High School Success

High School Success

About High School Success

High school can make or break a student’s trajectory into a meaningful career and fulfilling adulthood. Every high schooler deserves to have a strong sense of belonging in their school community and to know that adults in the building care about them as an individual. This culture of kindness and inclusion is a prerequisite to attendance, safety, and academic success. A student-centered high school education means breaking down silos among high school, college, and career training so that every student has real-world opportunities to navigate their path to independence. 

Freshman year can make or break a student’s high school experience. Students who earn five credits with no more than one semester ‘F’ are 3.5 times more likely to graduate high school. The Consortium for Chicago School Research determined that this metric is a more powerful predictor of graduation than a student’s previous test scores or socioeconomic factors. 

high school students graduating

Illinois measures Freshman-on-Track rates and incorporates this in the state accountability system. Rates have improved across demographic groups over the last three years. However, deep equity gaps remain:

Freshman-on-track rates

  • 91% white
  • 79% Black
  • 84% Hispanic
Low Income Students in IL 28 Dual Credit Students 43 Total Student Population Hispanic Students in IL 16 Dual Credit Students 26 Total Student Population Black Students in IL 9 Dual Credit Students 16 Total Student Population

The Center for High School Success supports high schools across nine states, including Illinois, to improve freshmen success rates through coaching, actionable data, and interventions that prioritize connections between students and their school communities.

Inequity in Illinois’ education system runs deep, and that continues later into high school when some students have abundant opportunities to earn college credit in high school at little cost to their families, others have paltry Dual Credit course offerings, some of which come with a hefty price tag.

There are real barriers to equitable access to advanced courses. Dual Credit licensure rules have changed recently in an effort to enable more teachers to meet the rigorous qualifications, but in an era of severe educator shortages, underfunded school districts across the state struggle to recruit and retain teachers to teach advanced coursework and counselors to thoughtfully guide students toward their best curricular options.

83 of respondents said that Dual Credit courses are high quality and rigorous
97 of student respondents said they benefited from participating in Dual Credit

Recent efforts to expand rigorous Dual Credit opportunities have had some success and as Dual Credit enrollment has increased, college remediation rates have gone down; however, opportunity gaps have gotten even worse. Our Dual Credit Toolkit can help local parents and educators explore their own district’s data and barriers to access.

A comprehensive Dual Credit bill was negotiated in 2024 among numerous education stakeholders, and after nearly-unanimous passage in the House, it stalled in the Senate. HB 5020 will strengthen partnerships between high schools and community colleges, open doors for more students to take rigorous Dual Credit coursework, define instructor qualifications, and pave the way for more Career and Technical Education (CTE) Dual Credit. 

Working together with our partner organizations, we surveyed students, parents, educators, administrators, and professionals in the secondary and postsecondary fields to get their thoughts on Dual Credit programs. Over 1,000 individuals responded, giving us clear insight into the opinions of folks directly involved with Dual Credit. We learned a lot, and that information will help inform our advocacy for better policies going forward.

Our Vision

Where We’ve Been

  • Supported IL’s modernized and better-funded CTE formula
  • to incentivize high-demand careers.
  • Advocated for legislation to expand equitable access
  • to Dual Credit. 
  • Along with allies, analyzed 1,000+ Dual Credit stakeholder
  • surveys to inform policy decisions.

Where We’re GOing

  • Negotiating a critical Dual Credit bill to support partnerships,
  • instructors, and students. 
  • Exploring root causes of Dual Credit deserts in the
  • largest IL school districts. 
  • Offering support through the Center for High School Success
  • to schools needing freshman-on-track focus.

How to plug In

student working on a laptop

Explore our Dual Credit Toolkit which can help local parents and educators learn about their own district’s data and barriers to access.

black girl sitting in her doorway while on her laptop

Tell us about your or your students high school experience! How have course offerings like Dual Credit impacted your high school experience?

hands typing on a laptop

If you don’t want to share your story via video just yet, we understand! You can opt to share via a written submission.

Additional Resources