College Preparatory Curriculum for All

There is a national movement to universalize the high-school curriculum so that all students graduate prepared for college. Here we evaluate a policy in Chicago that ended remedial classes and mandated college-preparatory coursework for all students. Using an interrupted time-series cohort design with multiple comparisons, we found that the policy reduced inequities in ninth grade coursework by entering ability, race/ethnicity, and special education status. Although more students completed ninth grade with credits in Algebra and English I, failure rates increased, grades declined slightly, test scores did not improve, and students were no more likely to enter college. Although few benefits resulted from universalizing college preparatory coursework among ninth-graders, neither did dropout rates increase. Possible explanations are discussed.