Specialized coursework provides students opportunities to receive advanced or technical education in specific academic subject and/or industry areas. Whether it be Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), Career and Technical Education (CTE), or Dual Enrollment (DE), each DC public and public charter high school offers at least one type of specialized coursework. However, the landscape of course offerings across District schools in the 2024-25 school year, as explored in this previous blog, has shown varying availability of specialized course work when looking at the data by course type, academic subject, industry area and school location.
Recent national studies reveal the importance of AP coursework in improving postsecondary outcomes, and in increasing the number of students enrolling in four-year institutions of higher education. However, gaps in opportunities exist; findings from national studies reveal disparities in course enrollment across Black, Latinx, and Indigenous groups compared to their white and Asian counterparts at schools with higher numbers of advanced placement course offerings.
This blog provides a student-centered view of the accessibility of specialized coursework in DC by analyzing the offerings available at students’ schools according to course catalog data. The analysis examines the availability of specialized coursework by course type, subject area (e.g., academic, industry) and student demographic information (e.g., ward of residence, race/ethnicity). Course data and student demographic data are collected by OSSE from all of the District’s local education agencies (LEAs).
Almost All DC High Schools Offer Specialized Coursework, but the Availability to Students Varied Across Course Type
Data show that students who attended public or public charter high schools in DC had at least one type of specialized coursework available at their school in the 2024-25 school year. A notable portion of students (85 percent), have 10 or more specialized courses of any type at their school. Specifically, 71 percent of students have 10 or more AP/IB courses, and 67 percent have 10 or more CTE courses available in their school course catalog; Sixteen percent of students have 10 or more Dual Enrollment courses available. Furthermore, more than twice the percentage of students (32 percent) have no DE courses available at their school compared to the percentage with access to no AP/IB courses (12 percent), and to no CTE courses (13 percent).
Table 1. Number and Percentage of Students1 Whose Schools Have Specialized Course Offerings Available, by Specialized Course Type
1. Findings in this blog include students from grades 9-12, adult students, as well as those with individualized education programs (IEPs). However, students attending schools who exclusively serve students with IEPs are not included.
2. DE may be defined differently across LEAs. Also, LEA definitions of DE may not be the same as how it is defined in other OSSE reporting.
3. ‘Specialized coursework of any type’ refers to the given number of specialized courses regardless of the type (e.g. 1-3 course offerings may point to 3 CTE courses, or 1 CTE course and 1 AIP course, or 2 IB courses).
4. This data should be interpreted as follows: There were zero students who had no specialized coursework offered to them at the school at which they were enrolled when looking at all types of coursework.
Availability of Different Types of Specialized Coursework Varies Across Students’ Ward of Residence
Across students’ reported ward of residence, all high school students have specialized coursework of at least one type available at their school, yet the median number of courses available to students at their school differs depending on the type of course (AP/IB, CTE, DE). High school students residing in Ward 3 have the highest median number (68) of specialized courses of any type available, followed by Ward 1 (48) and Ward 2 (43). Those residing in Ward 8 have the lowest median number (29) of specialized coursework of any type available to them. Similar patterns unfolded when looking at course offerings by academic and industry subject areas, where science offerings showed a noticeable disparity when considering students’ ward of residence.
*Students whose ward of residence was unknown were removed from this table.
Availability of Specialized Coursework Varies by Subject Areas and Ward of Residence Across District
Students’ access to specialized coursework by academic subject area (e.g., English, math, science, and social sciences), and industry field (e.g., information technology/engineering, business/marketing, and health sciences), also varied by their ward of residence.
Students who are reported as residing in Ward 3 have the highest percentages of students with available course offerings, across different academic subject area and across all wards of residence. Students who are reported as residing in Ward 8 have the lowest percentages of students with availability of English, math, and science specialized course offerings. Remarkably, those in Ward 3 have a median number of 12 science specialized courses at their schools compared to those in all other wards, with access to at most four science courses.
Similarly, the median number of specialized course offerings in industry-oriented subjects differed across wards of residence (Table 4). Students who are reported as residing in Wards 1, 2, and 3 have course offerings in IT/Engineering and in Business/Marketing, in contrast with those reported as residing in Wards 4 through 8 where the median student had no courses available at their schools in those subject areas. There is less variation in the percentage of students with access to health science specialized courses, in terms of their reported ward of residence.
Table 3. The Percentage of Students Who Attend High Schools Offering Specialized Courses and the Median Number of Course Offerings of Any Type, by Academic Subject Area and Ward of Student Residence.
*Students whose ward of residence was unknown were removed from this table.
Table 4. The Percentage of Students Who Attend High Schools Offering Specialized Courses and the Median Number of Course Offerings of Any Type, by Industry-Focused Subject Area and Ward of Student Residence
* Courses at the Advanced Technical Center (ATC), where students can register for CTE courses, in Ward 5, and at the newly opened Ward 8 ATC, are listed at students’ home school.
* For students residing in wards with zero median offerings, at least half of the students in said ward have access to zero specialized course offerings of that type.
Availability of Specialized Coursework Varies by Student Characteristics
When examining specialized coursework availability across student demographic indicators, there was variation by race/ethnicity (table 5). Asian and white students, despite not being the majority, had the highest median number of specialized course offerings of any type available at their schools with 68 and 55 median courses available, respectively. Also, Asian, white, and students of two or more races had the highest median numbers of AP/IB available at their schools compared to other racial/ethnic groups.
In examining other student groups, including students with disabilities, students experiencing economic disadvantage, and students who are English learners, there was only small variation in specialized coursework availability. English learners had a higher median number of CTE courses available to them than non-English learners. Students experiencing economic disadvantage had a smaller median number of courses accessible to them those who are not experiencing economic disadvantage (table 6).
Table 5. The Percentage of Students in each Racial/Ethnic Group and the Median Number of Courses Students in Each Group Have Available at their Schools.
Table 6. The Percentage of Students in Each Student Demographic Group and the Median Number of Courses Students in Each Demographic Group Have Available at their Schools.
The course data collection is one of OSSE’s commitments to modernize data infrastructure to improve data quality and better measure impact, a part of OSSE’s 2023-2025 Strategic Plan. Findings from this blog found that students’ ward of residence and their racial/ethnic demographic are relevant factors in their access to specialized coursework, and highlights that there are inequities in the availability of specialized coursework in the District.
In the coming years, the Course Data Collection will allow OSSE to further examine the trends in specialized coursework. Future blogs in this series will leverage data on the instructors teaching these courses and the students enrolled in those courses to examine if these differences persist or are amplified when examining who is actually enrolled in these courses. Additional analyses will seek to leverage these data to examine the impact of teacher preparation and training and how to support student completion of secondary and postsecondary pathways and credentials. Altogether, this information will shed further light on where specialized coursework is available and who it is serving and identify potential gaps and opportunities for policy and action.
Learn More
We have written extensively on course data on this blog. Check out these posts:
- Availability of Specialized Course Offerings Across District Schools in SY2024-25
- Exploring Types of Courses on 2024-25 School Year OSSE Statewide Catalog Data
- Exploring Types of Courses on 2023-24 School Year OSSE Statewide Course Data
- Understanding OSSE State Course Catalog
- Expanding Our Knowledge about Course Offerings
All our resources for LEAs are available on our course collection page.
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