Advanced Placement Curriculum Research Articles

국내외 과학영재학교 수학과 교육과정 편성 현황 분석

This study attempted to analyze the characteristics of the mathematics curriculum of eight domestic science gifted schools to derive implications to consider when organizing the mathematics curriculum of domestic gifted schools in the future. To achieve this, the study compared the content elements of mathematics subjects offered in science high schools for gifted students with those structured according to the 2022 revised mathematics curriculum. Additionally, an analysis was conducted on the content elements of Advanced Placement (AP) subjects and other subjects that, while not included in the 2022 revised mathematics curriculum, are additionally studied at these science high schools. The analysis revealed that the mathematics curriculum in science high schools for gifted students showed a relatively low reflection rate of content elements included in the 2022 revised mathematics curriculum, such as <Discrete Mathematics>, <Practical Statistics>, and <Advanced Geometry>. Moreover, there was a noticeable lack of the <Probability and Statistics> subject in the AP curriculum. The study also highlighted the need for a comprehensive review of the content covered in <Linear Algebra> and <Differential Equations> when organizing future curricula. Furthermore, a comparative analysis of the curricula in three international science high schools for gifted students indicated that these institutions generally offer more credit hours and a wider variety of elective subjects, thus ensuring greater flexibility and broader learning opportunities for students. This suggests that the organization and operation of the mathematics curriculum in domestic science high schools for gifted students should embrace more flexibility and openness to effectively nurture mathematical talents.

Perspectives of Chinese Undergraduates in the US towards Advanced Placement High School Curriculum in China

The Advanced Placement (AP) curriculum program is a rapidly growing university preparation program that is being adopted by high schools in China. Despite the fast growth of AP high school curriculum programs, and high expectations from students and parents in China, empirical studies exploring the Chinese AP learners' perceptions of their university preparation are limited. This study aims at exploring the AP learners' perspectives on the AP high school curriculum program in equipping them for universities when they are studying in the US. Students’ responses to the Chinese AP program were collected through a questionnaire and individual semi-structured interviews. The findings show that students generally felt positive about the AP academic courses, which prepared them for their transition to universities. They also expressed that the English learning environment in the AP program developed English competence. However, they felt disappointed about the lack of teaching of paraphrasing skills, and were frustrated about not gaining much intercultural communicative competence in casual communication. This result sheds light on the under-researched area of the Chinese AP high school curriculum for the AP administrator and curriculum designers.

Identifying Levers Related to Student Performance on High-Stakes Science Exams: Examining School, Teaching, Teacher, and Professional Development Characteristics

BackgroundMany students enter into postsecondary education without the preparation to face the demands of postsecondary coursework in science. Increasingly, policymakers and educational researchers are responding to calls for reforming secondary education to provide more opportunity for all students to receive high-quality education and to become career and college ready.PurposeThis study attempts to identify levers to increase student learning in secondary education. In particular, it examines relationships between school, teaching, teacher, and teacher professional development characteristics and student scores on high-stakes Advanced Placement (AP) examinations in the sciences.SettingThis study is situated in the context of the large-scale, top-down, nationwide AP curriculum and examination reform in the sciences (biology, chemistry, physics) in the United States. This is an unprecedented opportunity to analyze changing educational landscapes in the United States with large-scale national student-, teacher-, school-, and district-level datasets across multiple science disciplines and different stages of the curriculum reform implementation connected to a standardized and high-stakes student outcome measure.PopulationThis study analyzes nationwide data samples of the AP Biology, AP Chemistry, and AP Physics population during the first, second, and third year of the curriculum reform implementation. Across disciplines and years, the analytical samples include a total of 113,603 students and 6,046 teachers.Research DesignThis empirical quantitative study uses data from web-based surveys sent to all AP science teachers. Additionally, the College Board provided student- and school-level data for all students taking AP examinations. Data preparation methods included exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Associations with student achievement were analyzed through a multilevel ordered logistic regression analysis, separately by science discipline and year of the curriculum reform implementation. Afterwards, results were aggregated through a meta-analysis.FindingsEven after controlling for student background variables, roughly 60% of the AP score variance could be explained at the teacher and school levels. In particular, teachers’ perceived administrative support, self-efficacy, teaching experience, and elements of classroom instruction were related to student performance. Notably, teachers’ professional development participation—which has been a major focus of interventions—has a small, mixed impact on student achievement.ConclusionThe identified levers for improving student achievement provide a strong rationale for the continued efforts of policymakers to improve school environments and to support science teachers, with the ultimate goal of improving student learning to help all students to be prepared for college and ready for their future careers.

