Participation in Advanced Placement (AP) courses and success on associated exams has become the standard bearer for post-secondary admission. While AP began as a mechanism to support the academic needs of the most advanced students, today it is offered to a diverse range of students. Increasing AP participation and improving AP performance for traditionally underrepresented populations to include Blacks, Hispanics, students with disabilities, and those from lower socioeconomic families has been an ambition of American school districts for the past several decades. This study used AP participation and performance data to investigate the progress one school district has made regarding Black and Hispanic students for the eight school years between 2011-19. Progress was measured by increases in percentages of Black and Hispanic students enrolled in AP courses who sat for an associated AP exam and the percentage of each cohort who earned scores of three or higher on those exams. Significance was determined using Pearson's chi-square and one-way ANOVA tests. Study results show that, among other findings, there was no significant relationship in AP participation for either Black or Hispanic students and that both Black and Hispanic students demonstrated significant improvement in AP performance between school years. / Doctor of Education / The purpose of this study was to identify what change, if any, has occurred in Black and Hispanic AP participation and performance on AP, ACT, SAT, and state mandated reading and writing exams. A quantitative review of Black and Hispanic AP student participation and performance data was conducted to identify areas of significant growth. Participants were identified as Black and Hispanic AP students who sat for an associated exam. Performance data collected and reviewed included Black and Hispanic AP, ACT, SAT, and state mandated reading and writing exam results. Data were collected over an eight-year period and the sample includes all high schools in the school district.
The data collected and analyzed for this study identified six findings and six implications. The study was limited by the small sample size of students who fit the profile of having taken and AP course and sitting for an associated exam. Of the nearly thirty-one thousand students considered, less than ten percent were eligible for the study. Considerations for further study includes expanding eligibility to all Black and Hispanic participants regardless of their participation in associated AP exams.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/114265 |
| Date | 04 April 2023 |
| Creators | Byrd, Tyrone Qovodis |
| Contributors | Counselor Education, Cash, Carol S., Kreye, Bettibel Carson, Robertson, Clifford Gregory, Price, Ted S. |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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