ISSN: 1550-7521
ISSN: 1550-7521
Wahib Toghan*
Department of Finance and Business Law, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, USA
Citation: Jaramillo I (2024) Discussing Minority Representation within Advanced Placement Courses. Global Media Journal, 22:68.
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Minority representation within advanced placement courses, more specifically the lack of, creates a less diverse learning environment for all students. Establishing possible misrepresentation within these courses would allow for a better understanding of the education system today. Using a survey, data was collected that addresses the number of minority students and non-minority students within a select high school. Here students provided whether they feel as though they are represented within the courses they are taking. After comparing results, it was found that minority students participated in advanced placement courses less than non-minority students within this particular subject pool. As well as these results, Hispanic and African American students felt as though they were not represented within the advanced placement courses they participated in. This concludes that there is misrepresentation within select schools advanced placement courses.
Representation; Minority; Advanced placement
Minority representation is an important discussion within the United States. Providing equal opportunity for all individuals is a priority, especially within the education system. In some select courses, there may be a lack of minority representation. Minority involvement in advanced placement courses is a topic of interest when discussing classroom diversity. Especially for high school students, advanced placement courses help to improve students’ grade point average and transcript, as well as prepare them for college [1]. This helps students in the future with progressing their education. Advanced placement courses are provided by the College Board. These courses are offered to all high school students and provide a higher level of education. Although all students may take these courses, minority students may lack involvement within these courses and may notice a lack of representation. The College Board is an American non-profit organization that promotes success within higher education. This organization helps students transition to college and help advance the education community. The College Board has a diverse team of professionals working to advance future education (College Board). Students participate in these courses with the goal to pass the advanced placement course exam at the end of the school year. Passing the exam with a score of a three or higher results in receiving college credit. These courses are beneficial for everyone in that they may receive college credit as well as start off a higher level of education. All of this may be done before entering college. Encouraging all students to take these courses would allow every student to benefit from this higher level of education. The goal of increasing minority representation within these courses would allow for a more diverse learning environment. Diversity within these classrooms promotes students to appreciate other perspectives and differences. Motivating minority students to participate in advanced placement courses would benefit the individual student as well as the learning community. In past research, schools within different demographics have shown a range of minority students that are participating in advanced courses. There has been data that shows a lack of minority representation as well as data showing equal representation. This research specifically analyzes student diversity in the selected high school. Prior research has not discussed diversity within this select school, meaning this research would lead to a better understanding of minority representation within specifically this school. Prior research also lacked discussing just 11th grade and 12th grade students. The research is usually broader and does not discuss specific schools. The data in this research answers the question regarding minority and non-minority student representation. This research is significant because it allows for a better understanding of minority participation and representation. Within this select school, it is predicted that there is a lack of minority representation within the advanced placement courses.
Literature Review
Advanced placement classes were introduced to the education world in the 1955-1965 school years. AP classes are currently offered to all students regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, etc.. The College Board offers 38 advanced placement courses in several different subjects (College Board). Although all types of students have the opportunity to enter these classes, research shows that there are large gaps between the different races and ethnicities that participate in these classes. According to NCES, the National Center of Educational Statistics, the number of students earning any AP/IB credits is 72 percent higher for Asian students than it is for White students (40 percent). The percentages of Asian and White students taking these courses were higher than the percentages for students in all of the other racial/ethnic groups. The percentage of students earning any AP/IB credits was lowest for Black students, being 23 percent (NCES). The 2017-2018 school year shows a significant gap between these races. African American students were least likely to participate within these courses, which results in these students not gaining the benefits and receiving higher level education. This research shows a lack of minority representation within advanced placement courses. This raises the question, is there equal representation between minorities and non-minorities within a select high schools’ 11th and12th grade advanced placement courses?