From the Inside Out: Teacher Responses to the AP Curriculum Redesign

ABSTRACTFrom 2012–2015, Advanced Placement (AP) science courses underwent a large-scale curricular reform to include more scientific inquiry and reasoning, reduce emphasis on broad content coverage, and focus on depth of understanding, with corresponding changes in high-stakes AP examinations. In this study, we explored how teachers prepared for and adapted to this reform over a three-year period. Data included four waves of individual interviews with 22 AP Biology and Chemistry teachers across the United States. Data were qualitatively analyzed using emic and etic coding. Four themes were developed from these data: (1) initial perceptions about the reform including uncertainty, anxiety, and excitement, (2) preparation for reform, (3) impact of time, and (4) intersection of affinity toward the reform with time and uncertainty. Although teachers faced a variety of implementation challenges, these did not always influence their professional development (PD) choices. Rather, choices were more often driven by the price and proximity of those activities, resulting in a jumbled mélange rather than a coherent, extended series of learning experiences. Despite a variety of attitudes, beliefs and instructional skills, teacher beliefs about the purpose and value of the reform—over and above their learning experiences—influenced the time needed to transition and to become comfortable with the redesigned course. This study has implications for how teachers may respond to large-scale, top-down, curriculum reforms (e.g., NGSS, Common Core) and how education leaders, policy makers, and PD providers might support teachers in their efforts to adapt efficiently and effectively.

Acceptance, Understanding & Experience: Exploring Obstacles to Evolution Education among Advanced Placement Teachers

Students in the United States who wish to begin early enrollment in college-level coursework often turn to Advanced Placement (AP) secondary coursework such as AP Biology as an accelerated option. As such, it is expected that those teachers who are responsible for the AP Biology courses hold an advanced level of subject-area expertise that extends to topics that are often seen as controversial in K–12 classrooms, including evolution. We surveyed 71 AP Biology teachers in a state in the southeastern United States to see how their levels of evolution content knowledge, evolution acceptance, and understandings of the nature of science compared to results that have been found in similar studies in general biology teachers and preservice science teachers. Our results indicate that AP Biology teachers in the Southeast have understandings and levels of acceptance regarding evolution that are in line with or lower than those of fellow teachers. This suggests that in spite of the nationalized AP curriculum, there are still gaps in fundamental knowledge, understandings, and approach that need to be addressed.

Investigating relationships between school context, teacher professional development, teaching practices, and student achievement in response to a nationwide science reform

Situated in the context of the Advanced Placement curriculum reform in the sciences, this quantitative study validates selected elements of Desimone's (2009) conceptual framework on teacher professional development. Using national data sets with data from 133 336 students and 7434 teachers, multi-level structural equation models indicate that professional development participation and contextual school- and teacher-level factors influence teachers' classroom practices. In turn, aspects of instructional enactments characteristics are significantly, but very weakly, associated with student performance. Thus, this study reinforces calls to provide teachers opportunities for high-quality professional development and suggests to advance research that identifies effective instructional practices.

A Mixed Methods Examination of Gender Disparity in High Schools Implementing Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID)

This mixed-methods research study offers insights and explanations into gender imbalance in the college readiness program, Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID). Over 200 schools that have been implementing AVID for more than 4 years across the United States participated in this study. Three years of archived historical data pertaining to school demographic information and AVID certification information was accessed and analyzed to examine recruitment and retention of male and female students over time, as well as student enrollment in rigorous curriculum. Our research indicated that at the high school level, gender disparity became most apparent in the 11th and 12th grades. Results indicated that schools that struggled to recruit and retain boys continued to enroll AVID students, both boys and girls, into rigorous advanced placement curriculum at comparable rates as schools that did not struggle to recruit and retain boys in the program. This indicates that once in AVID, boys and girls are provided equal access to rigor; however, recruiting and retaining boys in AVID continues to be a challenge for AVID schools. Research participants indicated that academic identity, peer and family support, leadership and mentoring opportunities and male role models influence male participation in AVID.

How Does Evolution Explain Blindness in Cavefish?

Commonly used evolution assessments often ask about the evolution of blindness in cavefish or salamanders, running speed in cheetahs, and/or the long necks of giraffes. Explaining the loss of function in cave animals, however, is more difficult than explaining evolution involving gains of function resulting from natural selection. In fact, the evolution of cavefish blindness is not yet well understood by scientists. This article presents the three current hypotheses for explaining the evolution of blindness in Mexican tetras (Astyanax mexicanus), related to the Next Generation Science Standards and the Advanced Placement curriculum.

