This study aims to understand how women's voices can be empowered in a high school English Language Arts (ELA) class. Through the use of female authors and female protagonists in the classroom texts, this study seeks to understand if implementing female-driven texts enhances female students' literary experiences, empowers the personal identities…

Decades of student achievement data reveal that schools in the United States do not adequately equip students with the skills needed for success in college. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which the AP Capstone program, an Advanced Placement (AP) diploma program launched by the College Board in 2014, promoted specific…

Limited research has examined Black girls' college readiness, college enrollment, and college persistence. As a result, this study analyzes the outcomes relative to AP course enrollment, dual credit enrollment, and high school grade point average of Black girls. Attention has been given to black men's disparity and lack of educational attainment…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore how high school counselors and AP Spanish teachers in high-poverty schools in AZ recruited Latino students into AP Spanish courses. How high school counselors and AP Spanish teachers recruit Latino students into Spanish AP courses was unknown. Peplau's Theory of Interpersonal Relationships…

As part of their strategies to increase college readiness and reduce educational inequalities, at least 29 states subsidize Advanced Placement (AP) exam fees for low-income students. However, while Michigan's state-level policy subsidized low-income student exams to $5 per exam, we found wide-ranging fee structures at high schools--from $0 to $50.…

In the present study, the race-focused and race-reimaged framework is applied to motivational belief theory to explore factors related to Latinx high school students' enrollment into AP math and AP science. Incorporating a person-centered approach to the methods, latent profile analysis was conducted to identify the unique math and science…

The Advanced Placement (AP) program represents a critical element in Houston Independent School District's (HISD's) efforts to inject rigor into the high school classrooms. Since 2009, the AP course offerings in HISD have been vastly expanded, with more campuses offering a wider selection of AP courses that exposes a larger percentage of the high…

Research shows that when students have access to advanced coursework opportunities, they work harder and are more engaged in school, have fewer absences and suspensions and higher graduation rates. Unfortunately, many Black and Latino students and students from low-income backgrounds lack equitable access to advanced coursework opportunities, such…

Research shows that when students have access to advanced coursework opportunities, they work harder and are more engaged in school, have fewer absences and suspensions and higher graduation rates. Unfortunately, many Black and Latino students and students from low-income backgrounds lack equitable access to advanced coursework opportunities, such…

The Advanced Placement (AP) program is widely offered in American high schools and has been touted as a way to close racial and socioeconomic gaps in educational outcomes. Using administrative data from Michigan, I exploit variation within high schools across time in AP course offerings to identify the relationship between AP course availability,…

Although participation in Advanced Placement programs has been expanding rapidly across the United States, participation among marginalized students generally, and boys of color in particular, has remained lower than for other students. In his observations at an urban high school, Suneal Kolluri found that, if they were going to put in the work…

This Research Brief summarizes the performance of Miami-Dade County Public Schools (MDCPS) students participating in the International Baccalaureate (IB) program. The IB program was offered at six M-DCPS high schools in 2020-2021. Over 2,900 assessments were completed by M-DCPS students in 29 subject areas in 2020-2021. The number of IB…

The present study investigated the correlation between achievement and motivation in high school advanced placement students. This study looked into the gap of how much motivation an AP student needs to reach achievement because of increased student involvement in an AP classroom. This study analyzes this correlation with a qualitative interview…

Background/Context: The United States is facing a shortage of domestically prepared STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) professionals, yet many high school graduates find they are not sufficiently prepared for college-level work in STEM subjects. Dual enrollment STEM courses count for both high school and college credit,…

This Research Brief summarizes the performance of Miami-Dade County Public Schools (MDCPS) students participating in the Cambridge Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE) Program. Cambridge courses and assessments were offered at 18 MDCPS high schools in 2021-2022. Over 13,700 assessments were completed by M-DCPS students in 34…