Background: Early Colleges (ECs) are a type of rapidly growing dual enrollment program proven to be successful in helping underrepresented students get a jumpstart on their postsecondary education. To date, the most rigorous evidence on the impact of ECs has come from two lottery-based natural experiments conducted by the SERVE Center (Edmunds et…

The Advanced Placement (AP) program offers an opportunity for students to earn college credit and develop college-ready skills in high school. The curriculum was initially designed for "superior" students at exclusive private schools. Recently, however, the AP program has expanded to serve more students from marginalized backgrounds, and…

The Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program was developed to increase the number of secondary students who participate in rigorous academic courses, to accelerate student learning, and to improve student performance. The AVID program in the Houston Independent School District (HISD) targets students who (1) are in the academic…

In 2002, the Stark County Preschool through College (P-16) Compact set the goal of achieving an 80% college going rate. Such a goal seemed both audacious and daunting for a community where in 2001 only 17.9% of the adults held a Bachelor's Degree, or higher, and where only 49% of all high school graduates went directly to college. Nine years have…

At a time of mushrooming interest in Advanced Placement (AP) tests, a new book, "AP: A Critical Examination of the Advanced Placement Program," assembles studies on how capable the program is of meeting the increasingly diverse expectations held up for it. Growing out of a symposium held at Harvard in 2007, the book focuses on AP science…

In December of 2009, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels announced that the latest state revenue forecasts predict that the state of Indiana will spend $1.8 billion more than it receives in tax revenue collections through July 2011. Therefore, Governor Daniels announced that he will cut at least $300 million from K-12 education spending in the next…

This study was designed to solicit the perspectives of AP and IB graduates who have completed at least one semester of postsecondary education about their experiences while in their respective programs. This study was also conducted to determine whether these IB graduates report that they were better prepared for postsecondary studies than…

Administrator perspectives regarding current and potential increased participation in post-secondary educational opportunities by Michigan high school students were explored in this descriptive quantitative study. Targeted concerns included current institutional levels of involvement, personal knowledge concerning program rules and regulations,…

This article explores the growing popularity of Advanced Placement (AP) courses in U.S. high schools and examines whether AP courses are the solution to the nation's perceived academic gap. Some researchers do not think that AP courses are a panacea for improving science in U.S. schools based on a recent study's finding that AP courses do not…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether students enrolled in Advanced Placement (AP) English in the senior year in the Memphis (Tennessee) City School System entered college immediately on graduation in greater proportions than students who were enrolled in other senior English courses. It was concluded that the number of students…

This document was designed to inform members of the policy, education, and research communities about existing state and institutional policies and practices associated with four accelerated learning programs: Advanced Placement (AP), dual/concurrent enrollment, the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Program, and Tech-Prep. This effort was…

American educators are achieving much success in their efforts to enable a wider and more diverse group of U.S. students than ever before to succeed in college-level studies in high school. Yet individuals must also gaze clear-eyed at the inequities that remain and the challenges that accompany success in expanding access to the Advanced Placement…

As individuals celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Advanced Placement Program[R] (AP[R]) in U.S. schools, they should honor the educators who are enabling a wider and more diverse group of U.S. students than ever before to succeed in college-level studies in high school. Yet they must also gaze clear-eyed at the inequities that remain and…

As the fiftieth anniversary of the Advanced Placement Program[R] (AP[R]) in U.S. schools approaches, it is the right time to issue the first "Advanced Placement Report to the Nation." This report uses a combination of state, national, and AP Program data in new ways to provide each U.S. state with a context for celebrating its successes,…