Access to Rigor in Elementary School

In my work in central office, we spend a lot of time determining processes and procedures. One area of intense focus right now is access to rigor for students of color. This conversation typically happens in middle and high school as we determine how students access Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, and honors courses. In my district, we’ve determined data criteria for honors and advanced courses to reduce the impact of teacher bias. We’ve increased our efforts in AP Credentialing to seek out students of color who have shown in their previous work that they can be successful in AP courses. Most importantly, we’re now working to ensure that students who are recommended or register for AP/Honors courses actually have them on their schedule and have any support they need to be successful. This is all great work. What do we do as school counselors at the elementary level?

Prepare: Rigor and Success in Elementary 

To be recommended for AP/honors courses, students have to be successful in their previous coursework. In elementary, this usually means a high level III or level IV in standards based grading. Sometimes we spend so much time looking at students who are below grade level, we miss an opportunity to help students grow into challenging work and prepare for advanced courses. What does your school do to expand and support students who are high achievers? Do you disaggregate your data and identify students of color who are (or can be) high achievers? How do you ensure that these students are not overlooked for Academically Gifted programming or above grade level work?

Advocate: Respond to Gatekeeping

When my district first began using data criteria for 6th grade honors math enrollment, I had a teacher who was not happy to use the criteria set for us. She said to me “aren’t we just setting them up for failure?” Here’s the thing, the students who met the data criteria were already performing above grade level and had scored very highly on our end of grade test for math. They were students who weren’t necessarily being “pushed” by taking an honors course. They were students who soundly "qualified" to be in an honors course. (PS - apologies if you read our book, this story is a repeat!) This type of gatekeeping happens all the time in schools. As school counselors, we have an ethical mandate to be keenly aware of the needs of our students and to be their advocate. What types of gatekeeping happen at your school? Are you and other leaders in the building looking out for under-representation of students of color in higher level learning opportunities?

Teach: Social Emotional Learning

Advanced coursework typically has one common denominator - students are expected to have a high level of independence, organization, and problem solving skills. Take a look at the SEL competencies, how many of these are necessary for doing well in rigorous classes? Almost all of them. By preparing our students with the social emotional learning skills they need in elementary school, we are helping them to be more successful in middle and high school. 

Transition: Moving to the Secondary Level

Does your secondary level (middle/junior high) have honors classes? How do you recommend students for advanced coursework? Whatever system or process that you use, take a moment to dive into the data. Look at the percentage of white students and students of color are recommended for honors. Do they differ? Now look and see if the data behind those decisions aligns equitably. If student A has x data points and student B has x data points, do they get the same recommendation? How do you communicate student achievement to the next level? How can you ensure that the transition goes smoothly?

I’m definitely still in the problem solving, thinking stage of this issue. What are your thoughts regarding access to rigor in elementary? I would love to hear!