I take as many AP classes as I can.

They will help me get into college and I will have

less classes to take once I get there.


High School Junior
The Issue
The subject of this inquiry brief is to determine the effect
that Advanced Placement courses have on college access
and success. Since 2003, the number of California
students taking Advanced Placement exams has
increased 176% but no one seems to be very clear about
how these courses actually translate into college success.

What the Stakeholders Say
In original research conducted in San Diego,CA, nine
interviews were conducted. Interviews included one high
school junior and their parent, one high school principal,
and six college graduates that took Advanced Placement
courses in high school. The stakeholders had differing
opinions about how Advanced Placement courses
translate into college access and success.
Of the seven people interviewed that had taken Advanced
Placement courses, half of them stated that few or none
of their Advanced Placement courses translated into a
college-required class. One interviewee stated that of the
four Advanced Placement classes they had taken, none of
the classes translated into required classes. A common
response to the translation of courses was the overall
accumulation of college units that allow students to
enroll in their classes sooner than other college freshmen.
No one seemed concerned or surprised about classes
counting for little more than college units.
When asked if there were classes that they would not
have taken, 83% of respondents replied yes to at least
one. The reasons given were unrelated to the classs
correlation to college and more dependent on the teacher
of the class and how well the respondent did in the class
or the Advanced Placement exam.
The course grade seemed to play more of a role than
the exam score because I only passed one exam.
College Graduate
Six college graduates were asked to describe the ways
that their Advanced Placement classes helped them get
into college. One respondent stated that the classes did
not help. Others felt that the classes looked better on their
transcripts but felt there was no way of knowing if the
classes played a role in their acceptance into college.
Although many of the college graduates stated that the
Advanced Placement classes helped to boost their grade
point average (GPA), few responded that their Advanced
Placement classes had provided extra preparation for
college level classes and rigor.

What Effects do Advance
Placement Courses Have on
College Access and Success?

An Inquiry Brief for Parents, Students, and
Administrators, by Sacha Casciato
Students should take as many Advanced Placement
classes as they can. They should challenge themselves
and become accustomed to the rigors of college.
High School Principal
One parent stated that Advanced Placement classes are
the only way to get into a good college. When asked if
that was the sole reason that their student enrolled in
Advanced Placement courses, the parent responded that it
also lessens the number of general education classes that
their child will need to take in college. The parent was
unsure of which classes count toward the general
education requirements of each college.
My daughter has always dreamed of going to a
good college. She has been working so hard in
her classes and she even gave up soccer, These
AP classes better help her.
Mother of a high school junior
What the Research Suggests
The research suggests that passing the Advanced
Placement exams is the biggest predictor of college
success however, the Advanced Placement course grades
are more regularly factored into admission decisions
(Shaw, Marini, & Mattern, 2013). Many colleges use this
information to predict the perspective students First
Year Grade Point Average (FYGPA) then decide
whether or not to accept the student. If a student is
successful on the Advanced Placement exams, then they
are expected to be successful in college. In short, the
exam score average creates a window into a students
overall success throughout college.
The research measures college success either by grade
point average or graduation rate. Advanced Placement
courses were found to increase college success over
students that did not take Advanced Placement courses in
high school (Dougherty, Mellor & Jian, 2006).
According to research, Advanced Placement was not
notably responsible for finishing a bachelors degree but
it did help students with the rigor of college (Shaw et al.,
2013).

An interesting finding from the research was that many
underprivileged students were taking Advanced
Placement courses that gave them access to highly
selective colleges but only 37% were enrolling in those
schools (Roderick, Nagaoka, Coca & Moeller, 2009).
Many students continued on to the local college that their
neighborhood peers fed into. The research suggested that
underprivileged students might need help with the
application process in order to fully capitalize on their
advanced placement. Until this issue is addressed, it will
be hard to measure just how much weight Advanced
Placement courses carry on college access.


Are Advanced Placement courses providing
access to, and preparing, all students for
college careers?
Made in Office 2007 for office2007.com


Recommendations
Students and families need to be made aware of the
correlation between Advance Placement courses and
college admission as well as increased college success. It
is important for families to know that although there are
benefits to having only one of either the Advanced
Placement exam scores or the course grade, doing well in
both will significantly help their child to succeed in
college.
High School administration should consider programs
that would guide students and their families through the
process of searching for, applying to, and selecting
colleges. This would help students to enroll in the
colleges that they have been working so hard to access.
Since students that took Advanced Placement showed
increased college success over non-Advanced Placement
students, administration should ensure that a wealth of
Advanced Placement courses are offered at their high
schools. All students should have access to a variety of
Advanced Placement courses.

References
Dougherty, C., Mellor, L., & Jian, S. (2006). The
Relationship between Advanced Placement and College
Graduation. 2005 AP Study Series, Report 1. National
Center For Educational Accountability.
Roderick, M., Nagaoka, J., Coca, V., & Moeller, E.
(2009). From high school to the future: Making hard
work pay off. Consortium On Chicago School Research.
Shaw, E., Marini, J., & Mattern, K. (2013). Exploring the
Utility of Advanced Placement Participation and
Performance in College Admission Decisions.
Educational And Psychological Measurement, 73(2),
229--253.


Made in Office 2007 for office2007.com
2014
Made in Office 2007 for office2007.com