry  66% required Algebra 1 of virtually all students  59% required geometry  43% required algebra II for all students

Credits Required in Science  342 schools required 15 credits  10 schools required credits  12 schools required credits  4 schools required credits  2 schools required 40 credits

Credits in Science 69% required biology 35% required chemistry 32% required physical science 27% required earth science 14% required physics 1.3% required space science

Social Studies  NJ Statute requires: Two years of US History Civics, geography and history of NJ Holocaust and genocide education Principles of government/civics African American history  NJAC requires 15 credits in “social studies”

Social Studies  93% of schools required 15 credits in social studies for graduation  3 schools required 16 credits  25 schools required credits

Social Studies  US History I97%  US History II97%  World History75%  World Cultures25%  Civics/Government 2%  Economics 1%  Geography 1%

Social Studies  Schools use various names for courses that “cross” content areas Include civics in US History Include geography in World History Include economics in US History World cultures/world history American Government

English/LAL  Survey asked about course content rather than courses  Courses are called “English I, II, III, and IV” with no alignment across the state  Courses called “English” may vary in content even within a school

English/Language Arts Literacy  All schools required 20 to 30 credits 94% required 20 credits 1 school required 28 credits 2 schools required 30 credits

English/LAL Content for Grade 9  Writing/Grammar & Structure58%  Contemporary Literature33%  Public Speaking18%  Creative Writing16%  American Literature14%  British Literature11%  Media Studies 9%  Journalism 3%  AP Language & Composition 0%

English/LAL Content for Grade 10  American Literature52%  Writing/Grammar & Structure47%  Contemporary Literature34%  Public Speaking19%  Creative Writing16%  British Literature 8%  Media Studies 8%  Journalism 4%  AP Language & Composition 0%

English/LAL Content for Grade 11  American Literature46%  Writing/Grammar & Structure42%  British Literature38%  Contemporary Literature21%  Creative Writing17%  Public Speaking17%  Media Studies 8%  AP Language & Composition 6%  Journalism 5%

English/LAL Content Grade 12  British Literature42%  Writing/Grammar & Structure41%  Contemporary Literature35%  Creative Writing18%  Public Speaking16%  American Literature10%  Media Studies 9%  AP Language & Composition 9%  Journalism 5%

English/LAL  Content most often required: American Literature Writing and Grammar Contemporary Literature British Literature

Questions/Issues All schools should require higher level math courses for all students NAEP will place more emphasis on informational text in English/LAL and will require students to use a computer for writing tasks HS English (LAL) should be defined at grades 9, 10, 11, and 12 Less than 50% of schools require physics or chemistry Social studies = history courses

Next Steps  NJ ADP recommendations re: graduation requirements  Biology and Algebra II course descriptions  End-of-course exam in biology  Standards Clarification Project with Grant Wiggins  Social Studies survey (2008)  H/PE survey (2007)