Advanced Placement Exams, Incentive Programs, and Cost Effectiveness: A Lack of Equity and Excellence for Black Students in Texas, New York, and Florida

Numerous researchers (e.g., Academic Pathways to Access and Student Success, 2006, ACT, Inc., 2009; Bragg, Kim, & Barnett, , 2006; College Board, 2010; Hargrove, Godin, & Dodd, 2008; Keng & Dodd, 2008; Morgan & Klaric, 2007) have concluded that participating in challenging high school curriculums such as Advanced Placement (AP) courses and exams positively contribute to students' college readiness, college achievement, and career success. Specifically mentioned in the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB, 2002) was the AP program as a college prep course (U.S. Department of Education, 2004). Moreover, Section 1702 (Access to High Standards Act) of the No Child Left Behind Act acknowledged federal confirmation of AP coursework as college prep curriculum and encouraged states and school districts to incorporate these programs as a means of elevating academic standards (U.S. Department of Education, 2004). In his 2006 State of the Union Address, President George W. Bush thrust the AP program into mainstream education; accordingly, the national perception on AP program involvement increased (Klopfenstein & Thomas, 2009).In a policy brief for the Education Commission of the States (ECS), Dounay (2006) recommended an all-inclusive state policy on advanced placement. First, each state and school district should require a minimum number of AP courses to be offered. As a result, state policy would provide consistency in AP content and leverage AP curriculum offerings in low-income and high minority schools. Second, a state-wide AP framework would establish standards and opportunities for all students to gain access to college preparatory courses. As the result, the federal government, along with most states, and the College Board subsidizes AP exam fees for low-income students. In addition, most states (including Texas, New York, and Florida) provide additional incentives for students and teachers of students who achieve AP exam scores of 3 or higher (Holstead et al., 2010). In September 2006, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced that 33 grants in the amount of $17 million were awarded to increase the participation of low-income students in AP courses and exams. In 2006, an additional $5,867,284 was awarded to 26 states to fund AP exam subsidies programs (U.S. Department of Education, 2006).In 2012, Arne Duncan, the current Secretary of Education, announced that federal support of AP program incentives and exam subsidies were reinstated (U. S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2012). Over $21.5 million was budgeted to subsidize AP exam fees. As the result of these financial awards, the federal government continued to acknowledge AP course and exam participation as curriculum of college readiness and success. Although funding for AP programs and exams was approved, researchers (e.g., Davis, Joyner, & Slate, 2011; Moore & Slate, 2008) have documented the persistent AP achievement and participation gaps among Black students in the United States. Specific to this study, few researchers (Davis, Joyner, & Slate, 2011; Koch; 2012) have investigated AP program involvement and performance of ethnically diverse, primarily lower socioeconomic, student groups across states.PURPOSE OF THE STUDYThe purpose of this study was to determine the cost effectiveness of covering AP exam fees by comparing the success value provided by overall AP exam outcomes to test expenditures for Black students in three researcher-selected states (i.e., Texas, New York, and Florida). According to the Centers for Disease Control (n.d.), cost-effectiveness analysis is commonly used in the health care industries to confirm if the intervention and the results desired validate the cost or investment. As it pertains to this research, cost-effectiveness analysis compares the costs of AP exam to the results or level of success on these exams. In addition, the cost effectiveness analysis evaluates the extent to which AP achievement can be regarded as providing value for the dollars spent (Davis, 2013). …

De Caesare in scholis Latinis provectioribus destinatis modo activo proponendo

<em>On the Active Use of Caesar in Latin Classes for Advanced Students. </em>Methods for active teaching of the Latin language are usually considered to be best suited for the curriculum of beginners’ classes. Such methods can, however, be used quite efficiently even when teaching advanced students either at High School or University level. Nor does it seem to be necessary to restrict the active use of Latinity to simple conversations only or to avoid using the texts of the classic Roman authors, which students of Latin need to understand well. In short, there is nothing preventing students from becoming familiar with the rules of grammar by means of active exercises. Such familiary furnishes the student with shortcuts to a better understanding of the language itself. This may in turn lead to that very ability to read ancient texts which is, after all, the main object of Latin teaching. The present contribution deals with the use of active methods in the curriculum for Advanced Placement (AP) High School pupils who are taking courses that provide them with academic credits for university qualification in the USA. Examples are taken from Caesar’s <em>Commentarii de bello Gallico</em>, a fundamental text in the AP curriculum as far as prose is concerned. The article deals first with how to explain a text in various ways by means of the Latin language alone, without having recourse to the vernacular. Asking questions, making paraphrases, adding titles, or providing a summary are all alternatives here. Furthermore, dictation is elucidated, and how it can offer a bridge to explaining the text in Latin; so is an active method to explain various grammatical constructions. There then follows the active treatment of grammatical as well as rhetorical figures. Finally, questions of how to compose dialogues, and even how to edit plays for the stage, are addressed. At the end of the essay, the author discusses how to combine textual work with exercises involving describing images in Latin.

