The Progress of Education Reform: Funding Dual Credit Programs PDF - More than 87% of America's public high schools offer their students the opportunity to gain college credit prior to graduation. Learning opportunities that allow students to gain college-level credit often are referred to as "dual credit" programs, and they are experiencing a growth in both the number of students who take advantage of them and the number of schools that offer them. (Mike Griffith, Education Commission of the States, January 2009)...

International Baccalaureate PDF - ...

Advanced Placement MS Word PDF - The Advanced Placement (AP) program has seen exponential growth in recent years. This ECS Policy Brief examines some of the reasons for this expansion, including the benefits students gain by taking AP courses and exams, the AP audit process, the pre-AP program and perhaps most importantly, the essential components of a comprehensive state AP policy and how these components take shape in Arkansas policy – the state furthest along in addressing each element of the comprehensive policy. (Jennifer Dounay, Education Commission of the States, February 2006)...

Advanced Placement: Do state policies matter? - Access related research titles from the ECS Research Studies Database. Links embedded in titles will take you to each study's major findings and recommendations....

Road to Equity: Expanding AP Access and Success for African-American Students - Of 75 school districts whose demographics make them eligible for the Broad Prize for Urban Education, only six have student populations in which African-American students were improving their passing rates for Advanced Placement (AP) exams while keeping participation levels steady: Cobb and Fulton counties, Ga., Garland Independent, Tex., Jefferson County, Ky., Orange county, Fla., and San Diego Unified, Ca. Garland was the only district increasing participation and pass rates for African-Americans and Hispanics at levels outpacing their white peers. This brief explores strategies used by all six, among them: cast a wider net for academic potential, impose a rigorous curriculum in elementary school, apply gifted strategies to all children, open AP to everyone, offer a broad array of support, and place a premium on teacher training. (Broad Prize for Urban Education)...

The 8th Annual AP Report to the Nation - This report examines state and national Advanced Placement (AP) program data and provides states with a reference point to understand their successes and challenges and set meaningful, data-driven goals to prepare more students for success in college. The data include: (1) subject-specific results; (2) state-specific reports; (3) AP exams taken in U.S. public schools by the graduating class of 2011; (4) changes in equity and excellence from 2001 to 2011; and (5) raw numbers behind percentages in tables and additional AP program data. (College Board, February 2012)...

The Impact of Advanced Placement Incentive Programs - This policy brief examines the incentive programs for the most popular and widespread of the accelerated education programs, the Advanced Placement (AP) program. The brief looks into the various types of incentive programs found in the U.S. today, highlighting, in particular, several prominent or notable incentive programs. After an examination of the effectiveness of the various incentive programs, the brief draws conclusions and makes recommendations to improve AP incentive programs. (Michael Holstead, Terry Spradlin, Margaret McGillivray and Nathan Burroughs, Center for Evaluation and Education Policy, Winter 2010)...