Academic acceleration for high school students in the state of Washington

Washington Office of Superintendent Public Instruction

1M students | 295 schools | 83% graduation rate

The Challenge: Solve uneven access to academic rigor

Washington State education leaders and policymakers have taken a bold stance on the need for expanded access to academically intense courses for all students. State- and district-level leaders know that academic acceleration is a key driver of statewide college readiness and career preparation. 

Yet state leaders and school district superintendents recognized a challenge: Access to high academic intensity courses across the state was uneven and often had low or uneven participation.

Since 2018, the Washington Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) had led the implementation of the Academic Acceleration Policy for High School Students, in all Washington public school districts. 

The goal of OSPI’s work is to ensure all students are provided access and entry into the next most academically intense course, including AP, IB, and dual enrollment opportunities. 

In service of this goal, state education leaders and district superintendents are laser-focused on the need to ensure that all students have access to academic acceleration and college and career preparation.

The Solution: Collaborative data analyses, leadership training, and action planning

Abl, now BetterLesson, partnered with OSPI to help Washington school districts meet their goal of postsecondary success through academic acceleration. 

In collaboration with 14 school districts throughout the state, Abl led a multidimensional, three-part professional development series for school-site and district leaders. 

The series allowed participants to assess their challenges and opportunities, build understanding about the tangible ways schools can dismantle barriers and increase academic acceleration, and define and implement action plans at the school level.

60+ PL Workshops Academic acceleration and college readiness professional learning sessions with district leadership teams and school site participants from 46 schools and 14 districts.

300+ Leaders Participants engaged in action planning for access, developing skills to execute specific and measurable goals that align with school and district equity goals.

20k Transcripts Student transcripts were analyzed to understand systemic and historical barriers to access and success. Leading to recommendations to adjust course catalog offerings, redesign course requests, or reshape student and parent counseling

District-level analyses

Initially, Abl’s team of data scientists and strategic consultants worked with14 Washington school districts during the 2020-2021 academic year. Together, we examined historical and current enrollment and college retention data. Leaders gained a comprehensive understanding of the barriers built into the existing school schedules that limited access.

State-level strategic professional learning

With the initial analyses complete at the district level, more than 300 Washington state educators participated in professional learning leading through the master schedule. Using our intelligent scheduling platform to analyze massive amounts of data, leaders identified enrollment patterns in each academic acceleration course and compared school data and course progression with state and national college-going trends.

School action planning

State and district leaders used their in-depth analyses, and our team’s guidance, to develop school action plans. These plans focused especially on areas identified to have the most significant potential for expanding access for students to vital course progression necessary for postsecondary success.

Many districts now directly incorporate their goals as core to their scheduling process using the Abl intelligent scheduling platform to meet and exceed their academic acceleration goals for all students.

The Impact: Immediately and long-term scalable change

The partnership between OSPI and Abl, now BetterLesson, helped establish Washington State as a national leader in equitable academic acceleration. 

At the start of this partnership, Washington saw 62% of students complete dual credit. As of August 2025, 91% of dual credit credits are successfully earned by Washington students, with dual credit enrollees achieving higher GPAs than their peers—demonstrating that when barriers are removed, students rise to meet rigorous academic challenges. (Washington State Office of Financial Management: 2025)

The momentum continues to build for access to advanced coursework. Nearly 200 school districts across Washington have adopted Academic Acceleration policies, making Washington the first state in the nation to implement automatic enrollment for advanced courses statewide. (Stand for Children: 2023)

As Washington’s high school graduation rates reach all-time highs and fewer students require remedial college courses, the data affirms what OSPI and district leaders understood: access to academic acceleration is not just an equity imperative—it’s a proven pathway to postsecondary success. 

The transcript analysis, professional learning, and action planning work done through this partnership created a replicable model for systemic change. Many participating districts have integrated these equity-focused goals directly into their scheduling processes, ensuring that academic acceleration remains central to how they serve all students. As Washington continues to lead the nation in expanding access to college-level coursework, the foundation built through this collaboration positions the state to meet its ambitious goals for college and career readiness.