How the Chemistry Modeling Curriculum Engages Students in Seven Science Practices Outlined by the College Board

As advanced placement (AP) teachers strive to implement the changes outlined in the AP chemistry redesign, they will have the opportunity to reflect on and evaluate their current practices. For many AP teachers, the new focus on conceptual understanding, reasoning, inquiry, and critical thinking over memorization and algorithmic problem solving will require new and effective curricular materials. The Chemistry Modeling Curriculum offers a robust, research-based set of materials designed to cultivate the science practices outlined in the AP chemistry course description, and foster deeper conceptual understanding. Through this curriculum, students learn how to develop, evaluate, and modify models based on data and observations they collect from simple experiments. They practice communicating their ideas through class discussions and informal whiteboard presentations. Students of the Modeling Curriculum are expected to represent their ideas in a variety of ways including graphically, mathematically, and diagrammatically. For these reasons, the use of the Modeling Curriculum in a pre-AP chemistry course can help students begin to develop these skills and better prepare them for the rigors of the AP curriculum. This paper will provide a brief background of the Chemistry Modeling Curriculum, illustrate how Modeling is different from traditional instruction, and provide resources for teachers who want to learn more about implementing the curriculum. This contribution is part of a special issue on teaching introductory chemistry in the context of the advanced placement chemistry course redesign.

Changing course: the gender gap in college selectivity and opportunities to learn in the high school curriculum

Gender gaps in learning and education outcomes have changed dramatically over the last few years. However, researchers have not adequately assessed how the high school learning environment differentially affects boys and girls. An important component of the learning environment in US secondary school is the opportunity to learn in an Advanced Placement (AP) curriculum, which allows high school students to do college-level work. Using the US National Education Longitudinal Study 1988–2000, we explain how high school AP curriculum interacts with gender to predict the selectivity of colleges that students attend. The results show that girls and boys who attend high schools with a larger percentage of students in AP curriculum attend more selective colleges (that require higher standardised scores for admissions); yet the positive effect of the opportunity to learn in an AP curriculum is greater for girls than for boys. This research furthers the debate about the effects of school structure on gender stratification.

The Advanced Placement Arms Race and the Reproduction of Educational Inequality

Background Access to Advanced Placement (AP) courses is stratified by class and race. Researchers have identified how schools serving disadvantaged students suffer from various kinds of resource deprivations, concluding that interventions are needed to equalize access to AP courses. On the other hand, the theory of Effectively Maintained Inequality (EMI) argues that schools serving advantaged students may perpetuate inequalities by expanding their AP curriculum so their graduates can be competitive in the college admissions process. Research Questions Between 2000 and 2002, California attempted to expand AP offerings and enrollments. This study answers whether or not this intervention narrowed inequalities in AP along class and racial lines. It also examines if community affluence affects district officials’ views of pressures to offer AP courses, which could explain any effectively maintained inequalities in AP access. Research Design This study uses a panel dataset of all California public high schools from 1997 to 2006. It examines the changing effects of school poverty, upper-middle class presence, and school racial composition on offerings of and enrollments in AP subjects. It supplements the quantitative analysis with interviews from 11 school district officials in California conducted in 2006. Results Hierarchical generalized linear models show that upper-middle class presence structures California high schools’ AP subject offerings and enrollments, much more than school poverty. California's intervention resulted in increased AP subject offerings and enrollments in high schools serving disadvantaged and less advantaged students, but these reductions in deprivation had trivial effects on inequalities, since schools serving advantaged students increased their own AP offerings and enrollments. In addition, high schools serving White and Asian students had larger increases in AP offerings and enrollments than high schools serving Black and Hispanic students. Interview data indicate that officials in affluent districts perceived a greater demand for AP subjects, and were more likely to report their school staff was proactive to initiate new AP courses than officials in districts serving working-class communities. Conclusions The findings document that while policies can increase AP access at schools serving low-income students, the actions of affluent schools and families will pose substantial barriers to achieving parity in AP offerings and enrollments. Moreover, studies gauging resource inequalities among schools may underestimate these inequalities if they use school poverty to measure schools’ socioeconomic composition.

