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Report Number: 2016-114

College Readiness of California's High School Students
The State Can Better Prepare Students for College by Adopting New Strategies and Increasing Oversight

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Appendix A

OUR ANALYSIS OF STUDENT ACCESS TO COLLEGE PREPARATORY COURSEWORK

Table A summarizes the results of our analysis of college preparatory coursework access. We reviewed schedules of courses offered at two high schools in each of the three school districts we visited and compared the courses offered to the schools’ enrollments. Although there were significant limitations to the data, when such data was available, our analysis suggests that the schools provided students with sufficient access to college preparatory coursework. Each school we reviewed did not meet the minimum access requirements in every category for every year; however, the deficiencies we noted were unlikely to have affected students’ opportunities to complete all of the college preparatory coursework requirements.

Table A
Access to College Preparatory Coursework at the Six High Schools We Reviewed

HIGH SCHOOL/COLLEGE PREPARATORY COURSEWORK REQUIREMENTS COLLEGE PREPARATORY COURSEWORK ACCESS PER ACADEMIC YEAR TARGET ACCESS PERCENTAGE NECESSARY FOR STUDENTS TO MEET REQUIREMENT OVER A FOUR‑YEAR PERIOD
2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15
Coachella Valley Unified School District
Coachella Valley High School
Based on trimester schedule
(A) History—2 years 73% * * * 50%
(B) English—4 years 169 * * * 100
(C) Mathematics—2 years 109 * * * 75
(D) Laboratory Science—2 years 62 * * * 50
(E) Foreign Language—2 years 37 * * * 50
(F) Visual and Performing Arts—1 year 36 * * * 25
(G) College Preparatory Elective—1 year 32 * * * 25
or excess capacity in other subcategory
Desert Mirage High School
Based on semester schedule
(A) History—2 years * * * 54% 50%
(B) English—4 years * * * 119 100
(C) Mathematics—2 years * * * 92 75
(D) Laboratory Science—2 years * * * 48 50
(E) Foreign Language—2 years * * * 33 50
(F) Visual and Performing Arts—1 year * * * 40 25
(G) College Preparatory Elective—1 year * * * 8§ 25
or excess capacity in other subcategory
San Francisco Unified School District
Mission High School
Based on semester schedule
(A) History—2 years ^ ^ 80% 95% 50%
(B) English—4 years ^ ^ 125 147 100
(C) Mathematics—2 years ^ ^ 116 130 75
(D) Laboratory Science—2 years ^ ^ 109 109 50
(E) Foreign Language—2 years ^ ^ 56 58 50
(F) Visual and Performing Arts—1 year ^ ^ 50 59 25
(G) College Preparatory Elective—1 year ^ ^ 16§ 36 25
or excess capacity in other subcategory
Washington High School
Based on semester schedule
(A) History—2 years * * 83% 61% 50%
(B) English—4 years * * 128 113 100
(C) Mathematics—2 years * * 119 122 75
(D) Laboratory Science—2 years * * 107 108 50
(E) Foreign Language—2 years * * 70 71 50
(F) Visual and Performing Arts—1 year * * 51 53 25
(G) College Preparatory Elective—1 year * * 23§ 27 25
or excess capacity in other subcategory
Stockton Unified School District
Edison High School
Based on semester schedule
(A) History—2 years 75% 80% 68% 67% 25.0%
(B) English—4 years 110 111 111 102 50.0
(C) Mathematics—2 years 101 97 92 90 37.5
(D) Laboratory Science—2 years 48 72 60 57 25.0
(E) Foreign Language—2 years 64 57 56 63 25.0
(F) Visual and Performing Arts—1 year 54 52 54 51 12.5
(G) College Preparatory Elective—1 year 25 31 23 5§ 12.5
or excess capacity in other subcategory
Franklin High School
Based on semester schedule
(A) History—2 years 68% 66% 79% 57% 50%
(B) English—4 years 100 94# 101 92** 100
(C) Mathematics—2 years 86 85 98 94 75
(D) Laboratory Science—2 years 52 60 64 65 50
(E) Foreign Language—2 years 48†† 45†† 47†† 56 50
(F) Visual and Performing Arts—1 year 42 39 33 30 25
(G) College Preparatory Elective—1 year 18§ 12§ 36 18§ 25
or excess capacity in other subcategory

Source: California State Auditor’s analysis of course schedule and enrollment data from Coachella Valley, San Francisco, and Stockton Unified School Districts.

Notes: Target percentages vary based on school schedule type. For example, the (a) category requires two years of various combinations of history courses. For a school based on a semester schedule to provide 100 percent access in the (a) category, it would need to ensure that adequate seats existed for 50 percent of the students to take an (a) course in any given year. This would allow half the students to complete 10 credits in a given year, thereby allowing the potential for all students to satisfy the 20‑credit or two‑year requirement within four years. However, other schedule types, such as Edison High School’s four‑period block schedule, allowed students to take 10 credits in a given course in the span of time it would usually take a student to receive five credits in a traditionally semester schedule. This ability to take more credits across fewer periods changes the yearly target percentage.

* We did not conduct analysis related to Coachella Valley High School in 2012 through 2015 and Desert Mirage High School in 2011 through 2014 due to district business practices, which resulted in courses being labeled as inactive. This business practices prevented us from determining whether courses listed in the district’s database reflected courses which were actually taught or merely courses that were planned but not taught.

