AP: A critical examination of the Advanced Placement program
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THE BOOKS Troy Sadler, Section Editor AP: A Critical Examination of the Advanced Placement Program, edited by Philip M. Sadler, Gerhard Sonnert, Robert H. Tai, and Kristin Klopfenstein. Harvard Education Press, Cambridge, MA, USA, 2010. vii + 290 pp. ISBN 978-1-934742-55-6. AP: A Critical Examination of the Advanced Placement Program features a collection of quantitative-based research studies that focuses on the Advanced Placement (AP) program. While some of the studies presented consider all core AP subject areas, others focus specif- ically on issues related to courses in the natural sciences (chemistry, biology, and physics). The main focus of the book is to critically examine the widely claimed benefits of the AP program. This examination takes on two separate themes: The first examines the ability of AP programs to prepare students for success in higher education, and the second examines issues related to the recent, rapid expansion of AP to a larger population of students. The in- tersection of these themes, whether the recently expanded AP program adequately prepares students for higher education, is not addressed directly. This is understandable given the time lag between implementation of programmatic adjustments and research analyses; the large-scale expansion of AP is simply too recent a phenomenon to have generated the data necessary for these analyses. However, the studies presented in the book do present current research findings, which can lead to inferences about the feasibility of the expansion and guidance for future work. The first theme, a critical examination of AP’s claims regarding student success in higher education, is examined through a variety of rigorous studies. AP students are measured in terms of performance in introductory college courses that correspond to their AP course- work, follow-on college courses, and time-to-graduation. Studies in the book compare AP students to their counterparts in honors classes and dual-enrollment classes. Some of the work also draws comparisons between students who pass AP exams and their peers who take but do not pass the exams. These studies are frequently framed in the context of AP’s cited research on effectiveness of AP in promoting student success in higher education. The authors suggest that studies cited by the AP program as justification of the program’s positive effects often ignore the roll of student self-selection. Stronger students naturally enroll in AP courses and could be expected to outperform non-AP students in college. To address this challenge, the studies described in this volume control for student background variables, such as SAT scores, high school GPA, parental academic background, and family income. The majority of studies in the book show that the perceived gains in college per- formance for AP students fall considerably when taking into account student background. This result highlights critical concerns associated with the efforts to significantly expand AP enrollments. The second theme explored issues related to the rapid expansion of the program beginning in 1997. Several studies in the book suggest that the AP program offers limited benefits for students who do not pass the AP exam. Therefore, expansion of the AP program into contexts where students may not be ready or to schools without sufficient resources for supporting student success in the program may be counterproductive. The researchers discuss ways in C 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Transcript of AP: A critical examination of the Advanced Placement program
THE BOOKS
Troy Sadler, Section Editor
AP: A Critical Examination of the Advanced Placement Program, edited by PhilipM. Sadler, Gerhard Sonnert, Robert H. Tai, and Kristin Klopfenstein. Harvard EducationPress, Cambridge, MA, USA, 2010. vii + 290 pp. ISBN 978-1-934742-55-6.
AP: A Critical Examination of the Advanced Placement Program features a collection ofquantitative-based research studies that focuses on the Advanced Placement (AP) program.While some of the studies presented consider all core AP subject areas, others focus specif-ically on issues related to courses in the natural sciences (chemistry, biology, and physics).The main focus of the book is to critically examine the widely claimed benefits of the APprogram. This examination takes on two separate themes: The first examines the ability ofAP programs to prepare students for success in higher education, and the second examinesissues related to the recent, rapid expansion of AP to a larger population of students. The in-tersection of these themes, whether the recently expanded AP program adequately preparesstudents for higher education, is not addressed directly. This is understandable given thetime lag between implementation of programmatic adjustments and research analyses; thelarge-scale expansion of AP is simply too recent a phenomenon to have generated the datanecessary for these analyses. However, the studies presented in the book do present currentresearch findings, which can lead to inferences about the feasibility of the expansion andguidance for future work.
The first theme, a critical examination of AP’s claims regarding student success in highereducation, is examined through a variety of rigorous studies. AP students are measured interms of performance in introductory college courses that correspond to their AP course-work, follow-on college courses, and time-to-graduation. Studies in the book compare APstudents to their counterparts in honors classes and dual-enrollment classes. Some of thework also draws comparisons between students who pass AP exams and their peers whotake but do not pass the exams. These studies are frequently framed in the context of AP’scited research on effectiveness of AP in promoting student success in higher education.The authors suggest that studies cited by the AP program as justification of the program’spositive effects often ignore the roll of student self-selection. Stronger students naturallyenroll in AP courses and could be expected to outperform non-AP students in college. Toaddress this challenge, the studies described in this volume control for student backgroundvariables, such as SAT scores, high school GPA, parental academic background, and familyincome. The majority of studies in the book show that the perceived gains in college per-formance for AP students fall considerably when taking into account student background.This result highlights critical concerns associated with the efforts to significantly expandAP enrollments.