Learning Objectives and AP Economics College Preparation

The Advanced Placement (AP) economics education program serves thousands of high school students each year, many of whom receive college credit upon successful completion of an AP economics exam. The AP curriculum, and tests, are not explicitly tied to a set of economic learning objectives. In this article I discuss possible benefits of establishing such objectives, for more reliability in scoring the AP test, and for better AP teacher preparation and college buy-in.

The Accounting Pilot and Bridge Project

ABSTRACT The accounting profession will experience a 50 percent decline in its ranks in the next ten years as accounting professionals from the Baby Boomer generation retire. To replace these professionals, the accounting profession will have to compete with law, medicine, engineering, and other professions that will also be replacing their “boomers.” During the period the boomers are retiring, the number of high school graduates is expected to decline, which suggests that the currently high accounting enrollments are unlikely to continue. If the accounting profession is to compete for the best and brightest students in the future, it is in its best interest to address structural impediments that exist in its educational supply chain. One significant structural impediment in the supply chain is the traditional high school accounting course. In 2000 the AICPA's Taylor Report stated high school accounting courses were a “systemic barrier” to entry into the profession for the very high school students the profession wants to attract (Taylor 2000). These courses have not changed substantially since the Taylor report was issued. The Accounting Pilot and Bridge Project (The Project) proposes to eliminate this barrier and has created a new college-level high school accounting course that provides college credit for those students who take the course and pass a rigorous qualifying examination. The Project is modeled after the College Board's highly successful Advanced Placement (AP) program. Once specific goals are achieved, The Project plans to submit a proposal to the College Board for it to adopt accounting as part of its Advanced Placement curriculum. After describing the research and initiatives that led to the creation of The Project, this paper discusses the goals of The Project, the process to have accounting added to the College Board's AP Curriculum, the curriculum used in the pilot course, the progress made to date, and what lies ahead.

Poetry Made Easy: Of Swag and Sense

F or years, my ninth-grade students had held the same opinion: They could read, they explained, because they understood the plot of a story. They insisted that noticing the subtleties of a text was not their job. That is what teachers did. Teachers explained the themes and motifs; teachers clarified the effects of diction and figurative language on the text. When I asked ninth graders to do such things, they became frustrated and indignant, as if I was not doing my job properly. While I was trying to convince these students that there was more to reading than understanding plot, a new mandate trickled down through the Fairfax County Public Schools bureaucracy. English teachers were asked to teach Advanced Placement (AP) concepts at all levels and all grades of the high school English curriculum. The idea was to boost minority achievement by preparing all students for the AP curriculum should they decide to take AP English their senior year. I was faced with a dilemma: How would I teach AP-level concepts to students who believed reading consists only of following plot elements? I found the answer in a unit on lyric poetry. After all, lyric poetry contains no plot, making it exceptionally frustrating to readers who skim the surface of a text. And since 60 percent of the AP test focuses on poetry (Jacobs), I could comply with the county's directive while encouraging students to look beyond the literal topic of a text. I knew that, if the students were going to master reading a poem, I could not schedule the poetry unit for the middle or end of the school year; it must be taught first. We would explore how imagery reifies theme, how musical devices create mood, and how diction affects theme and mood. I would then revisit these concepts with the prose and drama we read thereafter. The plan worked, and I have changed the way I teach. The students now learn that they need not depend on the teacher to notice subtleties and clarify language in the text. They know how to do that themselves.

Some Observations on the Proposed Advanced Placement Curriculum in World History

MUCH OF WHAT HAS BEEN SAID in the papers on the world history examination should delight all teachers of history-especially people such as I who labor every semester to help large numbers of firstyear university undergraduates grasp the complexities of global history. proposed Advanced Placement curriculum in global history promises to offer instruction in skills and perspectives that will produce students who are better able to deal with the often daunting challenges of studying world history at the post-secondary level. Collegiate and university instructors of world history across the land will offer libations of thanksgiving in honor of the people who crafted this AP course of studies, and those who teach these AP students will earn places in the ninth level of cosmic existence, along with other bodhisattvas. So far as the principles of the proposal are concerned, I am pleased to see a long-overdue effort to reduce radically the space devoted to European affairs, particularly Europe prior to about 1750. I have long found it downright perverse that there exist supposed world history textbooks where one encounters a chapter entitled The Civilization of the Renaissance followed by another bearing the title The Age of the Reformation. term Eurocentrism seems hardly adequate to describe this phenomenon. Conversely, I am delighted that the committee in charge of