This paper uses Advanced Placement (AP) exams to examine how receiving college credit in high school alters students' subsequent human capital investment. Using data from one large state, I link high school students to postsecondary transcripts from in-state, public institutions. I estimate causal impacts using a regression discontinuity that…

Background: To meet the growing demand for the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce and remain competitive in the fields of science and technology over the next decade, the United States is expected to need more than 1 million additional STEM professionals. This would require an annual increase of 34% in undergraduate…

Exams are a form of assessment that is ubiquitous in college STEM classrooms yet is infrequently studied from the experiential perspectives of instructors or students. To better understand the forms, methods, and experiences of college STEM exams, we conducted survey-based research with instructors in anatomy and physiology courses, a well-defined…

In contrast to the experience of other professional fields, the percentage of women in computer science has decreased substantially in recent decades. This phenomenon is a significant and growing problem in a society where new technologies impact nearly every facet of life, including criminal justice and health care. This study examines whether…

Across East and Southeast Asia, the International Baccalaureate (IB) is expanding and diversifying. More students from affluent families are 'opting out' of mainstream schooling to take the IB's Diploma Programme (DP), which is marketed as a distinctive skill-based education that prepares students for university. This research investigated how DP…

High school students' academic preparation (e.g. high school GPA, ACT composite score, AP credits earned) predicts and helps explain their academic performance at college. However, the effects of noncognitive factors on college success is less clear. This study examined the effects of adding high school students' (N = 2279) self-efficacy,…

The Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles (APCSP) course was introduced in 2016 to address long-standing gender and racial/ethnic disparities in the United States among students taking Advanced Placement Computer Science (APCS) in high school, as well as among those who pursued computing majors in college. Although APCSP has drawn a more…

The Advanced Placement® Program (AP®) offers high school students the opportunity to take rigorous coursework in high school and receive college credit for AP Exam scores that meet or exceed the requirements of their attending institution. Students receiving AP credit are typically exempted from an introductory-level course or series of courses…

The AP Capstone Diploma ™ program was launched in 2014 to offer high school students an opportunity to learn interdisciplinary critical thinking and collaboration skills and complete college-level academic research by means of two Advanced Placement® (AP® ) courses: AP Seminar and AP Research. In these early years of the AP Capstone program,…

We examined the variation in Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation (FMCE) preclass scores according to the type of physics class a student had in high school. This was done for students who had taken Physics 1 at a highly selective university. The majority of students had taken an Advanced Placement (AP) physics course, allowing us to examine in…

Using the National Center for Education Statistics 2002-2012 Educational Longitudinal Study (ELS) data set, this study examines the relation between college undermatching and bachelor's degree attainment, and whether the influences of undermatching on bachelor's degree attainment vary by race/ethnicity. Results revealed students who undermatched…

This paper uses Advanced Placement (AP) exams to examine how receiving college credit in high school alters students' subsequent human capital investment. Using data from one large state, I link high school students to postsecondary transcripts from in-state, public institutions and estimate causal impacts using a regression discontinuity that…

Millions of high school students take Advanced Placement (AP) courses, which can provide college credit. Using nationally representative data, I identify a diverse set of higher education outcomes that are related to receipt of AP college credit. Institution fixed effects regression reduces bias associated with varying AP credit policies and…

The Advanced Placement® (AP®) Program offers high school students the opportunity to take rigorous coursework in high school and receive college credit for AP Exam scores that meet or exceed the requirements of their attending institution. Students receiving AP credit are typically exempted from an introductory level course or series of courses…

Policymakers and educators on Guåhan (Guam) are concerned about the persistent shortage of qualified K-12 teachers. Staff at the Unibetsedåt Guåhan (University of Guam, UOG) School of Education, the only local university that offers a teacher training and certification program, believe that more students are interested in becoming teachers but…