Does offering more Advanced Placement courses increase enrollment?

This study utilizes a grant in California that required a group of high schools to increase the number of Advanced Placement (AP) courses offered to their students. The grant provides an arguably exogenous increase in the number of AP courses offered in a school. Using an instrumental variable approach, this analysis shows that offering an additional AP course does not increase total enrollment in AP courses. Instead, students substitute out of other AP subjects to enroll in the new subject being offered. This result suggests that additional AP course access is unlikely to induce students to enroll in more AP courses.Education, Advanced Courses, Education Policy

Students in rural schools have limited access to advanced mathematics courses

This Carsey brief reveals that students in rural areas and small towns have less access to higher-level mathematics courses than students in urban settings, which results in serious educational consequences, including lower scores on assessment tests and fewer qualified students entering science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) job pipelines

Pathways to College Preparatory Advanced Academic Offerings in the Anchorage School District

There are many ways a child in the Anchorage School District (ASD) can access advanced course offerings. To a parent these pathways may seem complex. ASD offers options for gifted and highly gifted students at the elementary and middle school level, and accelerated, and enriched learning opportunities such as honors and advanced placement courses at the secondary level. These opportunities, though linked, are not the same, nor do they necessarily follow from one to another in a straight path. Moreover, pathways to and through these opportunities can be quite different. Offerings are different at the elementary, middle and high school levels, with differing qualifications and eligibility. And, some of the programs are only offered in a few particular schools. This variety provides lots of flexibility. It also creates a complex path of choices and decisions. In all of these pathways and choices, active advocacy by a parent is necessary to ensure that their child receive the best and most appropriate opportunities. In this report we describe the many advanced and accelerated learning opportunities available in Anchorage elementary, middle and high schools, and the ways students can access these opportunities. We provide visuals including figures, tables and text to highlight the pathways to and through advanced offerings from Kindergarten to 12th grade. This document is based upon publicly available information. We have combined information from the ASD gifted program website the ASD High School Handbook, the ASD High School Program of Studies guide, and minutes of the ASD Board meetings. We also spoke with staff in the gifted program at ASD. Individual school-level issues that are outside of ASD policy and procedures have not been included. This report focused on the services, programs and schools within the Anchorage School District that service as pathways to college preparation and advance academic course offerings. As we describe in more detail in this report, there are very different offerings and paths at the elementary, middle and high school. In general, there are gifted and highly gifted programs at the elementary and middle school level, and a highly gifted program at the high school level. At all school levels, the highly gifted programs are offered at a limited number of schools. In high school, all students (including those in the highly gifted program) have the opportunity to take honors and advanced placement classes. Math is not included in the middle and high school gifted program. Math instead is a curriculum progression. Advanced math opportunities usually start in 6th grade, when students can choose placement into math courses that are a higher than the usual level. Opting for advanced math in 6th grade puts a student on track to reach Algebra I in 8th grade and calculus in 12th. At the elementary school level ASD operates gifted programs in all schools and a highly gifted program in one. There are also alternative and optional schools, which offer accelerated and enriched learning environments. If a student is in the highly gifted or gifted program in elementary school, he or she usually transitions to gifted and highly gifted middle school programs. In middle school these programs 3 include gifted language arts and science classes. Students who were not a part of the gifted program in elementary school can access the middle school gifted program, by testing in. Many optional and alternative programs provide enriched and accelerated classes to all students in them. For high school students there is a greater variety of advanced offerings. Starting in 9th grade there are honors and Advanced Placement (AP) courses, Credit-by-Choice options, and optional programs within the high schools and alternative schools. Students in the middle school gifted and highly gifted program have the opportunity to transition into the high school Highly Gifted Program. The following table provides a look at advanced offerings at different school levels. Each of these offerings is discussed in the report.Introduction / Glossary of Terms / Elementary Level / Middle School Level / High School Level / Highlights / Future Research Question

Pathways to College Preparatory Advanced Academic Offerings in the Anchorage School District

