Raise High School Graduation Requirements

States should raise high school graduation requirements to ensure that the high school diploma has value.

Research by Achieve and others indicates that students headed to college or into the workforce after graduation need the same knowledge and skills, particularly in English and mathematics, to be successful. At a minimum, high school course requirements need to cover four years of rigorous English and four years of math, including Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II and data analysis and statistics.

However, while nearly every state requires students to study specific subjects for a certain number of years or to take specific courses to graduate, only twenty states and the District of Columbia have graduation requirements that expect four years of rigorous English and math through Algebra II.

Raising Graduation Requirements Helps Disadvantaged Students

New research indicates that more rigorous study is crucial to reducing the achievement gap between white and minority students. According to the U.S. Department of Education's "Answers in the Toolbox" study, taking challenging math courses through at least Algebra II cuts the gap in college completion rates in half between African American and Latino students and their white peers.

Equally important, research also shows that students who take more rigorous courses are significantly more likely to succeed in postsecondary education and the workplace than other students. For example, ACT has found that students who take Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II and one additional higher-level course are much more likely to succeed in college-level mathematics, while the Educational Testing Service found that the vast majority (84 percent) of those who hold highly paid professional jobs have taken Algebra II or higher.

Unfortunately, unless states require a more rigorous curriculum for all students, not all students will have the opportunity to take these courses. In communities where a college-preparatory curriculum is not required, disadvantaged students are less likely to be in schools that offer college-prep courses, may not know which courses they need to take, or may require approval of a guidance counselor or school administrator to enroll. The National Center for Education Statistics found that, among the high school graduating class of 2000, nearly half (47 percent) of white students and more than two-thirds (69 percent) of Asian students took a math course beyond Algebra II, but only 29 percent of American Indian, 31 percent of Latino and 32 percent of African American students did. Furthermore, in a subsequent study with the graduating class of 2004, NCES found that students who took a math course beyond Algebra II in their senior year made sizeable and significant gains in their math achievement by the end of high school compared to students who had stopped at or below the Algebra II level.

A State Example: Indiana