Who's Taking the Advanced Placement Courses and How Are They Doing: A Statewide Two-Year Study

Enrollment in Advanced Placement courses in all high school campuses in the State of Texas was examined for the 2004-2005 and the 2005 2006 school years to determine the extent to which student diversity was present. A higher percentage of the female student body, 17%, was enrolled in Advanced Placement courses than was the male student body, 13%. Almost a fifth of the White student body was enrolled in Advanced Placement courses, compared with slightly over 10% of the Hispanic student body and the African American student body. The percentages of economically disadvantaged students, Limited English Proficient, and students with special learning needs were low, as anticipated. Student success in these courses, however, differed as a function of gender and ethnicity, with African American students experiencing the least success. Of interest was that Hispanic students demonstrated the highest degree of success in these courses. Implications of these findings are discussed.