Historically, black institutions and black students have had a seemingly disadvantage within the education system. Black institutions have had this difficulty due to the preconceived notion that these institutions were lesser than white institutions in the 19th and 20th century [2]. This is reflected in the number of African American students excelling in the education system. Discriminatory behaviors affect minority involvement in higher courses such as advanced placement classes. The lack of support for these students results in these students to feel less inclined to participate in higher education. Differences in minority success are also shown in graduating classes and the number of students moving on to college. According to the American Psychological Association, the graduation rate for African American students was 73 percent while the graduating percentage of white students was 87 percent in 2014 [3]. This displays a significant number of African American students who are not finishing high school, meaning they will not pursue college. Not only are minority students taking higher advanced classes at a lower rate, but they are also graduating less. Increasing advanced placement resources and higher education encourages academic success. This may also increase graduation rates due to a head start into college. These students would receive college credit and a higher grade point average which aids in graduating. Involving minority students in these courses would improve these students' college outcomes. Income also has a major effect on students' ability to take advanced placement classes. In the 1950s, advanced placement courses were mostly offered to richer private schools. If students did not have a higher income, they were most likely not offered these courses. The Economic Policy Institute stays that more than 25 percent of African Americans and more than 20 percent of Hispanics under 18 years old lived below the poverty line in 2019 [3]. Students that are impoverished are less likely to pursue higher classes. These students have limited resources and are less likely to exceed what is expected of them. Students going to schools with lower incomes may feel less compelled to participate in these courses. There is not only a lack of minority students within higher education, but also a lack of minority teachers. There is a disproportionate amount of African American teachers compared to white teachers within school faculty. The National Center of Education Statistic says in 2017 and 2018, 79 percent of public school teachers were White, 9 percent were Hispanic, 7 percent were African American, 2 percent were Asian, 2 percent were multiple races, and 1 percent were American Indian or Alaskan Native. Pacific Islander made up less than 1 percent of these teachers (NCES). There are not as many minority teachers teaching students. Creating diversity within the school faculty may encourage this same diversity within students and the classroom. Research also shows that although minority students would benefit from participating in advanced placement classes, they are less likely to. Research finds that advanced placement coursework and credits can lead to higher scores on college entrance exams, raise college enrollment, and decrease time to college completion. Civil rights data explains that minority students do benefit from the higher education they get in advanced placement courses. This research found that advanced placement courses help expose students to college exams and raise enrollment within college due to the college credit received within advanced placement courses [4]. All students benefit from taking these courses. If minority participation increased, these students would be able to receive higher education. Contrary to other research, the College Board found an increase in the number of African American and Hispanic students participating in advanced placement courses. The College Board explains that the number of passing advanced placement scores by African American students increased by 4,744 students between 1999 and 2010. The number of Hispanic students passing these exams with a score of a 3 or higher increased by 20,468 students between 1999 and 2010 [5]. This is a significant increase which suggests there has been more minority students participating within these courses. The College Board addresses this issue in providing data that supports the claim that minority students are taking these courses more than ever previously. The College Board claims within a decade, students have benefited off of the diverse environments within advanced placement course classrooms more than ever before [5]. The College Board explains the newfound increase of these minority students taking these courses and passing them. Their program has become more diverse. Research also shows that minority students are starting to surpass the number of non- minority students in all classrooms. Education Week states there has been a significant increase in Hispanic, African American, and Asian students enrolling in school [6]. The number of minority students in classrooms is increasing which would allow for more input of students within all courses, including advanced placement courses. This nationwide increase in minority students would allow for diversity to continue to grow within classrooms. All students would benefit from this increase in minority students participation.
The College Board founded the Access and Diversity Collaborative (ADC) in 2004 to help promote diversity within advanced education. The ADC was founded due to the Supreme Court case, Gratz v. Bollinger. This Supreme Court case argued that the admissions to University of Michigan’ College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA) discriminated against certain races and ethnicities. This was a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment which denies the government the ability to disregard equal protection. This case presented many different discriminatory actions that schools may be participating in (Oyez). In response to this case, the Access and Diversity Collaborative was founded to help discuss building diversity within the student body. The ADC is a group of experts that work together to discuss classroom diversity. Some goals amongst these members are to promote policies that advocate for diversity of college campuses, better educate about the benefits of diversity, and helping bring together leaders to communicate this. This group of professionals try to promote higher education for underrepresented groups (College Board). The College Board actively tries to promote diversity within every aspect of the student body. This may promote students to participate in advanced placement courses more often as they are receiving influence from the Access and Diversity Collaborative provided by the College Board. Overall, research supports and opposes the claim that there is a lack of minority involvement in the education system. Research states misrepresentation within all classrooms, while other states the newfound increase in minority students enrolled in school and advanced placement courses. Research done by specific schools may state misrepresentation within the classroom, but the College Board claims there are higher numbers of minority students taking advanced placement courses than previously thought. Through these articles, minority representation can be seen as present, but seemingly research proves there is not equal participation between minority students and non-minority students. This research question will evaluate the number of minorities involved in advanced placement classes in this select high school.
Design & Method
To determine whether or not there is equal representation among minority students and non-minority students in AP classrooms, a survey was sent out to 11th and 12th grade students at a select high school. This is the best way to conduct this research because the data received will come from a variety of students. The participants' were random due to the survey being sent out to all 11th and 12th grade students, which allowed for all input within these select grades. Student’s names were confidential as students did not have to put any personal information. The survey would allow for instant results to determine classroom diversity. Classroom diversity within this research is defined as an equal number of minority students and non-minority students in advanced placement courses.
