‘Stirring the Pot’

Numerous researchers (e.g., Academic Pathways to Access and Student Success, 2006, ACT, Inc., 2009; Bragg, Kim, & Barnett, , 2006; College Board, 2010; Hargrove, Godin, & Dodd, 2008; Keng & Dodd, 2008; Morgan & Klaric, 2007) have concluded that participating in challenging high school curriculums such as Advanced Placement (AP) courses and exams positively contribute to students' college readiness, college achievement, and career success. Specifically mentioned in the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB, 2002) was the AP program as a college prep course (U.S. Department of Education, 2004). Moreover, Section 1702 (Access to High Standards Act) of the No Child Left Behind Act acknowledged federal confirmation of AP coursework as college prep curriculum and encouraged states and school districts to incorporate these programs as a means of elevating academic standards (U.S. Department of Education, 2004). In his 2006 State of the Union Address, President George W. Bush thrust the AP program into mainstream education; accordingly, the national perception on AP program involvement increased (Klopfenstein & Thomas, 2009).In a policy brief for the Education Commission of the States (ECS), Dounay (2006) recommended an all-inclusive state policy on advanced placement. First, each state and school district should require a minimum number of AP courses to be offered. As a result, state policy would provide consistency in AP content and leverage AP curriculum offerings in low-income and high minority schools. Second, a state-wide AP framework would establish standards and opportunities for all students to gain access to college preparatory courses. As the result, the federal government, along with most states, and the College Board subsidizes AP exam fees for low-income students. In addition, most states (including Texas, New York, and Florida) provide additional incentives for students and teachers of students who achieve AP exam scores of 3 or higher (Holstead et al., 2010). In September 2006, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced that 33 grants in the amount of $17 million were awarded to increase the participation of low-income students in AP courses and exams. In 2006, an additional $5,867,284 was awarded to 26 states to fund AP exam subsidies programs (U.S. Department of Education, 2006).In 2012, Arne Duncan, the current Secretary of Education, announced that federal support of AP program incentives and exam subsidies were reinstated (U. S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2012). Over $21.5 million was budgeted to subsidize AP exam fees. As the result of these financial awards, the federal government continued to acknowledge AP course and exam participation as curriculum of college readiness and success. Although funding for AP programs and exams was approved, researchers (e.g., Davis, Joyner, & Slate, 2011; Moore & Slate, 2008) have documented the persistent AP achievement and participation gaps among Black students in the United States. Specific to this study, few researchers (Davis, Joyner, & Slate, 2011; Koch; 2012) have investigated AP program involvement and performance of ethnically diverse, primarily lower socioeconomic, student groups across states.PURPOSE OF THE STUDYThe purpose of this study was to determine the cost effectiveness of covering AP exam fees by comparing the success value provided by overall AP exam outcomes to test expenditures for Black students in three researcher-selected states (i.e., Texas, New York, and Florida). According to the Centers for Disease Control (n.d.), cost-effectiveness analysis is commonly used in the health care industries to confirm if the intervention and the results desired validate the cost or investment. As it pertains to this research, cost-effectiveness analysis compares the costs of AP exam to the results or level of success on these exams. In addition, the cost effectiveness analysis evaluates the extent to which AP achievement can be regarded as providing value for the dollars spent (Davis, 2013). …

The COVID-19 pandemic is a challenge for teachers to keep learning. One alternative that teachers can do is distance learning. The continuity of learning is largely determined by the commitment of the teacher. The purpose of this study is to reveal the contribution of teacher commitment to the continuity of learning, as well as to find out the effective contribution and relative commitment of teachers to learning in special schools. This research approach is quantitative research. The sampling technique used is accidental sampling, where the determination of the sample is based on chance, anyone who responds to the researcher can be used as a sample. Data collection techniques using a questionnaire. The teacher commitment instrument was adapted from the commitment scale developed by Allen and Meyer which has sufficient validity and reliability. The learning instrument uses content validity, and the instrument reliability uses the interrater technique. Questionnaires were sent via WhatsApp to all teacher communities throughout Indonesia which were limited to 3 days and collected 872 respondents. The data were analyzed by multiple regression with the help of SPSS 23. The results showed that the teacher's commitment to the implementation of distance learning was influenced by the teacher's commitment by 2.5% and influenced by other variables not included in the linear regression model by 97.5%. Normative commitment has an effective contribution (1.31%) and a relative contribution (51.77%), which is the largest contribution compared to the other two aspects of commitment.

Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board, a nonprofit organization that offers college-level curriculum and examinations to high school students. Increasing numbers of high school students across America take AP courses. Despite the increasing popularity of the AP curriculum, many Black, Hispanic, or low-income students are historically underrepresented in these courses. Students of color are more likely to not enroll in AP courses, not receive a passing score, or become disengaged and drop out, thereby missing out on the academic benefits that AP courses can provide. This qualitative research study sought to examine and understand whether culturally responsive pedagogy can increase engagement among students of color in high school AP courses. Using a two-cycle action plan, qualitative data were collected through interviews and observations to understand teacher attitudes, behaviors, challenges, and issues concerning engagement among students of color. An action research plan was developed and implemented to examine whether culturally responsive teaching activities can increase the engagement of students of color in the classroom. The study concludes that teachers who employ culturally responsive practices that incorporate family and cultural artifacts, socially relevant issues, counter-narrative storytelling, and creative self-expression can positively influence Black and Brown student engagement and performance in the classroom. This study demonstrates that the teacher is the controlling factor when it comes to engaging students of color in the classroom. When a teacher makes a durable, proactive commitment to employing culturally responsive curriculum, activities, and behaviors to connect with disengaged students of color, then trust, engagement, and learning occurs. --Author's abstract

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine, Lubbock.

Rigorous academic preparation in high school is a strong predictor of postsecondary success. The College Board's Advanced Placement (AP) program allows students to earn college credit while in high school; however, disparities in equitable participation remain a persistent concern. This qualitative multiple-case study explored equity-focused AP program implementation in two urban school districts in the Midwest. From interviews with 29 school leaders, the study examined participants’ beliefs, leadership practices, and reflections on equitable AP access. Findings highlight examples of community-engaged, social justice leadership that promote inclusive participation in AP coursework.

Empirical research advocates that school leadership plays a significant role in shaping worker commitment, and how important the latter is regarding scholastic outcomes. This study examined the phenomenon in the Kuwaiti public school by attempting to identify the mediating effect a teacher’s Trust In their school’s Principal (TIP) has upon the relationship between Organizational Justice (OJ) and Teacher Commitment (TC). More specifically, this study attempted to: (1) describe and compare TC in Kuwaiti public schools against the demographic variables of gender, nationality, years of experience and school level; (2) examine the total effect of OJ on TC; and (3) determine whether TIP has significant mediative effects upon the relationship between OJ and TC. The research sample comprised 200 teachers from 30 different Kuwaiti public schools. Study participants revealed that TC, OJ and TIP are all at mediocre levels in Kuwaiti schools. The study also indicated that elementary school teachers have significantly lower TC than their colleagues working in high schools. Moreover, the study demonstrated that TC is positively and significantly related to OJ and TIP. The study also showed that TIP does indeed act as a mediator between OJ and TC. The researcher provides relevant recommendations based on these findings.

