Putting the “A” in AP: The effect of advanced placement state policies on student participation and performance

IF 16.4 1区化学 Q1 CHEMISTRY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Accounts of Chemical Research Pub Date : 2024-08-05 DOI:10.1016/j.econedurev.2024.102565

Ian Callen, Christiana Stoddard

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Abstract

Advanced courses prepare high school students for college material and the associated exams provide a low cost way to earn college credit. The College Board’s Advanced Placement (AP) program is the most common in the United States, with about 40 percent of graduating seniors taking at least one AP exam in recent years. However, these opportunities are not equal across high school students due to variation in school offerings and potentially limiting exam fees. We examine the effects of two state-level policies designed to provide greater access to this program: the first mandates a minimum number of AP courses to be offered in each high school and the second waives exam fees for all students for at least one exam. Our event study and two-way fixed effect estimates suggest that mandating the provision of AP courses raises the percent of high school graduates taking AP exams by 4 to 5 percentage points, while exam fee waivers increase participation by about 1.5 percentage points. At the same time, pass rates fell after implementation of the two policies, indicating that marginal exam takers are less proficient on the exams. We find both policies have minimal effects on the percent of graduates who passed at least one AP exam or on the number of passing exams per high school student.

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在大学先修课程中加入 "A"：州高级课程政策对学生参与和成绩的影响

大学先修课程为高中生学习大学教材做好准备，而相关考试则是获得大学学分的低成本途径。美国大学理事会的大学先修课程（AP）是美国最常见的课程，近年来约有 40% 的高三毕业生至少参加过一次 AP 考试。然而，由于学校提供的课程不同以及潜在的考试费用限制，这些机会在高中生中并不平等。我们研究了两项州级政策的影响，这两项政策旨在提供更多的机会参与该计划：第一项政策规定每所高中至少开设一定数量的 AP 课程，第二项政策规定所有学生至少免交一次考试费。我们的事件研究和双向固定效应估计表明，强制开设 AP 课程可将参加 AP 考试的高中毕业生比例提高 4 到 5 个百分点，而免收考试费则可将参与率提高约 1.5 个百分点。与此同时，这两项政策实施后的通过率却有所下降，这表明边缘考生的考试能力有所下降。我们发现，这两项政策对至少通过一门 AP 考试的毕业生比例或每名高中生通过考试的次数影响甚微。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Accounts of Chemical Research 化学-化学综合

CiteScore

31.40

自引率

1.10%

发文量

312

审稿时长

2 months

期刊介绍： Accounts of Chemical Research presents short, concise and critical articles offering easy-to-read overviews of basic research and applications in all areas of chemistry and biochemistry. These short reviews focus on research from the author’s own laboratory and are designed to teach the reader about a research project. In addition, Accounts of Chemical Research publishes commentaries that give an informed opinion on a current research problem. Special Issues online are devoted to a single topic of unusual activity and significance. Accounts of Chemical Research replaces the traditional article abstract with an article "Conspectus." These entries synopsize the research affording the reader a closer look at the content and significance of an article. Through this provision of a more detailed description of the article contents, the Conspectus enhances the article's discoverability by search engines and the exposure for the research.