Subjects
The students taking this survey were all 11th and 12th grade students at the select high school. This survey is aimed to see how many upperclassmen take AP classes, specifically comparing the number of minority and non-minority students. 11th and 12th grade students were asked to participate in this survey as they are more informed about advanced placement classes due to more experience. This survey will help assess how many students take these courses up to date. The subjects are able to directly input their grade, race, and whether they feel represented within the courses they participate in or not.
Instruments
An instrument used to assess this research question was a digital survey for students to complete. To randomize these results, the survey was sent to every student within 11th and 12th. The survey was sent via email to the students' school email addresses. Digital academy and brick and mortar students both received the survey. This ensured results from a variety of races among the participants.
First, a survey was created that addressed the reasoning for the survey. This reasoning stated that this research would be used to determine whether there is equal representation between minorities and non-minorities in advanced placement courses. The participants were informed that the research is confidential and although the grade of the students will be recorded, no other further personal information will be identified such as names. Students were able to fill out the survey and this would immediately input the results. After the students received the survey, the information was displayed within charts and tables to establish minority involvement. The number of minority students taking advanced placement classes is then calculated and compared to the number of nonminority students. Then whether students felt like they were represented in advanced placement courses was calculated and compared to other race/ethnicities.
Limitations and Implications of the Procedure
The first limitation of this research is that depending on the students that decide to take the survey, equal participation among the different students is not ensured. Due to COVID-19 and students in the digital academy, the participation of this survey may be affected due to limited class exposure and many students deciding not to take advanced classes over digital learning. This limited the number of students taking the survey and gave a smaller sample size to evaluate. Another limitation is that this survey only evaluates students in 11th and 12th grade and does not address underclassmen. Including 9th and 10th grade students would allow for larger results and a bigger sample size for comparing data. Despite these limitations, this survey may be given to different schools to expand understanding and to provide more research. This survey studies different demographics and provides a better understanding of classroom diversity. This data may be used to create a better understanding of minority representation.
Using percentages, the survey results were shared displaying the number of 11th grade students and 12th grade students who participated in the survey as well as minority and non- minority students. The data provided addresses grade level, race, and a personal opinion which addresses whether students feel represented within their advanced placement courses. The results in this research reflect the conclusion that the majority of students feel they were not equally represented within the courses they participated in. The data also addresses that there is a lack of minority representation within advanced placement courses as a whole. To come to this conclusion, there were 127 responses provided. Figure 1, 2, and 3 display the results of each question within the survey. Percentages are provided to compare data.
Figure 1: Grade level.
Figure 2: Participant’s Race and Ethnicity.
Figure 1 displays the data collected between the number of 11th and 12th that participated within the survey. Out of the 127 participants, 64 participants (50.4 percent) reported being in 12th grade and 63 participants (49.6 percent) reported being in 11th grade. This shows a relatively equal number of 11th and 12th graders that provided input into this survey, with a one participant difference.
The participants were then asked to record their race and/or their ethnicity, which is shown in Figure 2. Out of the 127 participants, 1 student reported being American Indian or Alaska Native (0.8 percent), 22 students reported being Asian (17.3 percent), 16 reported being black or African American (12.6 percent), 63 reported being white (49.6 percent), 3 reported being Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Island (2.4 percent), 20 reported being Hispanic (15.7 percent), and 2 reported being Middle Eastern (1.6 percent). The data presents a higher number of white students compared to any other race or ethnicity that is provided in the survey.
American Indian or Alaska Native students reported the least amount of responses compared to the other races and ethnicities. Table 1 displays the results of the question, do you feel as though your race/ethnicity is equally represented within the courses you participate in? Of the responses, 1 American Indian or Alaskan Native reported “yes” (0.79 percent). Out of the Asian participants, 16 reported “yes” (12.6 percent) and 6 reported “no” (4.72 percent). 1 African American student reported “yes” (0.79 percent) and 15 reported “no” (11.81 percent). 50 white students reported “yes” (39.37 percent) and 11 reported “no” (8.66 percent). 1 Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander repondant answered “yes” (0.79 percent) and 2 reported “no” (1.57 percent). 4 Hispanic students reported “yes” (3.15 percent) and 16 reported “no” (12.6 percent). Lastly, 1 Middle Eastern student reported “yes” (0.79 percent) and 1 reported “no” (0.79 percent). Out of the results, all students felt that they are represented within the courses they participated in, except Hispanic and African American students. White students had the highest number of “yes” answers, while Hispanic students had the highest number of “no” answers selected.
| Race and Ethincity | Yes | No |
|---|---|---|
| American Indian or Alaskan Native | 1 | 0 |
| Asian | 16 | 6 |
| African American | 1 | 15 |
| White | 50 | 11 |
| Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander | 1 | 2 |
| Hispanic | 4 | 16 |
| Middle Eastern | 1 | 1 |
Table 1: Do you feel as though your race/ethnicity is equally represented within the courses you participate in?