The second theme explored issues related to the rapid expansion of the program beginningin 1997. Several studies in the book suggest that the AP program offers limited benefits forstudents who do not pass the AP exam. Therefore, expansion of the AP program into contextswhere students may not be ready or to schools without sufficient resources for supportingstudent success in the program may be counterproductive. The researchers discuss ways in
C© 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
574 BOOK REVIEWS
which adding an AP program to a high school may disadvantage other programs and thestudents in these other programs through redirection of limited resources. For example, APclasses often have smaller class sizes and more effective and experienced teachers than otherclasses. As a result, the inclusion of AP at a school would result in at-risk students beingplaced in larger classes with a greater likelihood of having a less experienced teacher. Theauthors also raise concerns associated with the costs of supporting AP programs, primarilycosts of the AP exams themselves. These costs are frequently incurred by the school—oftenpaid through federal or state grants, and as a result, are ultimately subsidized by taxpayers.These concerns become particularly important as some states have recently begun plans tomandate the availability of AP classes in every school.
The book and the individual studies that make it up would be of interest to severaldifferent audiences. Science education researchers will find a comprehensive depictionof the AP program and its role in preparing students for college success. The studiesmay also motivate expansion of several different avenues of potentially fruitful research.First, the studies presented are exclusively quantitative and offer backing for several causalrelationships between AP and college success. Qualitative studies based on these resultscan add needed depth to support these causal relationships. For example, the differencesbetween those who pass and those who do not pass AP exams could be further investigatedin terms of their actions and participation at both the high school and college levels. Second,as mentioned, the impact of the recent expansion of AP was not explored in this book butthe studies presented offer ample justification for new explorations of the performanceof the now broader sample of AP students. Similarly, the effects of AP expansion onunderrepresented groups in the sciences are also a logical extension of the studies presented.Finally, the concerns presented in the book offer a call for science education researchersto develop and study the usefulness of courses to prepare students for AP and potentialinstrumentation that could be used to identify whether students are ready for AP levelwork.
Other faculty in institutes of higher education will find the results and recommendationsuseful in terms of informing decisions for awarding credit based on AP scores and forproviding insights into ways to improve retention and progression in academic programs.Another potential audience for this book is secondary education policy makers, includingschool administrators and those serving on state education boards. In short, anyone involvedin establishing policy at secondary schools will find the results and concerns presentedinformative. The book has obvious implications for policy regarding the decision to institute(or not institute) AP curricula as well as more nuanced issues such as strategies for preparingstudents for success in AP programs, the extent to which prerequisite coursework andentrance examinations should be used for controlling admission into AP courses and rates ofinitiating new AP courses. Finally, I recommend the book to education researchers interestedin quantitative methods and design. The studies presented are varied and rigorous in theirapproaches and, taken as a whole, can serve as a model for study design and statisticaltechniques used in educational research.
The text focuses primarily on issues related to student success in college. Much ofthis discussion would not likely meet the needs or interests of most secondary scienceteachers. However, the chapter entitled “AP Teacher Characteristics and Practices andTheir Relationship to Student AP Exam Performance” could be quite useful for secondaryteachers. The findings of this particular study speak directly to instructional practices withinAP courses and could be helpful both to instructors and facilitators leading workshops toprepare instructors. Parents and students represent other audiences that may not find thetext particularly useful with the exception of a single chapter: “Preparing Students forAdvanced Placement.” This study stresses the importance of strong academic preparation
Science Education
BOOK REVIEWS 575
prior to enrolling in AP courses. Even so, policy makers and administrators are the morelikely target for this chapter.
Despite its concentrated focus on the AP program, the book is likely accessible to thosewith little or no familiarity with the AP program. One of the early chapters presents historicalbackground of the AP program and provides insights into the goals of the program. Thisbackground information becomes very useful in navigating the studies that follow. That said,the primary focus and vast majority of space within the text is devoted to the presentationof research. Readers without a keen interest in formal presentations of research may findthe text overly detailed and, in some cases, inaccessible. The authors have done a solid jobin raising concerns over the AP program’s claim that AP is for everyone, the purportedeffectiveness of AP, the benefits of AP enrollment for individual students, and the potentialdanger in continuing rapid and widespread expansion of AP classes throughout secondaryeducation.
SCOTT LEWISDepartment of Chemistry & BiochemistryKennesaw State UniversityKennesaw, GA 30144, USA
DOI 10.1002/sce.20453Published online 30 March 2011 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com).
Science Education
