Social Justice Leadership: Creating Equity-Driven Advanced Placement Programs

Abstract

ABSTRACT A rigorous academic education in high school is one of the most important predictors of college success. The College Board’s Advanced Placement (AP) program allows students to earn college credit and/or advanced placement in high school. However, the lack of equitable participation in the AP program has not gone unnoticed by educators, policymakers, or researchers. This qualitative study was designed to fill a gap in the existing research by investigating the implementation of equity-focused AP programs in two urban districts in the Midwest. This qualitative, multiple-case study centered on the voices of 29 participants in two urban school districts who shared descriptions of their beliefs, actions, and reflections about their leadership practices regarding their AP programs. The findings show evidence of community-engaged social justice leadership in the school leaders’ personal beliefs about student access to AP, their situational awareness of their respective school communities, and the equity-focused leadership actions in service of their AP programs. Findings also demonstrated the importance of building the capacity of educators in different roles to engage in leadership activities in service of the equity-focused AP program.