While looking at the overall results of the survey, Figure 1 shows 11th graders and 12th graders took the survey with a difference of 0.8 percent. Figure 2 shows minority students participated the least within advanced placement courses. White students make up 49.6 percent of the students that participated in this survey. Table 1 presents that Hispanic students and African American students reported feeling the least represented. Combining these results presents a lack of representation and participation of minority students.
From Figure 1, one can see that there was an almost equal number of 11th grade students and 12th grade students that took the survey. This presents an equal number of participants between these two select grades. The results from the participants were asked to share their race and/or ethnicity display that the majority of students who participated were white students. This supported the hypothesis that non-minority students would take advanced placement courses at a higher rate. The responses from non-minority students greatly exceeded those of minority students. This compared to research conducted in the Stamford public school district in Connecticut which suggests that Hispanic and African American students are participating in advanced placement courses at a much smaller rate compared to any other race or ethnicity [7]. Just like this research states, there was higher participation between white and Asian students compared to any other race and ethnicity. Asian and white students were the highest number of students that take advanced placement courses within this survey. Table 1 addresses whether these minority students felt represented within their courses. When evaluating the minority students as a whole and the white students, select minority students felt that they were not fully represented. Specifically Hispanic and African American students felt the most misrepresented within the advanced placement courses that they actively participate in. These results differ from the College Board’s claim that there has been an increase in minority involvement within advanced placement courses [6]. The College Board states an increase in minority participation when this research still establishes the lack of. Although minority students may participate in advanced placement courses at a higher rate than ever before, this does not compare to the number of non-minority students that participate in the courses. There is not an equal ratio between minority and non-minority students in these classes. Displayed by the survey results, minority students at this select school feel that they are lacking diversity within their advanced placement classes. There is also a lack of minority students taking these courses as a whole [7,8]. After analysing the data, one can see that Hispanic and African American students feel less represented within their courses. There is a trend of nonminority students feeling misrepresented within the advanced placement classes. The respondents addressed the feeling that they do not see other students that look like them within their courses. Minority students as a whole are participating in advanced placement classes at a lower rate than non-minority students. Through the data discussed, there is a disproportionate amount of non-minority students participating in advanced placement courses compared to minority students [9-12].
Limitations
The most prominent limitation within this research is that this survey was only conducted at one high school in a select area. This research may differ from survey results that may be provided from other schools with different demographics. Schools within different states may find their results to be different from the ones found in this research. The data collected is discussing a smaller sample size that may differ from a larger sample size. Although this is true, the data provided examines students' representation at this select high school. This is unique to any prior research.
In conclusion, the 11th and 12th grade students at this select high school suggest that there is not equal minority representation in advanced placement courses compared to non- minority students. This is concluded due to the number of minority students versus the number of non-minority students that feel there is not enough minority involvement. The survey results also state that non-minority students within this specific data pool take advanced placement courses at a higher rate than non-minority students. This data fills a gap in prior research by evaluating only 11th grade and 12th grade students. This survey was also sent out to students of a select school that prior researchers have not researched. This allows for a better understanding of minority representation at this specific high school. Limitations which may have resulted in different data is the number of students that participated in the survey. The sample size of this research is smaller which could result in differing results than if the data was conducted with more participants. The percentage of students that feel represented in their courses is higher than those who do not, but the number of Hispanic and African American students that feel they are not represented is significantly lower. Implications of this research is this survey can contribute to a better understanding of the misrepresentation of minority students. This can be applied to a solution on helping minority students participate in these higher level courses. As provided by this research, there is a lack of minority representation. For future research, using a bigger sample size would allow for larger results that would discuss minority representation within broader areas. This allows for a better understanding of advanced placement classrooms as a whole. Another way to further this research is by providing the survey to different schools within different locations which would allow for a variety of results that can be compared due to the different demographics. This data could also be compared to others within one state as well as nationwide. To better understand minority representation within specific advanced placement courses, the survey may be given out to students in select courses such as English, math, and science courses. Providing the survey to select advanced placement courses would allow for a better understanding of minority representation within specific courses. This would expand the research already provided and would allow for a broader understanding of whether there is equal representation between non- minority and minority students within advanced placement courses, as well as if students feel represented.
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