Browsing by Subject "Advanced placement"

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    The impact of AP and IB programs on high stakes college admissions
    (2012-09) Chodl, Joseph
    The purpose of this study was to examine the impact on undergraduate college admissions decisions at selective U.S. colleges and universities of student enrolment in the Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) programs of international schools. A total of 30 interviews were conducted by the researcher with admissions personnel from selective colleges and universities in the United States. Additionally, two tracer studies were conducted from two similar international schools; one offering the IB Diploma program and the other offering the AP program. The tracer studies focused on AP/IB enrolment and its impact on college admissions success. Results of the study indicate that there is a strong correlation between enrolment in these programs and admission to selective undergraduate institutions (high correlations of r = -.77 and r = -.75 were found in both tracer studies). However, this correlation is influenced by specific secondary school leader commitments to these programs. It is not essential for secondary school students to be enrolled in these programs in order to gain admission to the most selective colleges and universities in the United States since AP and IB enrolment explains roughly 58% of the variance in admissions. Other important factors explain 42% of the variance. These factors were not identified in this study. These results have significant implications for both secondary schools, institutions of higher education, the IBO and College Board. The data from the two tracer studies and the interviews with admissions personnel indicate that participation in these programs enhance admissions chances, but admission is possible without such participation.
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    To take or not to take: factors that influence the decisions that students make about taking college-level courses in high school
    (2012-05) Pekel, Kent Stephen
    This descriptive and exploratory study investigates the factors that influence the decisions that students make about taking college-level courses in high school. While the study examines the decisions of high school students from across the distribution of student achievement, it pays particular attention to the decisions of students in the academic middle. Ten factors with the potential to influence those decisions were identified through a review of relevant literature on college readiness, high school reform, academic motivation and adolescent decision making. To capture students' perspectives on those potential factors, a survey was developed and administered in a diverse group of seven high schools in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area in the spring of 2012. Qualitative data were also gathered at two of those schools, both of which were large suburban high schools. Through the focus groups and interviews conducted at those schools, two additional factors that could influence student decisions about college-level course taking were identified. The study concludes that the following three factors are highly influential in shaping students' decisions about taking college-level courses: (1) the economic incentives of earning college credit in high school, (2) the signals that higher education institutions send to high school students, and (3) the level of effort that students exert in school. The study also concludes that insufficient access to college-level courses is not a major factor in students' course taking decisions at any of the schools that were studied. Finally, the study concludes that the following factors play a moderate role in course taking decisions, but that further research is needed to more precisely determine the degree and type of influence these factors exert: The course registration process;An inherent college-going orientation; Students' actual and perceived level of academic readiness; Interaction with adults at school; Interaction with parents; Interaction with peers; Commitments outside of school; The learning environment in college-level courses; Interest in the subject being studied.