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EFFECTSOFRACIALANDSOCIOECONOMICFACTORS ONADVANCEDPLACEMENTPROGRAMS By LORRAINEMILLER ADISSERTATIONPRESENTEDTOTHEGRADUATESCHOOL OFTHEUNIVERSITYOFFLORIDAINPARTIALFULFILLMENT OFTHEREQUIREMENTSFORTHEDEGREEOF DOCTOROFEDUCATION UNIVERSITYOFFLORIDA 1994 Thisdissertationisdedicatedtomyfather,WalterThomasJohnsen,who encouragedmesinceearlychildhoodtopursuemygoals. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Iwouldliketoexpressmygratitudetomycommitteechairperson,Dr.Paul George,forallthetimehespentreading,rereading,andcounselingmeonthe writingofthisdissertation. IwouldalsoliketothankDr.PhilClark,Dr.David Honeyman,andDr.EdTurnerforservingonmycommittee. Iamgratefultothem fortheirtimeandassistance. Imustalsoacknowledgemydeepestappreciationtothefollowingpeople: my husband,George,forhissteadfastreassurance,moralsupport,andthemanyhourshe spentprintingandeditingthisdissertation; mychildren,JessicaandJordan,formany yearsofpatience;myparentsWalterandLucila,andmyveryuniquefriend,Marion, fortheirfaithinme;myin-laws,GeorgetteandRalph,foralwaysinquiringaboutmy progressandofferingtheirencouragement;andmysisterLuci,whohasbeenan inspiration. Theloveandencouragementofallmyfamilyandfriendsgavemethe fortitudetoseethisendeavorthroughtoitscompletion. iii TABLEOFCONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Hi ABSTRACT ix CHAPTERS 1 INTRODUCTION 1 StatementoftheProblem 3 PurposeoftheStudy 3 ResearchQuestions 4 Delimitations 5 Limitations 5 Assumptions 5 Methods 6 SignificanceoftheStudy 7 DefinitionofTerms 8 Overview 9 2 REVIEWOFTHELITERATURE 10 Introduction 10 AdvancedPlacement 11 AdvancedPlacementDefined 11 GrowthoftheAdvancedPlacementProgram 13 AdvancedPlacementandCollegeAdmission 17 AfricanAmericansandCollegeAdmissionandAttendance 24 AdvancedAcademicProgramsinFlorida 29 Summary 31 MinorityParticipationinAdvancedPlacement 32 StatusofMinorityParticipationinAdvancedPlacement 32 FactorsthatAffectMinorityParticipationinAdvanced PlacementPrograms 36 ExamplesofAdvancedPlacementProgramsthatFocuson MinorityParticipation 39 iv Summary 44 HighAchievingAfrican-AmericanHighSchoolStudents 45 EffectsofFamilialFactorsonAcademicAchievement 45 EffectsofSocioeconomicFactorsonAcademicAchievement 53 ConflictsExperiencedbyHighAchievingAfrican-American Students 57 EffectsofTrackingonAchievement 64 Summary 72 3 METHODOLOGY 74 Entry 76 Setting 77 AndersonHighSchool 77 BakerHighSchool 78 ProceduresforDataCollection 79 DatafromInterviews 80 DatafromClassroomObservations 82 DatafromPhotographs 82 DatafromStudents'AcademicRecords 83 DataAnalysis 83 InternalValidity 85 ExternalValidity 86 Reliability 87 Biases 87 4 ADVANCEDPLACEMENTPROGRAMSINTWODIVERSESCHOOL SETTINGS 88 Introduction 88 AndersonHighSchool 91 Students'Interviews 91 Researchquestionone: whataretheAPselectioncriteria fortwohighschoolsservingraciallydivergent studentpopulations? 92 Researchquestionthree: howdostudentsinthe twoAPprogramscompareintheirpreviousacademic preparation? 93 Researchquestionfive: howdothetwoschoolscompare intheimplementationofspecificAPtestpreparation methods? 95 V Researchquestionsix: wiiatcharacterizesstudents' descriptionsandevaluationsoftheirAPclassesatthetwo schools? 96 Researchquestioneight: howdoAPstudents'academic aspirationscompareatthetwoschools? 112 Students'ResponsestoSchoolPhotographs 113 Positiveresponsestophotographs 113 Negativeresponsestophotographs 116 Neutralcategory 117 ObservationsinAPAmericanHistoryClass 118 ObservationsinAPEnglishClass 123 Teachers'Interviews 129 APTeachers'Interviews 129 Researchquestionone: whataretheAPselectioncriteria fortwohighschoolsservingraciallydivergentstudent populations? 130 Researchquestionfour: howdotheteachersofAP classesinbothschoolscompareintheircourse expectations,gradingcriteria,descriptionsoftheir teachingroles,andgoalsintheclassroom? 131 Researchquestionfive: howdothetwoschoolscompare intheimplementationofspecificAPtestpreparation methods? 135 StandardCurriculumTeachers'Interviews 136 VicePrincipal'sInterview 142 GuidanceCounselors'Interviews 145 BakerHighSchool 148 Students'Interviews 149 Researchquestionone: whataretheAPselectioncriteria fortwohighschoolsservingraciallydivergentstudent populations? 149 Researchquestionthree: howdostudentsinthetwoAP programscompareintheirpreviousacademic preparation? 150 Researchquestionfive: howdothetwoschoolscomparein theimplementationofspecificAPtestpreparation methods? 151 Researchquestionsix: whatcharacterizesstudents' descriptionsandevaluationsoftheirAPclassesatthetwo schools? 