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Student project: opportunity gaps in advanced courses

Release Date: 

September 24, 2021

Thien Nguyen, Senior at Mariner High School, conducted a research project in regard to opportunity gaps in advanced-course taking. He utilized the Washington State Improvement Framework Winter 2020 Edition, the most recent of its kind, for his examination. You can read the findings in his report and watch his video for further explanation.

From Thien:

"With the support of the Washington State Board of Education (SBE), I conducted a research project that aimed to examine the opportunity gaps in advance-course taking at traditional public high schools across Washington state. Throughout the course of the project, I have discovered that these opportunity gaps persist mainly in school districts that consist of two or more high schools. Now, I am writing this policy brief to recommend solutions on how to ensure students in these select school districts are getting equitable access to advanced courses."

"It is not shocking to know that in our own state of Washington—and the rest of the United States—there is inequitable access to rigorous courses, especially for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) students. Our state has already recognized that this is an important issue to tackle, with multiple state agencies already proposing solutions to address the root of this problem. However, I want to recommend solutions that are based from a student's point-of-view, specifically a high schoolers."

Read Thien's full policy brief: Opportunity Gaps in Advanced Courses. Thank you Thien for engaging with the Board and giving recommendations to make our state's education system equitable for all students! 

Media Contact: 

Stephanie Davidsmeyer
Communications Manager