AP Classes: Are We Sure?
Districts across the country, both public and private, are dropping AP classes and we believe it may be time for our Administration and School Board to analyze if we should reduce or completely drop our AP curriculum. We are careful to keep the School Board in their lane, but in our The Role of the School Board article we note that the Illinois Association of School Boards outlined six foundational principles of effective governance for School Boards. Included in these rules are:
The board clarifies the district purpose, and
The board monitors performance.
So, we feel examining a question of this magnitude is well within their purview and falls directly into the scope of work the citizens elected them to do.
Since the 2010 school year, the number of advanced placement (AP) classes offered in Decatur Public High Schools has nearly doubled. In fact, according to the district’s 22-23 High School Curriculum Guide, DPS 61 offers a total of 15 different AP courses. Looking at the total enrollment in our high schools and the number of students taking AP courses through the lens of the most recent test scores, it appears to us at DPS Chalkboard that we may have a disparity on our hands.
By their very nature, AP courses are likely to involve rigorous course work delivered in an atmosphere more akin to a college lecture hall than a traditional high-school classroom. The stark reality is that these courses are meant for those students who excel academically. However, with only 11% of high schoolers in Decatur meeting state standards and a mere 2% exceeding them, instead of helping our kids, are we actually only hurting them? Here is what we mean.
The most recent data point shows the 477 students are taking AP classes in the district’s high schools. Further, test scores indicate that 2%, or 40 total students, actually exceed the state standards. So, the question becomes: “how does this affect the remaining 430 plus students?”
The data also says that 22% of the students enrolled in AP course work are ninth graders. This could complicate matters further. In a 2017 article posted on the Gates Foundation website, Elaine M. Allensworth, a director of the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research, talks about their work studying the impact of academic performance on students as they transition in schools in Chicago:
Course failures have an outsize impact on students’ likelihood of graduating. In the Consortium’s 2007 report What Matters for Staying On-Track and Graduating in Chicago Public Schools, we showed that one “F” in a year-long course in the ninth grade decreases the probability of eventually graduating by 30 percentage points, even if a student has strong test scores. Two “Fs” in ninth grade decrease the probability of graduating by over 50 percentage points (from 85 percent to 33 percent).
Why would we create a situation where we decrease the probability of graduation for a ninth grader by encouraging them to take an advanced class in which they are not prepared? Not only is this a tremendous disservice to the individual student, but it is also a failure of the school district to meet their obligations to the community they serve.
A 2013 study from a Stanford-affiliated researcher, Denise Pope, published in Inside Higher Ed, challenges the conventional wisdom and accuracy of the assertions/talking points from AP program advocates. Two examples are:
AP programs help to narrow achievement gaps, and
schools with AP programs are better than those without AP programs.
In terms of narrowing the achievement gap, the study indicates that AP courses have not had that desired effect. According to Pope, “the most probable explanation for lackluster results of expansion efforts such as these is that too often AP courses were introduced without the necessary attention to preparation and prerequisites.” When there has been improvement in performance (which is rare), often it due in part to other, unrelated factors. Pope concludes that “if the AP program is to be used effectively to help make a difference in underserved schools, it will need to be part of a broader initiative.”
When it comes to (number 2 above) being an indicator of a school’s quality, it is difficult to take such a stance because there is a great deal of variability in the application of AP programs in high schools. The report cited earlier studies that indicate:
The presence of AP courses in a high school can siphon both quality educators and resources from non-AP courses, as well as result in much larger non-AP classes. ‘In these ways,” the report says, “the presence of the AP program may actually be detrimental to a school.’
This element in and of itself really hits home for DPS 61, if 98% of students enrolling in AP classes will likely struggle, doesn’t that call into question how effectively we are utilizing our teachers (arguably our scarcest resource)? Wouldn’t we be better off if we focused on instruction meant to help our students from falling into the traps outlined above in the 2007 study conducted in Chicago - ninth grade failure leads to a lower graduation rate, even for students that test well?
Our final concern centers around the notion that AP classes are critical for college admissions. We understand that having AP classes on your final transcript may have an impact on gaining admission to your school of choice. (Although from our research for this article, that effect is waning.) The question then becomes – when did we elevate college admissions to the key measurement of education success? DPS Chalkboard contends that gaining entry is commonplace but staying in school and graduating should be the main objective for college bound students! According to the National Center for Education Statistics, as of 2021, 39% of people who took on student loan debt over a 6-year period did not complete their college education. We must do everything in our power to ensure that kids that choose to attend college are prepared for college and have the tools to graduate.