Unveiling Ethnic Disparities for Data Equity: Analyzing Advanced Placement Course Enrollment Among AANHPI Students

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 3:35 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
  In Roundtable Session: Policy Influences on Exceptionality Education (Table 11)

Abstract

Asian students are often perceived as over-represented in Advanced Placement (AP) courses; however, it remains unclear whether this representation is uniform across all Asian ethnic subgroups. The prevalent practice of aggregating data for Asian students complicates efforts to explore and examine trends within these groups, potentially obscuring the under-representation of certain ethnic subgroups, thus exacerbating disparities and stifling discussions on educational equity. This study utilizes longitudinal data from the Los Angeles Unified School District—the second largest in the U.S., with over 700,000 students, from 2015 to 2023—to explore ethnic differences among Asian students in AP course enrollment. Our findings reveal distinct patterns based on ethnicity, highlighting variations in the timing, number, and subjects of AP courses taken.

Authors

• Xinyi Mao, University of Central Florida

• Se Woong Lee, University of Missouri

• Jia Liang, Kansas State University