ED3.C High school academic coursetaking: Percentage distribution of high school graduates by the highest level of English courses taken, selected years 1982

ED3.C High school academic coursetaking: Percentage distribution of high school graduates by the highest level of English courses taken, selected years 1982–2004

Characteristic	1982	1987	1990	1992	1994	1998	2000	2004
Low academic
Total	10.0	22.1	19.6	18.0	17.6	13.7	10.7	10.8
Middle academic
Total	76.7	55.6	60.2	57.3	56.5	56.1	54.7	55.9
Advanced academic
Total	13.3	21.5	19.6	24.4	25.1	29.3	33.9	32.7
Less than 50 percent in honors	6.1	7.9	7.0	7.6	7.7	9.1	11.6	9.2
50–74 percent in honors	3.3	5.0	3.6	5.8	5.4	7.7	7.2	7.6
75 percent or more in honors	3.8	8.7	9.1	11.1	12.0	12.4	15.1	15.9
NOTE: Totals do not add up to 100 because a small percentage of students completed no English courses or only English as a second language (ESL) courses.
The classification system for these English academic levels is: Low academic: Graduates who have taken general English courses classified as "below grade level" as the majority of their English courses. Graduates may have taken a general English course classified as "honors" and be classified in the low academic level. Middle academic: Graduates who completed English courses classified at grade level; no low academic level or honors courses. Less than 50 percent honors: Graduates for whom the number of completed courses classified as honors level, when divided by the total number of completed low-, regular-, and honors-level academic courses, yields a percentage less than 50. 50–74 percent in honors: Graduates for whom the number of completed courses classified as honors level, when divided by the total number of completed low-, regular-, and honors-level academic courses, yields a percentage 50 or greater and less than 75. 75 percent or more in honors: Graduates for whom the number of completed courses classified as honors level, when divided by the total number of completed low-, regular-, and honors-level academic courses, yields a percentage between 75 and 100.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. High School and Beyond Study of 1980 Sophomores (1982); National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (1992); National Assessment of Educational Progress Transcript Study (1987, 1990, 1994, 1998, and 2000); Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 and High School Transcript Study (2004).