More Than Access: Making Early College Opportunities Count for Every Student
Illinois has taken an important step toward expanding access to advanced coursework through its Academic Acceleration policy, which requires school districts to automatically enroll students who exceed state academic standards in the next most rigorous level of coursework. The goal is straightforward: ensure that students who demonstrate academic readiness aren’t overlooked when opportunities for accelerated learning are identified.
Early findings suggest the policy is promising. But expanding access is only part of the equation. To truly close longstanding equity gaps, Illinois must ensure that students have access to rigorous coursework that aligns with their individual interests, strengths, and goals for life after high school.
REsearch Findings
A new research brief from the Illinois Workforce & Education Research Collaborative (IWERC), Automatic Enrollment in Illinois: Participation and Equity in Dual Credit and Advanced Placement Coursework Before and After the Policy Took Effect, examines participation trends following implementation of the policy in the 2023-24 school year.
Statewide, dual credit participation increased by 17.1% in the first year of implementation, compared to increases of 1.6% and 6.9% in the preceding two years. Advanced Placement (AP) participation also grew by 6.6%, its largest year-over-year increase in the period studied. Particularly encouraging were the gains among historically underrepresented student groups. Dual credit participation among English learners increased by 35%, while AP participation increased by an impressive 51.6%. Latino students also experienced some of the largest proportional increases in participation.
Much of the accelerated growth in statewide dual credit participation was driven by Chicago Public Schools (CPS). IWERC found that CPS accounted for the sharp increase in statewide participation, particularly among Black students and students with disabilities or IEPs. This aligns with what Stand for Children Illinois has seen in our own dual credit exploration. In conversations with school leaders across Chicago, we heard from schools that achieved significant growth in dual credit participation. Leaders attributed success to shifting staff mindsets about which students could succeed in rigorous coursework, helping students navigate placement requirements, and creating more flexible schedules helped expand opportunities. Many also pointed to CTE dual credit as an important way to reach students interested in career-focused pathways.
Courses offered
These trends suggest that changing how students are identified and connected to advanced coursework can help reach students who might otherwise be overlooked. However, increased participation does not necessarily mean that all equity gaps are closing. IWERC found that while some gaps narrowed, others remained unchanged or continued to grow. In dual credit, participation gaps for Black students, students with disabilities, students with IEPs, and low-income students continued to widen. Clearly, opening the door is not enough to ensure that all students have an equitable opportunity to walk through it.
There may also be another important benefit of Academic Acceleration: encouraging schools to rethink not only who has access to dual credit, but what courses they make available. As schools work to expand accelerated learning opportunities, we’re seeing a broader range of courses offered for college credit, from traditional academic subjects like calculus to computer science and career and technical education (CTE) courses. While more research is needed to understand the relationship between Academic Acceleration and changes in course offerings, this evolution creates an opportunity to cast a wider net. The more diverse the course offerings, the more likely students are to find early college opportunities that connect to their interests and future plans.
For some students, that may mean taking foundational academic courses like calculus that prepare them for a four-year university. For others, it may mean completing prerequisite courses that allow them to make faster progress toward a specific degree or credential at their community college after graduation. And for students exploring a career in the skilled trades, health care, manufacturing, or another technical field, a CTE dual credit course can provide hands-on experience, exposure to a career pathway, and college credit at the same time.
Systemic change
Academic Acceleration is a promising step toward challenging assumptions about which students are ready for advanced coursework. But ensuring equitable access requires an ecosystem of change: supportive state policies that remove barriers to entry, school-level practices that help students succeed, and a broader range of courses that connect to students’ individual aspirations. It also means ensuring that students have the advising, and academic support necessary to succeed once enrolled.
As we continue working to expand college and career readiness across Illinois, we should measure our progress not just by how many students participate in advanced coursework, but by whether those experiences help students take meaningful steps toward their futures.
Every student deserves the opportunity to graduate high school with a plan, a pathway, and a head start on achieving their goals. Early college opportunities should help make that possible, whatever path they choose.
Learn More
Join Stand for Children Illinois for a film premiere of Beyond the Diploma: Paving a Personalized Path for Every Student on Tuesday, November 17, at 5 pm! Learn how access to early career exploration impacts a student’s future and how our advocacy work seeks to improve the education system in Illinois.
