High School Academic Acceleration and Early Postsecondary Outcomes: Evidence from Washington State

Taking advanced courses in high school predicts positive later outcomes, yet many seemingly prepared students do not take such courses. Acceleration policies that automatically enroll high achieving high school students into more advanced courses have been shown to increase advanced coursetaking, but little is known about the longer-term impacts of these policies. We studied districts in Washington that implemented Academic Acceleration policies, which identified proficient 11th and 12th grade students for automatic enrollment into advanced and dual credit courses. Using a difference-in-differences design, we examined the effects of Academic Acceleration on college enrollment and early postsecondary coursetaking. We found no significant effects of the policy on students’ college enrollment, first-year college coursetaking, or persistence to a second year of college.