• Percentage of High School Graduates with Substantial Credits in Academic Courses

WHAT THE DATA SHOWS

In Saint Paul, high school graduation requirements vary school-by-school.* 

For the Class of 2005, graduation requirements in the core subjects are:

• Arlington Senior High, 4 years of English and social studies; 3 years of math and science
• Central High School, 4 years of English; 3 years of math, science and social studies
• Como Park Senior High, 4 years of English, 3 years of social studies; 2 years of math and science
• Harding High School, 4 years of English; 3 years of math, science, social studies
• Highland Park Senior High 4 years of English and social studies; 2 years of math; 1 year of science
• Humboldt High School 
• Johnson High School, 4 years of English and social studies; 2 years of math and science

* State mandated graduation requirements increase to 3 years of math and science beginning with the class of 2006.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

April 2007 - Issue Brief: Course Credit Accrual and Dropping Out of High School - High school dropouts earn fewer credits than do on-time graduates within each academic year, and the gap in course credits accrued between dropouts and on-time graduates increased across academic years, National Center for Education Statistics.

May 2005 - Postsecondary Expectations and Minnesota’s Graduation Requirements - Compares Minnesota's high school graduation requirements to Minnesota's postsecondary requirements and national research-based recommendations, Minnesota Department of Education.

2004 - The Expectations Gap: A 50-State Review of High School Graduation Requirements, Urgently underscore the discrepancy between high school graduation requirements and the skills colleges and employers expect graduates to have, Achieve, Inc.

March 2004 - NCES: High School Transcript Study: A Decade of Change in Curricula and Achievement, 1990-2000, National Center for Education Statistics.

Key Findings: Course Credits Earned

• Overall, the number of course credits earned by high school graduates increased throughout the 1990s. In 2000, high school graduates earned an average of 26.2 course credits, compared to an average of 23.6 in 1990 (see figure 1 in chapter 2).
• The average number of credits earned in the core academic subject fields
  (mathematics, science, English, and social studies) increased from 13.7 to 15.0 credits between 1990 and 2000 (see figure 3 in chapter 2).
• High school graduates increased their number of earned credits in computer-related vocational courses from 0.4 in 1990 to 0.7 in 2000 (see figure 4 in chapter 2). In the same 10-year span, the number of credits earned by high school graduates decreased in noncomputer-related vocational courses (3.5 in 1990, 3.1 in 2000).
• Public high school graduates increased their number of earned course credits from 1990 (23.5) to 2000 (26.2) (see figure 8 in chapter 2).