Disparities in the breadth and availability of science courses within high schools can undermine the quality of the secondary school experience, often to the detriment of students who are a part of traditionally disadvantaged groups. This study is a continuation of a recent New Jersey State Policy Lab report, “Equal Access to Stem Pathways?” which examined high school science course enrollment trends in New Jersey using publicly available school-level data.
This new report will aim to identify and describe patterns in high school students taking science courses in New Jersey and study the value of these science course pathways and what influence this may play on college enrollment and students opting to major in STEM fields. Additionally, the study plans to determine and identify if there are any positive outliers, i.e., high schools with high percentages of students of color and/or economically disadvantaged students that do have a strong science course presence.