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The Issue at Hand

Though AP courses are becoming more widespread and readily available for high school students, the composition of students who receive credit for the courses is very uniform and predictable...white and Asian kids. While the courses are very successful for these students, there is a continuous misrepresentation of minorities within the list of passing students. We will touch on the very sizable achievement gap that exists between the different ethnicities of test takers as well as conducting research in order to better understand why these inequalities exist and what in particular may cause them in order to see if there is a correlation between race and students chances in passing the tests in order to receive college credit.         The College Board, Advanced Placement Program, National Summary Report , 2008 What Is AP? Advanced Placement or “AP” courses are classes offered within traditional high school buildings, that with the completion of the cou...
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Classroom Resources

Classroom Resources Advanced Placement courses can be beneficial to both students and the school. However, to have these courses be truly beneficial, teachers need to put forth strong efforts. Fortunately, there are resources online that can provide insight on how to help teachers implement AP in their schools as well as better the AP courses that are already established. Bringing AP To Your School Not all states require schools to provide Advanced Placement courses, so many do not have them available for students. However, having AP classes can help boost a school's yearly report card; it gives students more opportunities to succeed academically thus earning more points for their school (Zinth, 2016). Further, AP has been shown to help students succeed more in college through the rigorous course work and the opportunity to earn college credit (Moore & Slate, 2008). It is beneficial to have these advanced courses in schools, but what if they are not available in your sch...

Classroom Implications

Research shows that students who participate in rigorous coursework similar to Advanced Placement courses are developing college level knowledge and skills while still in high school (The College Board, 2018). However, the achievement gap between whites and minorities are still disproportionate. One of the major reasons for this gap is because of low income. Over the past decade, the number of low income students taking AP courses has more than quadrupled (The College Board, 2018). As educators, we need to take into consideration that not everyone is capable of coming up with money, especially at the high school ages. To take into consideration about teachers curriculums, having a textbook included while taking the class instead of making students purchase any necessary outside materials would increase the overall course enrollment rates. This way, students will be eligible to get the credit, based on hard work and intelligence instead of being financial stable, that they deserve and h...

Recommended Resources - Efforts to Help

It is very essential that AP courses are readily available for students of all backgrounds, ethnicities and economical classes. Teachers and administrators are able to implicate these courses in their establishments by registering online at the College Board website, once the school is accepted a course is to be chosen and the school must participate in the AP Course Audit process. The courses are extremely beneficial for the students. More Information on How to Sign YOUR Class up! It is imperative that every student be taught with the same integrity as the next. This idea can sometimes be challenged by implicit biases that every teacher holds. "Implicit bias refers to unconscious attitudes, reactions, stereotypes, and categories that affect behavior and understanding. In higher education, implicit bias often refers to unconscious racial or socioeconomic bias towards students." (Boysen GA &Vogel DL, 2009) It is very common that teachers can be discriminator...

References

Work Cited JBHE. More Blacks Are Competing in Advanced Placement Programs, But the Racial Scoring Gap Is Widening. (n.d.). Retrieved October 08, 2019, from http://www.jbhe.com/features/59_apscoringgap.html Boysen GA and Vogel DL. (2009). Bias in the Classroom: Types, Frequencies, and Responses.Teaching of Psychology , 36(1): 12-17. Jaschik, S. (2019, February 11). More AP Success; Racial Gaps Remain. Retrieved October 6, 2019, from https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2019/02/11/more-studements-earn-3-advanced-placement-exams-racial-gaps-remain ED Build. (2016). 23 Billion . Retrieved from https://edbuild.org/content/23-billion   Paek, P. L., Ponte, E., Sigel, I., Braun, H., & Powers, D. (2005). A Portrait of Advanced Placement Teachers’ Practices . Retrieved from https://www.ets.org/Media/Research/pdf/RR-05-09.pdf The Room 241 Team (2012, December 31). How Do I Bring Advanced Placement (AP) Courses To My School? Retrieved from https://education...