State education agencies in Washington state and elsewhere seek to prepare high school students for postsecondary success. In 2014, the Washington legislature updated the state’s credit requirements for high school graduation. The changes—which include an additional credit of laboratory science, one of fine arts, and two of world languages—are intended to align with both admissions standards at Washington public universities and career pathways.

We looked at the data to see how districts in Washington were progressing in implementing the new requirements for the class of 2019 (as well as some early implementer districts that started with the class of 2018). Findings included:

• Early implementer districts had more teachers in required content areas relative to the number of students
• Districts that implemented the new requirements on time tended to have more class periods in a day
• 27 percent of graduates met the new standards in 2018—the year before they were required

Download the full report and summary infographic to learn more, including key considerations for education leaders when increasing high school graduation credit requirements.

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