Data at the national, state, and local levels all indicate disproportionately low enrollment of Black/African American students in Advanced Placement (AP) classes at the high school level. Black/African American students are missing out on educational opportunities and access to an equitable education by not participating in AP classes in high…

Research shows that when students have access to advanced coursework opportunities, they work harder and are more engaged in school, have fewer absences and suspensions and higher graduation rates. Unfortunately, many Black and Latino students and students from low-income backgrounds lack equitable access to advanced coursework opportunities, such…

Research shows that when students have access to advanced coursework opportunities, they work harder and are more engaged in school, have fewer absences and suspensions and higher graduation rates. Unfortunately, many Black and Latino students and students from low-income backgrounds lack equitable access to advanced coursework opportunities, such…

This Research Brief summarizes the performance of Miami-Dade County Public Schools (MDCPS) students participating in the Cambridge Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE) Program. Cambridge courses and assessments were offered at 18 MDCPS high schools in 2021-2022. Over 13,700 assessments were completed by M-DCPS students in 34…

This research brief summarizes the performance of Miami-Dade County Public Schools (MDCPS) students participating in the Cambridge Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE) Program. Cambridge courses and examinations were offered at 18 MDCPS high schools in 2022-2023. For the 2022-2023 school year, Cambridge International returned to…

According to the National Academy of Sciences (2007a), "Without the participation of individuals of all racial/ethnic backgrounds and genders, the increasing demand for workers in STEM fields will not be met, potentially compromising the position of the United States as a global leader" (p. 1). Increasing the participation and…

This Research Brief summarizes the performance of Miami-Dade County Public Schools (MDCPS) students participating in the Cambridge Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE) Program. Cambridge courses and assessments were offered at 16 MDCPS high schools in 2020-2021. Over 13,600 assessments were completed by M-DCPS students in 34…

Black male students are underrepresented in Advanced Placement (AP) courses. Studies on the perspective and experiences of high-performing Black male students with Advanced Placement (AP) is limited. Available research indicates that high-performing Black students are enrolled at half the rate of White students both nationally and locally in…

This study explores the extent to which student, family, peer, and school factors predict (a) whether students take "Advanced Placement®" ("AP®") courses, International Baccalaureate (IB) courses, and dual enrollment courses and (b) in models limited to course takers, how many courses they completed. Our findings, based on a…

This research brief summarizes the performance of Miami-Dade County Public Schools (MDCPS) students participating in the Cambridge Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE) Program. Cambridge courses and assessments were offered at 15 MDCPS high schools in 2019-2020. Over 13,100 assessments were completed by M-DCPS students in 31…

Over the past 20 years there has been a major focus on increasing educational opportunities for African American students. As part of efforts to increase these opportunities, high schools across the country have focused initiatives on increasing the number of African American students enrolling in Advanced Placement (AP) courses. While the number…

This Research Brief summarizes the performance of Miami-Dade County Public Schools (MDCPS) students participating in the International Baccalaureate (IB) program. The IB program was offered at six M-DCPS high schools in 2018-2019. Over 3,000 examinations were taken by M-DCPS students in 26 subject areas in 2018-2019. The number of IB examinations…

Despite policy efforts to increase Advanced Placement (AP) course-taking among Black students, gaps in AP course-taking persist. Many question whether offering more AP courses is a sufficient policy solution. However, few studies have examined the effect of course offerings on disparities within racially diverse high schools. Using national…

Black males face several active and inactive discriminations across society. In education, they encounter stiffer disciplinary actions such as out of school suspension and expulsion than their White peers, are overrepresented in special education programs as well as over diagnosed; are underrepresented in gifted in talented programs; advanced…

We characterize the extent to which Black-White gaps for multiple educational outcomes are linked across school districts in the United States. Gaps in disciplinary action, grade-level retention, classification into special education and Gifted and Talented, and Advanced Placement course-taking are large in magnitude and correlated. Racial…