Students who take advanced courses in high school are more likely to enroll and persist in college. This report describes patterns in advanced coursetaking among three groups of students in Washington state: Spanish-speaking students, other language minority students whose primary or home language is not Spanish, and English-only speakers. This…

Last year, 15 students in the Montpelier (Vermont) High School's Advanced Placement Spanish class paid class-time visits every week to a nearby dairy farm. They interacted with the Mexican laborers by conversing with them in Spanish, having picnics together, and playing cards and soccer. As the students advanced their Spanish verbal skills, they…