Using Data to
Improve AP®
Equity &
Excellence
Ryan Christianson
Principal
Lincoln High School
AP is registered trademark of the College Board, which
were not involved in the production of, and do not endorse,
this product.
How can data be
used to engage the
school community in improving
AP Equity & Excellence?
Survey of AP Data Use
What kind of data is available to your school?
Who has access to the data?
How is the data currently being used?
What kind of new data can you seek or generate
on your own?
Online Sign-in For AP Educators
https://epl.collegeboard.com/epl/login.do
Teacher Online Portal for all AP teachers
approved through the AP Course Ledger
AP Instructional Planning Report
• Subject-specific report showing the performance of
students on the multiple-choice and free-response
sections and on specific topics within that AP Exam,
compared to all students
• A powerful resource for AP teachers: helps teachers
target areas for increased attention and focus in the
curriculum. Can help guide teachers in course
planning and professional development
• With the new online system, teachers now get their
AP Instructional Planning Reports directly, and earlier
in the summer so that they can make any curriculum
adjustments in time for the new school year.
AP Instructional Planning Report (Page 1)
• The top bar graph and chart show how this
group of students performed overall versus
the global population.
• Bottom two bar graphs and charts show student
performance on multiple-choice and freeresponse sections.
AP Instructional Planning Report (Page 2)
The second page provides
a detailed view of students’
performance on specific
content categories on the
multiple-choice and freeresponse sections.
• The Global Mean column provides the average scores of all
AP students worldwide on specific content categories within
the exam.
• The Group Mean column provides this information for your
students.
• Right-hand side shows how your students fall into global
quartiles. Grouping of students in the higher/lower fourths
indicates higher/lower performance than the total population.
Administrators and AP Coordinators have more data
options, including data from previous years
For best viewing…select PDF Format
For best data analysis…select Excel Options
Consider your “Group” as compared to the
“Global“ (Page 1)
“Group” verses
“Global” Mean
(Page 2)
• The Global Mean column provides the average scores of all
AP students worldwide on specific content categories within
the exam.
• The Group Mean column provides this information for your
students.
• Right-hand side shows how your students fall into global
quartiles. Grouping of students in the higher/lower fourths
indicates higher/lower performance than the total population.
Micro-analysis of data points from Page 2:
Multiple-Choice Section
•Max score
•Global Mean Score
•Group Mean Score
•Group scores compared to quartiles
Micro-analysis of data points from Page 2:
Performance on Free-Response
Section
•Max score
•Global Mean Score
•Group Mean Score
•Group scores compared to quartiles
Access additional data from AP Central for
deeper micro-analysis
Question
Mean
Standard
Deviation
Number of
Points Possible
1
3.43
1.45
9
2
3.57
1.60
9
3
2.65
1.60
9
4
2.86
1.60
9
5
3.24
1.61
9
2010 FRQ Scoring Statistics for AP US History
Generating disaggregated data for your AP
Instructional Planning Report
This opportunity to customize your APIPR data
analysis can offer educators a new approach to
identifying curricular deficits.
CAUTION!
This type of data analysis requires a well thought out
plan with focused goals.
Utilizing the “School Use Only” option on students’ AP
Exam answer sheets allows educators to gather unique
and specific data for:
◦ disaggregating class sections
◦ tracking study groups
◦ engaging action research
Student AP Answer Sheet & Section Selection
for IPR
Reports
Tip: Create your IPR sections before the
AP testing week so proctors can fill in the
proper ovals at the exam site.
Student Answer Sheet with cutout of the old
version of the Student Roster Report
Disaggregated v. Aggregate Data
Multiple
Choice
Sections
Free
Response
Sections
How might you disaggregate data on
your APIPR, or engage other uses of
the APIPR to better promote student
achievement?
The Wisconsin Idea Today
…education should influence and improve people’s lives beyond the university classroom.
•
•
•
•
Building Wisconsin’s economy
Advancing health and medicine
Educating young and old
Enhancing quality of life
Obama’s Goal For Higher Education
…to have the highest proportion of students
graduating from college in the world by 2020.
The president believes that regardless of
educational path after high school, all
Americans should be prepared to enroll in at
least one year of higher education or job
training to better prepare our workforce for a
21st century economy.
AP Equity & Excellence
Combining Participation and Performance
“The percent of a school’s students who take
and pass AP exams is the best AP-related
indicator of whether the school is preparing
increasing percentages of its students to
graduate from college.”
Source: Chrys Dougherty, Lynn Mellor, and Shuling Jian, The Relationship Between Advanced Placement and
College Graduation (National Center for Educational Accountability, 2006)
How can data be
used to engage the
school community in improving
AP Equity & Excellence?