152 Researchquestioneight: howdoAPstudents'academic aspirationscompareatthetwoschools? 170 Students'ResponsestoPhotographs 172 Positiveresponsestophotographs 172 vi Negativeresponsestophotographs 174 Neutralcategory 174 ObservationsinAPAmericanHistoryClass 176 ObservationsinAPEnglishClass 184 Teachers'Interviews 189 APTeachers'Interviews 189 Researchquestionone: whataretheAPselectioncriteria fortwohighschoolsservingraciallydivergentstudent populations? 190 Researchquestionfour: howdotheteachersofAPclasses inbothschoolscompareintheircourseexpectations, gradingcriteria,descriptionsoftheirteachingroles, andgoalsintheclassroom? 191 Researchquestionfive: howdothetwoschoolscompare intheimplementationofspecificAPtestpreparation methods? 193 StandardCurriculumTeachers'Interviews 194 VicePrincipal'sInterview 198 GuidanceCounselors'Interviews 202 Cross-CaseAnalysis 204 ResearchQuestionOne: WhataretheAPSelectionCriteriafor TwoHighSchoolsServingRaciallyDivergentStudent Populations? 205 ResearchQuestionTwo: ToWhatExtentistheImplementationof thoseCriteriaConsistentBetweentheTwoSchools? 205 ResearchQuestionThree: HowdoStudentsintheTwoAP ProgramsCompareintheirPreviousAcademicPreparation?.... 207 ResearchQuestionFour: HowdoTeachersofAPClassesin BothSchoolsCompareintheirCourseExpectations,Grading Criteria,DescriptionsoftheirTeachingRoles,andGoals intheClassroom? 209 ResearchQuestionFive: HowdotheTwoSchoolsCompare intheImplementationofSpecificAPTestPreparation Methods? 211 ResearchQuestionSix: WhatCharacterizesStudents'Descriptions andEvaluationsoftheirAPClassesattheTwoSchools? 212 ResearchQuestionSeven: HowdoAPStudents'SAT,ACT, GPA,andAPExaminationScoresCompareattheTwo Schools? 217 ResearchQuestionEight: HowdoStudents'Academic AspirationsCompareattheTwoSchools? 219 vii 5 DISCUSSIONANDIMPLICATIONS 221 Findings 222 RelationshipofFindingstoPreviousResearch 237 TheAPProgram 237 MinorityParticipationinAdvancedPlacement 240 HighAchievingMinorities 241 ImplicationofFindingstoResearch 244 ImplicationofFindingstoPractitioners 245 Recommendations 246 REFERENCES 248 BIOGRAPHICALSKETCH 256 viii AbstractofDissertationPresentedtotheGraduateSchool oftheUniversityofFloridainPartialFulfillment oftheRequirementsfortheDegreeof DoctorofEducation EFFECTSOFRACIALANDSOCIOECONOMICFACTORS ONADVANCEDPLACEMENTPROGRAMS By LorraineMiller April, 1994 Chairperson: PaulGeorge MajorDepartment: EducationalLeadership ThepurposeofthisstudywastoexaminetheAdvancedPlacement(AP) programattwohighschoolstodiscoverwhetherornotprogramdifferencescouldbe explainedbytheracialandsocioeconomicfactorsoperatingattheschoollevel. One schoolislocatedinanaffluentsectionofalargesoutheasterncityandhasa predominantlywhitestudentpopulation. Theotherislocatedinaneconomically depressedareaofthesamecityandhasapredominantlyAfrican-Americanstudent population. Casestudymethodologywasusedforthisstudyandincludedinterviewswith students,faculty,andadministratorsateachschool. Inaddition,classroom observationswereconductedineachschool,photographsoftheschoolswereusedin students'interviewstoelicitstudents'responsestodifferentfacetsoftheirschool,and ix dataweregatheredfromstudents'standardizedtestscores,gradepointaverages,and APexamresults. InterpretationoftheresultsofthisstudyrevealedthattheAPprogramserved adifferentpurposeateachschoolandthatthesedifferenceswereaffectedbythe racialandsocioeconomicfactorsoperatingattheschoollevel. DifferencesinAP programsatthetwoschoolsincludedthefollowingareas: criteriaforadmissionto theAPprogram;levelofstudentacademicpreparationprevioustoenteringtheAP program;amountoftestpreparationprovidedstudentsfortheAPexam;levelof coursedifficulty;numberofstudentstakingandpassingtheAPexam;teachers' expectationsofstudents'ability;students'evaluationsoftheAPprogram;and students'academicaspirations. Asaresultofthesedifferences,thepredominantlywhiteschool'sAPprogram providedstudentswithcollege-levelcoursesandpreparationfortheAPexam. The predominantlyAfrican-Americanschool'sAPprogramdidnotprovidestudentswith college-levelworkandprovidedonlyminimalAPexampreparation. However,itdid helpstudentsupgradetheirskillstoenablethemtosucceedinfreshman-levelwork aftergraduation. DespitetwoverydifferentAPprograms,studentsatbothschoolswere generallyverypositiveintheirdescriptionsandevaluationsoftheAPprogramand hadhighaspirationsfortheiracademicandprofessionalattainmentsafterhighschool. StudentsfrombothschoolsalsobenefitedfromparticipationinAPthroughadvantages