Benefits of a High School Core Curriculum

COLLEGE READINESS Benefits of a High School Core Curriculum Since the publication of A Nation at Risk, ACT has recommended that students take a core curriculum in high school in order to be prepared for college-level work. ACT’s recommended core curriculum consists of four years of English and three years each of mathematics, science, and social studies. The benefits to students of taking the right number of core preparatory courses in high school have been well documented by ACT research. More recently, ACT research has also shown that taking certain specific courses in high school, such as Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and mathematics courses including Algebra II and beyond, substantially increases students’ readiness for college-level work as well as their readiness for workforce training programs. The purpose of this brief is to summarize ACT’s research on the core curriculum. In the following sections we describe the relative benefits of taking the ACT-recommended core curriculum, and of taking specific high school courses. The brief is divided into two parts: benefits for academic achievement and college and workforce training readiness, and benefits for college success. Unless otherwise specified, the results reported below are based on the 2005 ACT-tested high school graduating class, totaling about 1.2 million students. Of these students, 56 percent took the core curriculum and 34 percent took less than the core curriculum.1 Students who take the ACT-recommended core curriculum in high school achieve higher ACT scores than those who don’t. Higher ACT scores offer students more opportunities for access to college I. Benefits of Taking a Core Curriculum and Specific High School Courses for Academic Achievement and College and Workforce Training Readiness ▼ Students who take the ACT-recommended core curriculum in high school achieve higher ACT scores than those who don’t, regardless of gender, family income, and racial/ethnic background. • Compared to graduates who do not take the core curriculum, graduates who take the core curriculum earn ACT scores that are 2.1 to 2.8 points higher. and scholarships. • For all racial/ethnic groups, students who take the core curriculum score between 1.6 and 2.8 points higher on the ACT Composite than those who do not take the core. 2 17.720.817.419.520.320.4Average ACT score2520151050Non-CoreCoreEnglishMathematicsReadingScienceComposite18.821.619.121.719.822.219.621.719.521.9Average ACT Composite score2520151050AfricanAmericanAsianHispanicWhiteAmericanIndianAmerican16.117.720.822.717.419.517.520.320.422.8Non-CoreCore • For males and females, average ACT Composite scores of core takers are 2.2 to 2.7 points higher than those of non-core takers. • Across family income groups, average ACT Composite scores of core takers are 1.9 to 2.3 points higher than those of non-core takers. Non-Core Core 30 Average ACT Composite score 25 20 15 10 5 0 19.5 22.2 19.5 21.7 17.4 19.4 19.9 22.2 22.2 24.1 Taking upper-level courses beyond core improves achievement of all students. Males Females Income Income Income <$30,000 $30,000 to >$100,000 $100,000 ▼ Taking upper-level courses beyond core improves achievement of all students, regardless of gender, family income, and racial/ethnic background. • Compared to students who take less than the three core mathematics courses (Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II), those who take these three courses score slightly higher (0.3 score point higher) on the ACT Mathematics Test. Students who also take either Trigonometry or at least one other advanced mathematics course (excluding Calculus) score about 2.5 points higher than those who take only core mathematics courses. Moreover, students who take both Trigonometry and Calculus, in addition to the three core mathematics courses, score 6.8 points higher than graduates who take only the three core mathematics courses. 30 Average ACT Mathematics score 25 20 15 10 5 0 24.5 22.1 20.320.2 17.717.4 Less than 3 years Algebra I, II, Geometry Algebra I, II, Geometry, other advanced Algebra I, II, Algebra I, II, Algebra I, II, Geometry, Geometry, Geometry, Trigonometry Trigonometry, Trigonometry, other Calculus math advanced math 3 • Compared to students who take less than three years of natural science courses, students who take General Science, Biology, and Chemistry in high school score 1.2 points higher on the ACT Science Test. • Students who take Physics in addition to General Science, Biology, and Chemistry score 2.2 points higher than those who take only the latter three courses. Those who take Biology, Chemistry, and Physics score 3.0 points higher than those students who take General Science, Biology, and Chemistry.2 25 Average ACT Science score 20 15 10 5 0 23.122.3 20.118.9 St