Closing the Rigorous Coursework Gap, Part 2: Access and Success for Minnesota’s Low-income Students, English Learners, and Students with Disabilities

December 9, 2021

Each young person leaving our K-12 education system should have the knowledge and skills to succeed in college and forge the path to a rewarding career. In this report, we look specifically at whether we’re providing effective support to ensure low-income students, English Learners, and students with disabilities have access to rigorous coursework. We find some notable gaps, and make concrete recommendations for change.

This brief builds off a report EdAllies released in November 2020, providing a more comprehensive view of rigorous coursework participation and success and shedding light on new data for specific student groups. We do this by looking at key indicators of postsecondary success: who enrolls, advances, and has success in gifted and talented programming and 8th-grade algebra, and going up through Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), Postsecondary Enrollment Options (PSEO), and concurrent enrollment. 

We also provide recommendations specific to each student group, building on the 12 recommendations in our original report.