Prepared for: CITC’s Anchorage Realizing Indigenous Student ExcellenceThere are many ways a child in the Anchorage School District (ASD) can access advanced course offerings. To a parent these pathways may seem complex. ASD offers options for gifted and highly gifted students at the elementary and middle school level, and accelerated, and enriched learning opportunities such as honors and advanced placement courses at the secondary level. These opportunities, though linked, are not the same, nor do they necessarily follow from one to another in a straight path. Moreover, pathways to and through these opportunities can be quite different. Offerings are different at the elementary, middle and high school levels, with differing qualifications and eligibility. And, some of the programs are only offered in a few particular schools. This variety provides lots of flexibility. It also creates a complex path of choices and decisions. In all of these pathways and choices, active advocacy by a parent is necessary to ensure that their child receive the best and most appropriate opportunities. In this report we describe the many advanced and accelerated learning opportunities available in Anchorage elementary, middle and high schools, and the ways students can access these opportunities. We provide visuals including figures, tables and text to highlight the pathways to and through advanced offerings from Kindergarten to 12th grade. This document is based upon publicly available information. We have combined information from the ASD gifted program website the ASD High School Handbook, the ASD High School Program of Studies guide, and minutes of the ASD Board meetings. We also spoke with staff in the gifted program at ASD. Individual school-level issues that are outside of ASD policy and procedures have not been included. This report focused on the services, programs and schools within the Anchorage School District that service as pathways to college preparation and advance academic course offerings. As we describe in more detail in this report, there are very different offerings and paths at the elementary, middle and high school. In general, there are gifted and highly gifted programs at the elementary and middle school level, and a highly gifted program at the high school level. At all school levels, the highly gifted programs are offered at a limited number of schools. In high school, all students (including those in the highly gifted program) have the opportunity to take honors and advanced placement classes. Math is not included in the middle and high school gifted program. Math instead is a curriculum progression. Advanced math opportunities usually start in 6th grade, when students can choose placement into math courses that are a higher than the usual level. Opting for advanced math in 6th grade puts a student on track to reach Algebra I in 8th grade and calculus in 12th. At the elementary school level ASD operates gifted programs in all schools and a highly gifted program in one. There are also alternative and optional schools, which offer accelerated and enriched learning environments. If a student is in the highly gifted or gifted program in elementary school, he or she usually transitions to gifted and highly gifted middle school programs. In middle school these programs 3 include gifted language arts and science classes. Students who were not a part of the gifted program in elementary school can access the middle school gifted program, by testing in. Many optional and alternative programs provide enriched and accelerated classes to all students in them. For high school students there is a greater variety of advanced offerings. Starting in 9th grade there are honors and Advanced Placement (AP) courses, Credit-by-Choice options, and optional programs within the high schools and alternative schools. Students in the middle school gifted and highly gifted program have the opportunity to transition into the high school Highly Gifted Program.Introduction / Glossary of Terms / Elementary Level / Middle School Level / High School Level / Highlights / Future Research Question

Rethinking High School: Inaugural Graduations at New York City's New High Schools

Provides graduation and college acceptance rates at fourteen high schools established as part of New York City's 2002 new schools initiative. Reviews the new schools' goals and accomplishments in improving outcomes, such as offering advanced courses

Science Notes - Legislative Update

The $25 bounty provided to Iowa schools for each student enrolled in chemistry, physics and advanced physics or chemistry courses will no longer be provided to schools under H.F. 532

The Relationship Between Advanced Academic Services And College Readiness Among Public High School Students In Rural Remote Appalachian Kentucky

The importance of college to the individual and society has prompted recent policies and accountability systems to emphasize college readiness as the primary benchmark for high school success. Advanced/honors courses, Advanced Placement (AP)/dual credit courses, and gifted programs are the most common advanced academic service options available in public schools to ensure college readiness. This study investigated 2014-2015 school year data associated with 2,792 students in five high schools in five different school districts in rural remote Appalachian Kentucky. The goal was to see which advanced academic service was most associated with college ready students. College readiness was measured in two ways: ACT composite scores and enrollment in college full-time immediately after high school. Findings from descriptive and comparative analyses indicated that participation in both AP and dual credit courses were associated with higher ACT composite scores and enrollment in college after graduation. Students who participated in gifted services had considerably higher ACT composite scores and attendance in college after graduation. Students who took advanced/honors courses demonstrated fairly low ACT composite scores and showed no greater attendance in college after graduation than the general population. These results raise questions about the effectiveness of advanced academic services to ensure college readiness, at least in rural remote schools. To better make use of limited funding and other support, findings from this study suggest that state and district policies and systems to account for student college readiness may need to (1) reconsider which advanced academic services best promote college readiness, and (2) ensure student records and accountability systems allow for better analysis of which services are most effective for students

Schools in Balance: Comparing Iowa Physics Teachers and Teaching in Large and Small Schools

In 2009 we surveyed all known Iowa high school physics teachers to gain insight into their educational backgrounds, instructional styles, content coverage, and available resources. Based upon a suggestion made at a subsequent presentation, we reexamined the collected data, comparing the responses of teachers from small and large schools to see if there were notable differences between the two populations. We found that teachers at larger schools teach a wider variety of physics courses, including more advanced and “physics first” style courses, and report stronger educational backgrounds in physics. While larger schools also have more financial resources allocated for physics teaching, the larger enrollments in physics courses at these schools means there is roughly the same amount of available money per student at all schools

An Inquiry into Retention and Achievement Differences in Campus Based and Web Based AP Courses

A decade ago the Advanced Placement (AP) program was introduced into the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Initially, schools embraced this opportunity to provide their students with opportunities that were previously unavailable. However, within a few years the AP program was relegated to urban and large regional high schools. Few smaller, and particularly rural schools, were able to offer AP courses only to the brightest one or two students taking it as an independent study. In 1997-98, schools began to delivery AP courses in a web-based method. The purpose of the study is to examine the retention rates and student achievement in AP courses in the province between different delivery models

An Inquiry into Retention and Achievement Differences in Campus Based and Web Based AP Classes

A decade ago the Advanced Placement (AP) program was introduced into the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Initially, schools embraced this opportunity to provide their students with opportunities that were previously unavailable. However, within a few years the AP program was relegated to urban and large regional high schools. Few smaller, and particularly rural schools, were able to offer AP courses only to the brightest one or two students taking it as an independent study. In 1997-98, schools began to delivery AP courses in a web-based method. The purpose of the study is to examine the retention rates and student achievement in AP courses in the province between different delivery models