Although Coachella Valley High School and Desert Mirage High School are below the target percentage in their respective foreign language levels, the enrolled population is primarily composed of native Spanish speakers who would likely qualify to take higher‑level foreign language courses. University policy allows for validations based on higher‑level foreign language courses, thus satisfying the requirement.

Although laboratory science is deficient by 2 percent, the effect would be limited to a potential of approximately 40 students and could have been resolved by excess capacity in other years.

§ A lack of capacity in the (g) category can be made up by using excess capacity in any other subcategory. Sufficient additional capacity existed within other college preparatory subcategories.

^ We did not conduct analysis for San Francisco Unified School District related to 2011–12 and 2012–13 due to data limitations which prevented us from determining course length and maximum credits.

# Franklin High School had sufficient capacity in college preparatory English when we adjusted for students enrolled in English resource courses.

** Although Franklin High School appears deficient in academic year 2014–15, students were actually enrolled in grade‑level appropriate courses that provided access, although this action required the school to enroll students past the maximum capacity of the individual sections.

†† In academic years 2011–12, 2012–13 and 2013–14, this potential deficiency was caused by uncertified courses incorrectly identified by the district as certified by the university. The university allows foreign language courses above the second year to validate students who have moved directly to higher‑level courses. Higher‑level foreign language courses in the prior year would have satisfied the access requirement for students enrolled in the affected classes.


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Appendix B

STUDENT DEMOGRAPHICS OF THREE SELECTED DISTRICTS

We were asked to provide the number of students enrolled by race for each of the three districts we selected for review and the average completion rate by English learner status, among other things. Table B.1 summarizes student demographics in our three selected districts from our three cohorts in graduation years 2013 through 2015. As we indicated in Chapter 1, Chicano/Latino students averaged 96 percent of the student population in Coachella Valley Unified School District.

Table B.2 summarizes completion rates by English learner status in our three selected districts from our three cohorts that completed high school from 2013 through 2015. This analysis shows, for example, that the percentage of English learners in Stockton Unified School District who completed college preparatory coursework ranged from 4 percent to 9 percent.

Table B.1
Enrollment in Cohorts Graduated in 2013 Through 2015

ETHNICITY/RACE STUDENT ENROLLMENT BY GRADUATING YEAR
2013   2014   2015
GENDER TOTALS GENDER TOTALS GENDER TOTALS
FEMALE MALE NUMBER PERCENTAGE FEMALE MALE NUMBER PERCENTAGE FEMALE MALE NUMBER PERCENTAGE
Coachella Valley Unified School District
American Indian * * * *   * * * *   * * * *
Asian * * * * * * * * * * * *
Black/African American * * * * * * * * * * * *
Chicano/Latino 593 652 1,245 96 605 649 1,254 97 540 663 1,203 97
Not specified * * * * * * * * * * * *
Pacific Islander 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Two or more races * * * * * * * * * * * *
White 19 16 35 3 * * * * * * * *
Totals * * * 100% * * * 100% * * * 100%
San Francisco Unified School District
American Indian * * * *   * * * *   * * * *
Asian 1,016 1,046 2,062 54 1,061 1,138 2,199 58 973 1,108 2,081 56
Black/African American 196 193 389 10 169 170 339 9 151 165 316 8
Chicano/Latino 380 406 786 21 372 397 769 20 379 421 800 22
Not specified 85 92 177 5 60 53 113 3 62 49 111 3
Pacific Islander 25 30 55 1 22 16 38 1 29 22 51 1
Two or more races 23 24 47 1 27 22 49 1 35 26 61 2
White 154 149 303 8 141 157 298 8 146 146 292 8
Totals * * * 100% * * * 100% * * * 100%
Stockton Unified School District
American Indian 62 73 135 6%   69 66 135 6%   49 43 92 4%
Asian 209 236 445 18 201 211 412 17 199 212 411 16
Black/African American 157 152 309 12 138 154 292 12 147 157 304 12
Chicano/Latino 692 693 1,385 55 683 658 1,341 56 761 781 1,542 60
Not specified * * * * 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Pacific Islander * * * * * * * * * * * *
Two or more races * * * * * * * * 11 12 23 1
White 109 121 230 9 91 112 203 9 100 89 189 7
Totals * * * 100% * * * 100% * * * 100%

Source: California State Auditor’s analysis of student data provided by Coachella Valley, San Francisco, and Stockton Unified School Districts.

* To protect individual privacy, we omitted this number because it would identify 10 or fewer students. Such omission is in accordance with aggregate data reporting guidelines issued by the California and United States Department of Education.

Table B.2
College Preparatory Coursework Completion by English Learner Status

ENGLISH LEARNER STATUS COLLEGE PREPARATORY COURSEWORK COMPLETION BY GRADUATION YEAR
2013 2014 2015
Coachella Valley Unified School District
English learner 11% 12% 13%
Reclassified as fluent 43 51 48
Initially fluent/English native 22 28 30
San Francisco Unified School District
English learner 39% 41% 51%
Reclassified as fluent 74 77 78
Initially fluent/English native 60 63 71
Stockton Unified School District
English learner 4% 6% 9%
Reclassified as fluent 26 29 26
Initially fluent/English native 20 22 21

Source: California State Auditor’s analysis of student data provided by Coachella Valley, San Francisco, and Stockton Unified School Districts.

Note: We excluded students who left the district.



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