Improving College and Career Readiness for all Students

Federal Way Public Schools

Improving College and Career Readiness for all Students

Federal Way is focused on an advancement of a college-going culture and expanding STEM access to all students. An analysis of transcript and scheduling data helped them identify ways to improve college and career readiness for all students in the district.

With the launch of our strategic plan, we were seeing gains in graduation rates and overall college readiness in our high schools. However, we knew we still had work to do to reach our goals. Abl’s analysis helped us see that many scholars were not having the rigorous, robust schedules and academic experiences they needed to open every possible door after high school. Not only that, but our scheduling practices were also resulting in a financial hit to our district. – Tammy Campbell

Tammy Campbell | Superintendent

Federal Way Public Schools

Problem

In 2014, FWPS implemented a new high school schedule to align improvement and accountability measures across the district and increase college and career readiness metrics, instructional time, student enrollment, and resource efficiency. FWPS aimed to boost equity and understand the impact of master scheduling practices on student access to rigorous coursework.

Strategy

FWPS hired Abl to conduct a District Scheduling Audit, which focused on College and Career Readiness metrics, instructional time, student enrollment, and equity in the district. The audit examined student schedules to ensure academic preparedness, assessed the use of instructional time, evaluated course enrollment and its impact on resource allocation, and analyzed equity in academic rigor across subgroups.

Results

Abl’s data analysis identified discrepancies in student course-taking patterns between schools and student subgroups in terms of academic intensity measure (AIM). Additionally, the analysis revealed that per course, students in Federal Way were with an instructor for 43 hours less than other school districts, and many students enrolled in partial schedules. To address these issues, FWPS implemented College and Career Readiness initiatives, established a task force to provide recommendations, and instituted a policy to prevent non-course activities or open periods in student schedules, which improved student access to different courses and increased state funding.