Syracuse University Project Advance, established in 1973, offers an opportunity for talented high school students to enroll in college courses for degree credit while still in high school. The courses, identical in every important respect to those taught to students on the Syracuse University campus-same syllabus, textbooks, assignments, examinations, and grading criteria-are taught by carefully selected high school faculty members whose credentials have been reviewed and approved by faculty committees from the appropriate Syracuse University departments. To qualify to teach a University course, high school faculty members must have extensive teaching experience and credentials in the content area and attend a special summer workshop (usually five to eight days in length) conducted by the Syracuse University faculty member responsible for the course on the main campus. Upon successful completion of the workshop, teachers are appointed adjunct instructors of Syracuse University. To retain the appointment, teachers must teach the Syracuse course at least once every two years and attend an inservice seminar in the subject area sponsored by Syracuse University each fall and spring. Once implemented, the courses are carefully monitored by the Syracuse University faculty and Project Advance administrative staff, cooperating with the high school teacher to ensure that standards in the high school sections of the course are comparable to those for the same course taught on campus. At least once each semester Syracuse University faculty members and Project Advance administrative staff visit each class, checking papers, laboratory manuals, and other products of instruction for consistency of academic standards; talk with the teacher and with the students about the program; and discuss community response and the overall administration of the program with high school administrators. In addition to inservice seminars and site visits, frequent contact is maintained with the high school. Over the past eleven years, nearly 500 colleges and universities have recognized Syracuse University courses completed through Project Advance by awarding degree credit and/or exemption from enrolling in a similar course. Some of these have awarded credit and/or exemption only after reviewing a portfolio of tests and instructional materials, while still others have reserved awards until the student has completed an advanced college course successfully at their institution. A small number of schools also offer the possibility of degree credit if the student can attain an acceptable grade on a proficiency examination administered by the appropriate academic department. A few colleges, on the other hand, have adopted a blanket policy that college-level courses completed in a high school setting will not be recognized for credit. The one possible exception to this policy is the Advanced Placement Program (AP) of the College Entrance Examination Board. Largely because it is a standardized measure of academic achievement, some college officials look primarily to the AP Examination in considering degree credit for college courses taken in high school.

Each year approximately 3,000 high school students take the College Board's Advanced Placement Examination in German Language. The examination is intended to measure a student's proficiency in listening, reading, writing, and speaking at an advanced college German language course level. Candidates receive grades from 5 (extremely well qualified) to 1 (no recommendation) which they present to colleges and universities in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, and Germany. Various institutions in the United States and Canada award credit or placement in German according to their Advanced Placement (AP) policies.1 British Universities, including Oxford and Cambridge, have been accepting candidates based on AP Examination results for several years. Although the criteria vary from college to college, there is a general acknowledgment that the examination reflects competency.2 German universities will also admit American high school students to a course of study if they passed four AP examinations in the following subjects: 1. one foreign language and two mathematicalscientific subjects

Background Increasing access to Advanced Placement (AP) coursework has been a long-term goal of the College Board and many districts across the country, yet achieving this goal has remained elusive, particularly for African American and Latinx youth and youth in poverty. Purpose In this study, we analyze the work of five districts that have identified inequities in AP participation and developed initiatives to address these inequities. We examine these districts’ strategies, as well as their impact on both access to AP coursework and success on AP exams. We consider how efforts to increase access to AP have affected different racial/ethnic student groups. Participants The five districts are led by superintendents who were members of the Instructional Leaders Network (ILN), a statewide network that focuses on supporting superintendents’ system-wide, equity-focused improvement. The districts vary in demographics, size, and socioeconomic status. Data Collection and Analysis This mixed methods study includes five years of AP enrollment and performance data for four districts, and two years of data for one district. We also identified two of these districts as case studies of AP initiative development and implementation and conducted a series of interviews with administrators from the districts over the five years of the study. We analyzed quantitative data descriptively and used Bonilla-Silva's (2018) concept of color-blind racism to analyze these data in relation to the interview data. Findings All districts adopted strategies focused on students as a whole, which for the most part led to an increase in access for all racial/ethnic groups, but no consistent pattern of reducing over- or under-representation. In terms of outcomes, in some districts, more students received scores of 3 or higher from all racial/ethnic groups, but disparities in average test scores remained. Additionally, across all districts, Black students continued to receive the lowest scores. Conclusions As school districts, individual high schools, and the College Board continue their focus on increasing equity in both access and performance, their approaches need to involve ongoing data collection and evaluation on how different programs and initiatives are positively or negatively affecting student populations that have been traditionally under-served as well as students in general. This research demonstrates that color-neutral policies need to be constantly interrogated by K–12 administrators and other stakeholders to ensure that the policies do not reinforce and sustain existing inequities. If districts seek to target groups of students who are underserved, they need to consider strategies and policies that explicitly and directly address those groups.

