Abstract:
This study examined the propensity of students to enroll in Advanced Placement(AP) classes after sitting down with a school staff member to learn about the benefits andreceive a formal invitation into these classes. Additionally, this study focused on malestudents, who are often underrepresented in advanced classes like AP and studied thelikelihood of them enrolling in an AP class after receiving a formal invitation. Theresearcher conducted this study by reviewing the archived data of a school district thathad identified Grade 10 students who had the potential to be successful in AP classesthrough their cumulative GPA, daily school attendance, Algebra I End of Course (EOC)exam scores, and the Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI) scores. Those studentsidentified then met with a school staff member who provided information about APclasses, reviewed their academic information, and invited them to enroll in AP classes forthe next school year. The researcher then reviewed the enrollment data to determinewhich students enrolled in AP courses for the following year.These data were compared to student data from the previous four years whenstudents had not received invitations. The researcher identified Grade 10 students fromeach of these years who met the same criteria for having the potential to be successful inAP courses and compared these findings with the enrollment data when students didreceive invitations to examine if there was a relationship between these formal invitationsand enrollment in AP courses.