Indicator 4.7: Advanced Coursetaking in High School
Figure 4.7. Percentage of high school graduates who completed advanced academic courses, by school subject and race/ethnicity: 2000
1 Includes students who completed courses in chemistry I, physics I, chemistry II, physics II, or advanced biology. 2 Includes students who completed precalculus, calculus, or other courses labeled as "advanced," such as trigonometry. 3 Includes students who completed more honors courses than "below grade level" courses. 4 Includes students who completed 3 years or more of foreign language courses or an Advanced Placement course in a foreign language. These figures include only students who studied French, German, Latin, or Spanish as these are the only foreign languages commonly offered in high schools for 4 years or more. Some students also studied more than one foreign language.
NOTE: Students classified at any particular level need not have taken courses at a lower level and may have taken more than one course at that level. For more detailed descriptions of these categories, please see Supplemental Note 6 in The Condition of Education, 2003 and 2004.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, The Condition of Education, 2003 (NCES 2003-077) and The Condition of Education, 2004 (NCES 2004-077), based on National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), High School Transcript Study (HSTS), 2000.
In 2000, American Indian/Alaska Native students were less likely than White or Asian/Pacific Islander students to have completed advanced science, mathematics, or foreign language courses.
A lower percentage of American Indians/Alaska Natives take advanced science courses than students of any other race/ethnicity. Advanced science courses include chemistry I and II, physics I and II, and advanced biology. In 2000, 64 percent of Whites, 61 percent of Blacks, 56 percent of Hispanics, and 80 percent of Asian/Pacific Islanders had completed one or more advanced science courses in high school, compared to 43 percent of American Indians/Alaska Natives.
Twenty-nine percent of American Indian/Alaska Native high school graduates completed advanced mathematics courses such as pre-calculus, calculus, and other courses labeled "advanced," such as trigonometry. Asian/Pacific Islanders had the highest percentage of students taking advanced mathematics courses (69 percent), followed by the percentage of White students (47 percent).
Twenty-seven percent of American Indian/Alaska Native, 27 percent of Black, and 26 percent of Hispanic high school graduates completed advanced English courses by 2000. Again, Asian/Pacific Islander students had the highest percentage (43 percent) of students completing advanced courses in English.
Asian/Pacific Islander, White, and Hispanic students had the highest percentages of students completing 3 or more years of foreign language courses or an Advanced Placement course in a foreign language (36 percent, 31 percent, and 31 percent, respectively). Some students also studied more than one foreign language. These percentages were higher than either the percentage of Black students (20 percent) or American Indian/Alaska Native students (17 percent) who completed advanced foreign language courses.9
9 Figures for foreign language include only students who studied French, German, Latin, or Spanish, as these are the only foreign languages commonly offered in high schools for 4 years or more.
View Table 4.7
