We examined the variation in Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation (FMCE) preclass scores according to the type of physics class a student had in high school. This was done for students who had taken Physics 1 at a highly selective university. The majority of students had taken an Advanced Placement (AP) physics course, allowing us to examine in…

Implementation of digital literacies in secondary literature study can result in increased textual engagement and explorations of identity. The author describes the results of practitioner research at a Midwestern U.S. high school in which senior AP students created short films as a way to analyze literature circle texts. The purpose of the study…

Motivated by assessment of externally awarded grants and internal programmatic practices, we used transcript and demographic data for students entering a highly selective residential liberal arts college between 2002-2015 to answer institutional-level questions about course taking patterns and pathways relevant to Science, Technology, Engineering,…

This study sought to explore the often controversial role of competition in academic settings by interviewing 11 high school students, about half of whom were in an AP English course. The interviews asked the students to describe how they feel competition plays a role in their classrooms and personal learning experiences, and also how competition…

This article presents findings from a larger multiple methods study that explores the levels of adherence and experiences students have of the International Baccalaureate Organization human rights ideals in different school contexts. A three-component model of human rights competence, incorporating identification with all humanity, ethno-cultural…

Despite policy efforts to increase Advanced Placement (AP) course-taking among Black students, gaps in AP course-taking persist. Many question whether offering more AP courses is a sufficient policy solution. However, few studies have examined the effect of course offerings on disparities within racially diverse high schools. Using national…

The authors examined the relationships of ACT Aspire test scores and high school course grades, AP test scores, and Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) test scores, demonstrating criterion-related as well as convergent and discriminant validity evidence. They found that ACT Aspire test scores are strong…

There is a consensus that today's students in the U.S. are not prepared to fill the almost 1 million unfilled computing jobs in 2024. In the wake of the Computer Science For All initiative in 2016, advocacy groups, such as the Association for Computing Machinery, Code.org and the Computer Science Teachers Association, actively encourage diversity…

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of implementing a unique and systematized version of curriculum planning and documenting across all levels of a Pre-K-Grade 12, US-curriculum, and international school in the Dominican Republic. Based on the Backwards by Design philosophy, cemented with a standards-based approach highlighting…

Employers in today's global economy value a range of postsecondary credentials--industry-valued credentials, postsecondary certificates, associate degrees, bachelor's degrees and advanced degrees-- because they can each signify whether an applicant has the skills employers need. While debates in the past have dwelled on college vs. career, today's…

The AP Capstone Diploma ™ program was launched in 2014 to offer high school students an opportunity to learn interdisciplinary critical thinking and collaboration skills and complete college-level academic research by means of two Advanced Placement® (AP® ) courses: AP Seminar and AP Research. In these early years of the AP Capstone program,…

Black students in high schools do not matriculate in advanced level coursework, such as advanced placement (AP) classes, at the same rate as their White peers. The opportunity to participate in AP in high school has been shown to influence enrollment in college, earning higher overall grades, and better performance on high stakes assessments such…

Many physics students have experienced the difficulty of internalizing concepts in electrostatics. After studying concrete, measurable details in mechanics, they are challenged by abstract ideas such as electric fields, flux, Gauss's law, and electric potential. There are a few well-known hands-on activities that help students get experience with…

Historically, AP Potential™ has used PSAT/NMSQT® scores to identify students who are likely to earn a 3 or higher on a specific AP Exam based on research showing moderate to strong relationships between PSAT/NMSQT scores and AP Exam scores (Camara & Millsap, 1998; Ewing, Camara, & Millsap, 2006; Zhang, Patel, & Ewing, 2014a). For most…

The author shows how using art helped a blind student in an AP class and students in Creative and Practical Writing classes improve writing proficiency and critical thinking.