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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 | |||||
(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 | |||||
(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 | |||||
(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 | |||||
(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 | |||||
(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 | |||||
(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.
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.