The problem that guided this study was the low proportion of students scoring 3 or more on the Advanced Placement English Language and Composition (APELC) exam at one Department of Defense (DoD) school. Moreover, the qualifying ratios were lower than students attending all DoD and U.S. schools. The need for teachers to examine the performance of…

This brief examines the findings of a study conducted by researchers at the University of Southern California examining a project-based approach to Advanced Placement courses. The randomized study found the proportion of students earning a credit-qualifying score on the AP test was 8 percentage points higher in the project-based version of the…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of Knowledge in Action (KIA) project-based learning (PBL) approach to Advanced Placement (AP) on students' AP examination performance. This study used a randomized controlled trial, with school-level randomization within five large and predominantly urban U.S. school districts, to compare the AP…

To expand participation in Advanced Placement (AP) courses, several District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) high schools have enacted a policy mandating that all students enroll in one or more AP courses. To promote quality instruction in AP courses, DCPS recommends regular teacher participation in the Advanced Placement Summer Institute (APSI)…

Over the past decade the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) has sought to expand participation in Advanced Placement (AP) courses in order to improve high school outcomes (attendance, achievement, and graduation) and longer-term outcomes (postsecondary enrollment and degree completion). DCPS wants to understand policies and recommendations…

This document contains the appendixes for the full report, "Advanced Placement Participation, Staffing, and Staff Training in the District of Columbia Public Schools." The study examined students' AP exam taking and passing rates in schools that mandate AP course enrollment and in schools that do not, teacher participation in the…

The purpose of this sequential mixed methods study was to examine the relationship among student achievement factors, gifted and talented status and post-secondary readiness. The study included a review of archived data obtained from a large district in the southeastern region of Texas consisting of a purposeful sample of AP students' who took an…

This empirical study analyzed data from 638 teachers and 11,800 students in low-socioeconomic status (SES) urban schools (and schools with urban characteristics) exploring associations of school, teacher, teaching, and professional development characteristics toward student performance on the revised Advanced Placement (AP) Biology and AP…