Advanced Placement Human Geography: Program Access and Effectiveness by Race, Ethnicity, and Gender, 2001–2020

Abstract

Advanced Placement (AP) is a program initially developed by the College Board to engage “superior” high school students with rigorous college-equivalent coursework. Because the AP program has the potential to facilitate the college placement and success of diverse youth, the College Board has made equitable AP access a core objective. This article reports the results of an assessment conducted to gain a better understanding of the number and characteristics of students who have participated in AP Human Geography and how they fared on the exam. Although AP Human Geography enrollments have grown more diverse since the program’s launch in 2001, unequal access to the course remains a challenge. Unequal outcomes on AP Human Geography exams are also evident when comparing mean scores and qualifying scores by race, ethnicity, and gender. The effectiveness of AP Human Geography for youth of color is compromised by the inordinate number of exams taken in ninth grade, a point in schooling characterized by widespread and embedded geography achievement disadvantages and unequal educational opportunities. Ensuring the equitable preparation of students for advanced geography coursework and fostering racial and gender equity in the curriculum are among the reforms recommended to reduce inequality in AP exam scores.

美国大学委员会创立了大学预修课程(AP), 旨在让“优秀”高中生参与严格的大学课程。AP可能会促进各类青年的大学就业和成就。因此, 美国大学委员会把公平参加AP作为核心目标。本文介绍了一项评估结果, 旨在更好地了解AP人文地理学课程的学生数量、学生特点及其考试成绩。自2001年启动以来, AP人文地理学课程的学生变得更加多样化。但是, 参加课程的不平等性仍然是一个挑战。从种族、民族和性别角度来看, AP人文地理学的平均成绩和合格成绩具有明显的不平等性。AP人文地理学对有色人种青年的有效性, 受到九年级考试过多的影响——九年级学校教育的特点是地理课程成绩普遍较低和教育机会不平等。为了降低AP考试成绩的不平等性, 我们建议实施改革, 确保学生公平地参加高级地理学课程、在课程中促进种族和性别的公平。

Advanced Placement (AP) (Ubicación Avanzada) es un programa desarrollado inicialmente por el College Board (Consejo Universitario) para atraer estudiantes “superiores” de la secundaria hacia cursos rigurosos equivalentes a los de la universidad. Por cuanto el programa AP tiene el potencial de facilitar de colocación en la universidad y el éxito de diversos jóvenes, el College Board ha hecho del acceso equitativo al AP un objetivo central. Este artículo informa los resultados de un proceso de evaluación llevado a cabo para lograr un mejor entendimiento del número y características de los estudiantes que han participado en el AP de Geografía Humana y su rendimiento en el examen. Aunque el número de matriculados en el AP de Geografía Humana se ha vuelto más diverso desde el reciente lanzamiento del programa en 2001, el acceso desigual al curso sigue siendo un reto. Los resultados desiguales en los exámenes del AP de Geografía Humana también son evidentes cuando se comparan las puntuaciones medias y las puntuaciones de calificación por raza, etnia y sexo. Las eficacia del AP de Geografía Humana para los jóvenes de color se ve comprometida por el número excesivo de exámenes realizados en el curso noveno, un punto en la escolaridad caracterizado por desventajas generalizadas y arraigadas en el rendimiento en geografía. Garantizar la preparación equitativa de estudiantes para los cursos avanzados de geografía y fomentar la equidad racial y de género en el plan de estudios son algunas de la reformas recomendadas para disminuir la desigualdad en las puntuaciones de los exámenes de AP.

Key Words:

• college credit
• diversity
• educational equity
• geography education
• high school

关键词::

• 大学学分
• 多样性
• 教育公平
• 地理学教育
• 高中

Palabras clave:

• crédito universitario
• diversidad
• educación geográfica
• educación secundaria
• equidad educativa

Acknowledgements

Funding support for the program assessment of AP Human Geography was provided by the Grosvenor Center for Geographic Education at Texas State University. The authors appreciate the constructive reviews provided by two anonymous reviewers and the research assistance provided by Brendan Vander Weil.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Categories for demographic data collection related to race/ethnicity has changed over the almost 20-year history of the AP Human Geography exam. In 2001 nine categories for race/ethnicity were collected and included Not Stated, American Indian/Alaskan, Asian American, Black/Afro-American, Latino: Chicano/Mexican American, Latino: Puerto Rican, Latino: Other, Other, and White. Since then, major changes have occurred within how Hispanics/Latinos are identified in the United States. Since 2016, AP racial/ethnic categories have aligned with the U.S. Department of Education’s reporting guidelines on race and ethnicity and specifically include an all-encompassing Hispanic/Latino category and a category for those who identify as Black, a change from the Black/Afro-American category used from 2001 to 2005.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Carmen P. Brysch

CARMEN P. BRYSCH is an Instructional Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843. E-mail: [email protected]. Her research focuses on geography education.

Michael Solem

MICHAEL SOLEM is a Professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at Texas State University, San Marcos, TX 78666. E-mail: [email protected]. His research interests include geography curriculum and assessment studies, teacher education, faculty development, and geography in higher education.