While studies have shown the positive effect of the Advanced Placement (AP) program on college readiness, there are still barriers preventing minority and low socioeconomic status (SES) students who possess high academic potential from participating in the opportunity that AP courses offer. One tool that could help identify students for…

The present study sought to design calculus tasks to determine students' preference for visual or analytic processing as well as examine the role of preferred mode of processing in calculus performance and its relationship to spatial ability and verbal-logical reasoning ability. Data were collected from 150 high school students who were enrolled…

Purpose: The aim of this study is to determine what pre-college characteristics predict college success for students of color enrolled within science, technology, engineering and mathematics programs, as measured by cumulative grade point average (GPA) after three years of initial enrollment. Design/methodology/approach: To increase the…

As record numbers of students are applying to selective colleges and universities, students are attempting to set themselves apart from their peers by taking rigorous advanced courses in high school. The race for improving a student's academic record has resulted in more and more students taking these courses earlier and earlier in their high…

When educators see that two students received a B in a particular course in two different schools and/or years, does it indicate the same level of understanding and achievement for both students? This paper addresses the assumption that grades are equivalent within subjects across schools and years. By comparing course grades to a standardized…

In distance education via videoconferencing, students at classroom remote sites learn without the physical presence of their teacher and other classmates at the host site. As a result, the learning experience of remote site students differs from host site students. Therefore, instructional leaders should make every effort to minimize the adverse…

As high schools offer more pre-Advanced Placement (pre-AP) and Advanced Placement (AP) courses to prepare students for college academics, students often are given quality grade point average (GPA) points to help compensate for the rigorous curriculum. In states where class ranking determines automatic university admission, fluctuations of class…

This study investigated AP U.S. History teacher characteristics, school and classroom context, instructional and assessment practices, and the relationship of all these variables with student achievement on the AP U.S. History Exam. The study sample consisted AP U.S. History teachers in the state of Georgia (N = 93) representing 14 of the state's…

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which Collective Teacher Efficacy explained the variance in Black and Hispanic enrollment in Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate classes. In order to achieve this purpose, survey research methodology was employed with Virginia high schools as the unit of study. Fifty-three…

[Slides] presented at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) in 2009. This study investigated the presence of a general rise in high school grades without a corresponding rise in SAT scores, as well as different grading criteria between schools, as shown by differential relationships between AP course grades and exam scores. These…