APQC EDUCATION
Does policy lead to performance?
Is there an AP connection?
Enrollment policies for Advanced Placement (AP) courses do not
appear to be significantly correlated to increased AP
performance, nor increased AP participation.
APQC’S PERSPECTIVE:
In APQC’s 2007 benchmarking study “Improving Math and Science for Student Achievement,”
enrollment policies for Advanced Placement (AP) courses do not appear to be significantly correlated to
increased AP performance, nor increased AP participation.
To illustrate, the figure below shows data collected from study participants. This table represents a cross
tabulation between overall AP performance and participation with the two district policies for enrolling
in advance placement courses: open-enrollment and recommendation required. Fifty percent of the
best-practice districts had open enrollment, while the breakdown for the other study participants was
58.8 percent open enrollment, 23.5 percent recommendation required and 17.6 percent indicated
“other.”
Requirement for Enrollment in AP Course
Calculus AB
Calculus BC
Statistics
AP Biology
AP Chemistry
AP Physics
AP Physics C
Open Enrollment
Recommendation Required/Other
N=12
N=9
Average Score Participation Rate Average Score Participation Rate
2.82
8.7%
2.97
10.0%
3.61
5.1%
4.14
7.4%
2.70
7.6%
3.13
8.5%
2.92
2.71
2.74
3.67
6.4%
5.1%
2.8%
1.2%
3.03
2.82
2.49
3.02
8.8%
4.9%
1.2%
9.2%
For additional information, visit www.apqceducation.org
©2010 APQC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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APQC EDUCATION\
ABOUT APQC EDUCATION
Since 1996, APQC Education has been committed to the vision of enhancing the U.S. education system
by identifying improvement opportunities within districts’ routine processes. APQC Education has
worked with over 161 districts and schools in 41 states on training and 10 benchmarking studies. We
aspire to be a source of knowledge and a landmark on the path of continuous improvement.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Nelda Lincecum
APQC Education
123 North Post Oak Lane, Third Floor
Houston, TX 77024-7797
713-685-4686
nlincecum@apqc.org
APQC phone: +1-713-681-4020 or 800-776-9676
fax: +1-713-681-1179
www.apqceducation.org
For additional information, visit www.apqceducation.org
©2010 APQC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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