In their Editorial “Science learning, science opportunity ( Science 's Compass, 8 Oct., p. [237][1]), National Science Foundation (NSF) Director Rita R. Colwell and National Science Board Chairman Eamon M. Kelly give a glowing but what seems a largely unfounded report on the accomplishments of the NSF systemic reform initiatives. The authors cite as evidence an increase in student performance in mathematics in Chicago, Illinois (61 out of 62 high schools), and a tripling of students passing science and mathematics advanced placement (AP) tests in Dallas, Texas. Although it is true that Chicago public high schools have shown increases in standardized (Illinois Goals Assessment Program) test scores in mathematics over the past 2 years (in 51 out of 60 schools reporting), increases in the same students' reading scores have been even greater (57 out of 60). It seems plausible that Chicago's lower performing students are doing better on math tests because they can read the problems, not necessarily because of NSF systemic reform. Only the three top-scoring high schools in Chicago exceeded the Illinois average for math scores in 1997, and all three showed a drop in math scores the following year. Seven out of the nine Chicago schools with falling math scores started above the district average. Student scores on science and math AP tests have also risen in Dallas, but once again the role of NSF systemic reform is questionable. The Dallas-based O'Donnell Foundation has developed a long-running incentive program in which AP teachers receive special course training and a salary supplement, and AP students receive a subsidy for exam fees and a $100 minischolarship if they pass the AP College Board exam. The O'Donnell Foundation has tracked and reported on the efficacy of their work and can account for the student gains. In their Editorial, the NSF director and the National Science Board chairman appear to take credit for what is very likely to be another group's accomplishment. “Discovery learning” methods of science and math instruction may be widely embraced by the education community, but if the scores from Chicago and Dallas are the most robust data that NSF can assemble to justify their systemic initiatives, then the program should be carefully scrutinized. # Response {#article-title-2} Metzenberg's letter questions the specific examples we used to illustrate our comments on the NSF-supported Urban Systemic Initiatives (USIs). The nature of systemic reform activity—aligning and integrating the uses of different types of resources—makes explicit cause-and-effect attribution difficult. There are always several related indicators of performance and multiple contributors to changes in performance for any one indicator. The factors Metzenberg cites in Chicago and Dallas may well contribute to the phenomena we described. However, we are confident, on the basis of the reports of similar results across the USIs, that the systemic reform activities played an important role as well. We are pleased that NSF has helped so many urban public school systems to move forward in improving their science and mathematics education. Our examples—drawn from public testimony at a National Science Board hearing on kindergarten through grade 12 education held in Chicago—are just the tip of an iceberg of data coming from Chicago and Dallas; Detroit, Michigan; El Paso, Texas; Memphis, Tennessee; and many other locations. [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.286.5438.237

Higher education institutions and their computer science departments have been strong supporters of K12 CS. One area that has not been explored in-depth is the use of concurrent enrollment (CE) programs to expand access to high school CS courses such as CS Principles or CS1. CE courses are those that are taught by an approved teacher in a high school. Unlike other programs that offer credit by exams (e.g., College Board's Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate), the context for concurrent enrollment varies with state and insitutional policies. However, CE programs also hold potential for broadening participation in computing with flexibility in timelines and assessments in alignment with local school contexts. We will facilitate discussion around what it takes to develop a CS CE program including teacher qualifications, aligning courses to majors or other college requirements, partnering with high schools, assessment standards, etc. CE programs also have the potential to support departmental Broadening Participation in Computing plans. Computer with webcam and microphone recommended; handout on starting CS CE programs provided.

