For the first time, the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) officially launched a statewide course data collection in the 2023-24 school year. As discussed in a previous data blog on statewide course data, the primary goals of this data collection process include but are not limited to:

• Collect and share actionable course data that will strengthen the School Accountability System;
• Provide OSSE, local education agencies (LEAs) and community and external stakeholders opportunities to contribute to increasing opportunities for the District’s diverse learners;
• Streamlining the data collection process and lessen burdens on LEAs in the long term; and
• Provide professional support to LEAs and their staff based on course offerings.

While the previous data blog Understanding OSSE State Course Catalog provides an introduction to the course data OSSE began collecting this school year, this current data blog intends to provide an overview of different types of courses on 2023-24 School Year OSSE State Course Data.

Subject Areas

Figure One

Figure 1 above shows the number of courses LEAs submitted by subject areas. Top 10 of the ranks by the number of course offerings were included in the figure above, and 12 subject areas in the bottom ranks were excluded from the figure for readability.

Because Phase 1 of the course data collection process did not collect information on the number of sections per course, it would be presumptuous to claim Arts, English Language Arts (ELA), and Math courses were the most “popular” among DC schools. We can, however, claim that there was most degree of diversity in course offerings in Arts, ELA, and Math courses because 2,853 different art courses, 2,474 different ELA courses, and 2,280 different math courses were reported by DC LEAs. Each of these courses may have one section (or class period) or ten sections, so Phase 1 of our course data collection does not yet determine which courses are more subscribed than others.

Course Level

Table 1 below lists different types of Course Levels and the number of course submissions for each Course Level. While more than 90 percent of all submitted courses (14,900) were categorized as General courses, DC LEAs reported 407 Enriched or Advanced courses, 400 Honors courses, and 157 College-Level courses. DC LEAs also reported 416 Basic or Remedial courses to meet the needs of diverse learners. LEAs submitted the least number of College Level (C) courses, as these are designed to be credit-bearing at a postsecondary institution, including Dual Enrollment courses. Most LEAs submitted Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) courses as Enriched (E) courses. The number of LEAs that submitted each of these six Course Levels is listed in Table 1 below.

Table 1

Course Level	Number of Course Submissions	Number of Unique LEAs
Basic or Remedial (B)	416	22
College Level (C)	157	8
Enriched (E)	407	11
General (G)	14,900	64
Honors (H)	400	15
No Specified Level of Rigor (X)	207	15

World Languages

In the District, 44 LEAs submitted at least one World Language course. There are 82 unique World Languages courses, and 1,098 total courses were submitted in the following languages (Table 2). “Spanish for Young Learners (prior-to-secondary),” particularly, was submitted 345 times, by 18 LEAs, which accounts for 31 percent of the total World Language courses.

Table 2

Language	Number of Unique Courses	Total Number of Courses
Spanish	18	705
French	15	159
Chinese	15	116
Latin	9	51
Arabic	6	15
Italian	4	15
American Sign Language	5	11
Hebrew	1	6
Greek	3	3
Japenese	2	2

Although not all of these World Languages course were Dual Language or Language Immersion courses, the course offerings listed in the Table 2 above do not exactly reflect the top languages (Spanish, Amharic, French, Chinese, and Russian) DC students speak. For example, even though DC is known to traditionally have a large Ethiopian immigrant population, Amharic is not largely taught in District schools.

Advanced Placement (AP) / International Baccalaureate (IB) Courses

AP Courses

Thirty-five schools of 17 LEAs offer 373 AP courses across the District (Table 3). Twenty-five schools offer more than five AP courses, and 10 schools offer five or fewer AP courses.

Table 3

Course Name	Number of Schools Offering the Course
AP English Language and Composition	33
AP English Literature and Composition	30
AP US History	24
AP World History: Modern	20
AP US Government and Politics	20
AP Psychology	20
AP Environmental Science	19
AP Computer Science Principles	18
AP Calculus AB	17
AP Biology	16
Total	373

IB Courses

Five LEAs offer 161 IB courses across nine subject areas shown below (Figure 2). Table 4 ranks the number of course offerings. DC LEAs offer 37 unique IB courses across the District. Among 37 unique IB courses, eight IB courses accounted for half of all IB course offerings. Two LEAs offered IB Primary Years program, and nearly 95 percent of the IB course offerings were for high school students.

Figure 2

Table 4

Course Name	Number of Schools Offering the Course
IB History	14
IB Mathematics: Applications and Interpretation	13
IB Visual Arts	11
IB Biology	10
IB Primary Years Program	9
IB Language B—English	9
IB Language B—Spanish	8
Total	161

In the coming year, OSSE will explore, with community and LEA stakeholders, the best way for OSSE to share this data in a meaningful and actionable way. Phase 1 of the course data collection has its limits but can still initiate and expand curiosity that Phase 2 collection will hopefully and most likely satisfy. Course Data Collection Team at OSSE looks forward to collaborating and seeking feedback from all types of stakeholders, so that we can achieve equitable outcomes for all DC students.

Learn More
For more information about the 2023-24 school year course data collection, please see OSSE’s website, where there is a copy of the 2023-24 School Year LEA Course Data Collection Policy Guide and the OSSE State Course Catalog.