High school students' academic preparation (e.g. high school GPA, ACT composite score, AP credits earned) predicts and helps explain their academic performance at college. However, the effects of noncognitive factors on college success is less clear. This study examined the effects of adding high school students' (N = 2279) self-efficacy,…

Hispanic students participate in advanced programming at a much lower rate than their White peers. Although Advanced Placement (AP) can have a positive impact on future academic success and attainment of long-term goals, limited research has investigated factors that contribute to AP success for gifted Hispanic students. This study examined…

Four New Jersey school districts worked together to increase student achievement by applying a number of strategies focused on getting traditionally underrepresented students to take more AP courses. The districts are members of the New Jersey Network of Superintendents (NJNS), comprising 15 superintendents who work together to develop systemwide…

Early college high school models are designed to encourage and assist traditionally underrepresented groups of students- low income, Latino, and African-American- to persist in and graduate from high school while earning college credit. Some of the models target high school dropouts, with the aim of helping them acquire the education and training…

Educators and policymakers are keenly aware of the need to prepare students to compete in an increasingly global society. It is widely accepted that a high school diploma is not sufficient and that secondary schools have a responsibility to prepare students to be college and career ready. This study examined participation in a rigorous secondary…

Completing Advanced Placement (AP) coursework is an important part of the selective college admissions process, and access to AP coursework can be viewed as a measure of equal opportunity. Relatively little research has fully examined how access to AP coursework is mediated by school characteristics. Rural schools are at a particular disadvantage…

Many parallels exist between quality coaches and quality classroom teachers--especially AP teachers, who often feel the pressure to produce positive test results. Having developed a series of techniques and strategies for building a team-oriented winning culture on the field, Jim Fornaciari writes about how he adapted those methods to work in the…

Counter to narratives of persistently failed school reform, we argue that reforms sometimes succeed and seek to understand why. Drawing on examples from the founding of public schools to the present, we find that successful system-wide reforms addressed problems that teachers thought they had by being consistent with prevailing norms and values,…

Based on relevant literature and recent qualitative findings, the purpose of this survey research was to identify pedagogical approaches to melodic dictation employed by Advanced Placement (AP) Music Theory teachers across the United States. The researcher-designed survey questions focused on pitch and rhythm skills, instructional resources,…

Purpose: The aim of this study is to determine what pre-college characteristics predict college success for students of color enrolled within science, technology, engineering and mathematics programs, as measured by cumulative grade point average (GPA) after three years of initial enrollment. Design/methodology/approach: To increase the…

This piece describes how Pittsburgh Public Schools, an urban school district, strategically redesigned its AP English program and diversified student enrollment in AP English classes as part of its equity plan. The authors describe how one teacher expanded his instructional strategies to meet the needs of more linguistically, culturally, and…

This study explored the impact of the English Advanced Placement (AP) program on college success among rural Appalachian students attending four private colleges in central and eastern Kentucky: Alice Lloyd College, Georgetown College, Lindsey Wilson College, and University of the Cumberlands. A Pearson Product-Moment Correlation r and an…

Enriched high school curricula like the Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate Diploma programs are endorsed as "pathway programs" for postsecondary-bound students. Program participation is perceived to have benefits that appeal to a broad stakeholder group of universities, administrators, teachers, students, and parents. In…

This study describes the collaboration among a school counselor, a school counselor intern, an Advanced Placement Psychology teacher, and a counselor educator to improve African-American access to Advanced Placement (AP) coursework and increase success on the AP Psychology national examination. The team initiated a process that recruited African…

As the authors joined the growing number of prominent adolescent psychologists and educators in arguing that "organizing four years of high school around grades and college admissions is a virtual guarantee that a teenager's natural commitment and enthusiasm are likely to be undermined," they wondered if the enduring habits they value…