The accounting profession will experience a 50 percent decline in its ranks in the next ten years as accounting professionals from the Baby Boomer generation retire. To replace these professionals, the accounting profession will have to compete with law, medicine, engineering, and other professions that will also be replacing their “boomers.” During the period the boomers are retiring, the number of high school graduates is expected to decline, which suggests that the currently high accounting enrollments are unlikely to continue. If the accounting profession is to compete for the best and brightest students in the future, it is in its best interest to address structural impediments that exist in its educational supply chain. One significant structural impediment in the supply chain is the traditional high school accounting course. In 2000 the AICPA's Taylor Report stated high school accounting courses were a “systemic barrier” to entry into the profession for the very high school students the profession wants to attract (Taylor 2000). These courses have not changed substantially since the Taylor report was issued. The Accounting Pilot and Bridge Project (The Project) proposes to eliminate this barrier and has created a new college-level high school accounting course that provides college credit for those students who take the course and pass a rigorous qualifying examination. The Project is modeled after the College Board's highly successful Advanced Placement (AP) program. Once specific goals are achieved, The Project plans to submit a proposal to the College Board for it to adopt accounting as part of its Advanced Placement curriculum. After describing the research and initiatives that led to the creation of The Project, this paper discusses the goals of The Project, the process to have accounting added to the College Board's AP Curriculum, the curriculum used in the pilot course, the progress made to date, and what lies ahead.

This study aims to promote the development of vocational education in our country energetically. The analysis is followed by introducing the course of development on vocational and technical education in Britain and summarizing the successful experience of vocation in our country with strengthening the funding and legislation for the state of vocational education as well as putting forward suggestions for reform and innovation of education to improve the system of certificates.

IF rom my hotel room in Daytona Beach, Florida, I looked out onto an amusement park where bungee jumpers bounced and dangled from a giant rubber band. Who would be crazy enough to do that? Someone else might ask, Who would be crazy enough to want to read high school essays all day long for a week? After sixteen years of preparing students to take the Advanced Placement (AP) Language and Composition exam, I was curious to see how the College Board scored essays and how my students' writing compared to that of other students across the country. I also wanted to find out how teachers created process-based curricula to prepare students for a product-based exam. So, the week of June 1, 2001, I joined approximately four hundred colleagues to read 439,000 AP essays in Daytona Beach, Florida. AP exams have a significant impact on teaching English. In 2002, the most recent year for which the College Board has published figures, 377,506 students took AP exams in English, with 59 percent taking the exam in Literature and Composition and 41 percent the exam in Language and Composition. In both exams, students answer multiple-choice questions on reading passages for one hour, followed by two hours in which they must write three essays. While the Literature exam focuses on literary analysis, including an essay requiring a close reading of a poem, the Language exam focuses on nonfiction and rhetoric. The multiple-choice reading section comprises 45 percent of the total score for both exams, while the three free-response essays count for 55 percent. Students must be accomplished readers and writers to earn a qualifying score of 3 or better on a 5point scale. As I learned from reading the exams in Daytona Beach, earning a score of 4 or an extremely well-qualified score of 5 is not easy (see 2002). Since AP scores are recognized by 90 percent of the colleges and universities in the United States, students with qualifying scores may be granted college credit or admitted with advanced standing.

To PREFACE MY REMARKS on the manageability of an advanced placement course in world history, I need to explain part of the process which led us here today. To test the interest and feasibility of pursuing the idea of this course, the Educational Testing Service sent out a questionnaire in April 1995 to 400 secondary schools that taught Advanced Placement courses at that time. They received 190 responses to the questionnaire. The following is just a portion of the survey questions and results, with comments about the related situation in Texas.