Advanced placement (AP) courses are college-level courses taught with the same texts and at a similar speed to normal college courses. Like honors classes, AP courses implement curricula at a faster, more intensive pace than comparative high school classes. AP courses provide an excellent opportunity to prepare for the college experience. Increasing numbers of college-bound students use it for such experience.

College Preparation

The benefits of being enrolled in AP coursework stretch beyond the college preparatory experience. The college admissions process is becoming more competitive each year. Factors such as coursework, grade point average (GPA), SAT scores, and AP test scores are becoming increasingly significant in determining a student's acceptance into college. AP students benefit from an extra GPA point added to grades from their advanced courses. In addition, since AP courses follow a standard curriculum across the U.S. and end with national AP exams, AP courses are the prime and standardized index for student potential. Students who have attended AP courses are more likely to graduate from college, indicating a safer investment for the college. Furthermore, teaching AP courses is an indicator of the quality of the high school that the applicant attended. Many colleges consider high school quality and simply being from schools with AP courses can often have a mild boost in the probability of the applicants’ acceptance. Finally, if a student passes an AP exam, they are able to claim college credit for that course. If several AP courses are completed in this manner, it may serve to decrease the time until graduation. Thus, when comparing college-bound students with a heavy AP background to those of the “traditional” high school education, students from AP backgrounds may be considered more favorably for college acceptance.

Access

The number of AP courses available to students has grown remarkably within the past 10 years, and the number of students enrolled in AP courses has more than doubled since 2003. There has also been a general growth in the representation of minorities in AP classrooms but this growth has not been evenly distributed across economic strata. Compared to more impoverished areas (with schools that teach predominantly Latino or African American students), predominantly White upper-middle-class areas have both a greater number of schools with AP courses and a greater number of AP courses within these schools.

From the college-bound Latino or African American student perspective, affirmative action policies helped to alleviate some of the socioeconomic status (SES) inequalities of applicants from uneven economic opportunity backgrounds. However, due to changing state and university policies, affirmative action is slowly being eliminated from many college admissions processes. Further, enrollment caps for incoming college freshman classes may only lower the prospects of talented students without access to AP courses.

Mexican and African American youth are less likely to be enrolled in AP courses than their Asian and White peers. Unfortunately, research is lacking regarding specific differences in AP enrollment between students of various ethnic backgrounds. However, current research indicates that it is the economic, not ethnic, status that plays a role in determining the resources and connections that will assist a student into enrolling in AP courses. This small body of research stands in opposition to numerous other factors that suggest ethnicity plays an important role in AP enrollment. Despite criticism of ethnic and socioeconomic bias in standardized tests (i.e., Pre-SAT (PSAT) and SAT), some high schools use PSAT and SAT test scores as a cut off for enrollment in AP courses, often eliminating potentially successful students.

Large schools, often found in urban areas with high minority attendance rates, are known to host a great diversity in AP courses, but generally have reduced rates of AP participation among their students. Magnet schools tend to reduce African American student AP participation and small or rural African American may not offer AP courses at all. Even when minority youth are in schools that have a high number of AP courses, there are still barriers to their enrollment into AP programs. Enrollment rates of minority students in math, science, and English AP courses are lower than that of White and Asian students. Furthermore, many students are placed in special education curricula for behavioral issues, even when they are capable of standard or more challenging coursework. Once placed in special education, few of these students are able to make a transition back to regular coursework as the two academic tracks are too dissimilar. These barriers must be addressed to increase the proportion of Latino and African American students enrolled in AP curricula.

Past research also suggests that parental background and SES are positively correlated with a student's academic achievement. Specifically, 75% of Black and Latino families are of low income status. This low income status reduces the likelihood of AP enrollment by 40%. Parents’ negative experiences with the education system may be carried across generations. This may explain why Latinos report lower confidence in math, science, and writing. Low parental academic achievement can also affect a student's AP and college prospects, as there is reduced knowledge about college in the home. This may explain why parents with lower education backgrounds are generally less aggressive in pursuing AP status for their children (compared to more educated parents). In particular, Black and Latino students are less likely than their White and Asian peers to have a parent or guardian involved in their education to connect them to academic enabling resources.

However, even with low socioeconomic status and parental background, minority students have been shown to succeed if they can gain access to educational resources. For example, one study found that access to educational resources had a significant impact on academic success above and beyond parents’ educational background. Another study found that successful Latino college students had used college preparatory coursework and other resources that influenced their view that college was an attainable goal.

The gap between minority students and higher achievement will continue until interventions are formed. Parents, teachers, guidance counselors, and communities need to be involved in these intervention efforts. Schools come in as a critical target for these efforts. Race-matched role models and mentors in schools (e.g. race-matched AP instructors) have been shown to increase minority AP participation. Providing highly trained and culturally sensitive AP teachers may increase minority AP recruitment by creating an environment conducive to advanced learning. This is especially true given that some research shows minority students can discourage one another from academic success. Hiring Black AP instructors has been shown to significantly increase Black student participation.

In addition, AP incentive programs that provide financial assistance to teachers and schools for the development of AP curricula and test fee assistance to students with financial need have been shown to significantly increase minority participation. Some programs have increased Black student participation by about 100%. Also, increasing the variety of AP courses increases the likelihood of a minority student enrolling in a course. Furthermore, when operating in larger schools, creating smaller schools within school programs that are separated from the larger school and smaller in size can increase minority AP enrollment. It is also preferable to require that schools remain flexible, allowing students to shift in and out of AP courses.

Community involvement is another important intervention. For example, in Dallas, Texas, business and community leaders funded teacher training and student achievement incentive programs. Several federal grant programs also support intervention efforts.

Finishing an AP class is positively correlated with passing an AP exam. Currently, the percentage of Latino and African American students who pass the exam is lower than that of Asian and White students. The reasons behind lower exam scores may be similar to the reasons behind reduced African American and Latino student AP enrollment. However, the benefits of being enrolled in AP courses are still present: Taking an AP course may not secure a passing test score or college credit, but passing the course is still an indicator of the student's ability to handle college level work.

Obtaining a higher education has been seen as the most salient factor when it comes to social and cultural flexibility. It has been shown that rigorous coursework, such as that provided by AP instruction, decreases the achievement gap for minority students. Furthermore, the environment within an AP classroom encourages behaviors that lead to academic achievement, forming a “culture of learning.” It would be beneficial to create a better system for minority AP education in that its success would create for easier transitions into the college environment for students, which would lead to their personal and future generations’ improved social mobility, education, and cultural empowerment. Such efforts may have the potential to break long-standing and cross-generational trends of poverty and low education.

See also: Assessment of culturally diverse students ; Education ; High schools ; Reform ; School, Size of ; Under-representation