The influence of school accountability incentives on Advanced Placement access: Evidence from Pennsylvania

Abstract

This study employed hierarchical piecewise growth modeling and two interrupted time series models to examine the effect of introducing an Advanced Placement (AP) school accountability incentive on AP access in Pennsylvania. Specifically, we examined whether adoption of an advanced course access accountability indicator was associated with an increase in AP course offerings initially and in the three years after the policy intervention. We also analyzed if the indicator differentially affected schools we hypothesized as sensitive or nonsensitive to the policy and examined demographic differences between those school groups. Pennsylvania’s AP accountability incentive was associated with an initial increase in schools’ AP course offerings, but the trajectory of change during the post-policy intervention period did not differ from the pre-policy baseline period. Also, the sizeable gap between schools with the most and fewest AP course offerings did not narrow across time. Instead, the gap widened. Our results suggest that adoption of AP school accountability incentives may not be a long-term solution to improving AP access for all schools or narrowing disparities in access between schools. We call for examinations in other states to determine if, and under what conditions, AP accountability incentives increase AP course offerings while narrowing access disparities.

Improving Student Access to and Teacher Training for Advanced Placement

“…When the situation is more complex, with trend differences that are difficult to estimate, ITS can provide good results if a matching procedure is implemented. Many authors have implemented such models in recent years (for some examples, see Hallberg et al (2018); Allensworth et al (2009); Dee and Jacob (2011); Lee & Reeves (2012); Card & Giuliano (2016); Beach et al (2019)).…”

“…Research about awards in AP programs is mixed, with some studies showing positive results in support of increasing enrollment and success in AP courses (Holstead et al, 2010; Jackson, 2012; Wakelyn, 2009), while other studies indicate that financial incentives to students, teachers and schools have little to no impact (Beach et al, 2019; Jeong, 2009; McBride Davis et al, 2015). Jeong (2009) demonstrates that AP exam fee waivers do improve the rate of AP exam taking.…”

Equity Levers: What Predicts Enrollment in and Number of College‐Level Courses Taken in High School?

“…Unfortunately, rigorous courses are not equally accessible across high schools serving students from different family backgrounds and family income levels (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine [NAS], 2019). Policy makers have tried to expand equitable access to rigorous courses in recent years in several ways, including providing funding to increase access to the number of Advanced Placement ® ( AP ®) courses and other college‐level high school courses available at high schools primarily serving students from historically underserved populations (Beach et al, 2019; Rodriguez et al, 2021). Student enrollment in these college‐level high school courses has increased in recent years; in February 2019, a statement from the College Board ® organization noted that “over the last 10 years, the number of U.S. public high school graduates who've taken an AP Exam has increased by 65%” (College Board, 2019a).…”