Is the Effect of Advanced Placement for All? Expanded Access and Unequal Performance

• In Event: 52.084 - Roundtable Session 18
  In Roundtable Session: 52.084-5 - Peer Effects/Effects of Grouping on Students

Abstract

Over the past three decades, access to Advanced Placement courses has been expanded to traditionally underrepresented students. It is unclear, however, whether or not expanded access to AP courses has been equally beneficial for all racial groups, and if not, which factors that shape the difference. Using data on all AP coursetakers in a district in Florida across 11 years, I estimate the effects of student- and classroom- level variables on the performance of AP by racial groups. The Hierarchical Generalized Linear Modeling approach accounts for the nested nature of classroom. The preliminary findings show that the effects of key variables do differ depending on racial groups, and the peer effects found in AP students may have different patterns.

Author

• Taek Hyung Kim, Florida State University