Advanced Placement Program

Abstract

The Advanced Placement Program (APP) is an early college option program in which high school students take college classes for credit to get a head start on college-level coursework. This article discusses five Advanced Placement (AP) programmatic elements: courses and classes; teachers; students; examinations; and credit. External AP examinations administered by the College Board are used to validate AP college-level courses. Students may also be granted advanced placement or standing which may exempt them from certain introductory-level courses and permit them to take higher-level courses in the subject area. Although the APP has traditionally been directed to a very select population of highly qualified students, there have been renewed efforts in recent years to expand access and participation for rural, low-income, and minority students.

The APP is an early college option program in which students take college classes for credit, get a head start on college-level coursework, and prepare for more advanced college studies. It is a method by which students can accelerate their academic college programs and thus get a time-shortened college education. By abbreviating the length of students' undergraduate experience, the APP can save them the cost of a semester or even a year of college-level credit in the subject area.

The APP, designed by the College Entrance Examination Board or College Board, assists American high school students in bridging secondary and postsecondary education so as to create a more seamless grades 11–16 education. The APP has specific curricular requirements and offers exams in thirty-eight college-level courses in six major subject areas (College Board, 2018; see Table 1). Outstanding secondary students—typically high school juniors and seniors—can enroll in, take, complete and receive credit in one or more college-level courses in different subjects that are taught at their own high schools.

By 2006, approximately 60 percent of high schools were offering their students an APP and a college-level curriculum in at least some AP subjects (Marklein, 2006). The majority of these high schools provide college-credit AP courses in multiple curricular, content, or subject areas.

At one time, the APP was accessible to only a small percentage of students. It has historically been almost universally available in more affluent school districts. There has been a push over the past decade to make AP classes more inclusive by inviting a broader cross-section of students. To facilitate this, many states have programs that allow high-school students to take college-level AP courses tuition free. As a result of these efforts, large percentages of freshmen entering college programs submit AP scores for consideration.

External AP examinations administered in May of each year by the College Board are used to validate the college-level courses taken by students. A satisfactory, acceptable, or passing level of performance on the AP examinations scored by the College Board serve as a basis for credit and/or advanced placement. Colleges and universities review students' scores and grant units of AP credit that apply toward their graduation requirements in a number of instructional areas (see Table 2).

AP credits are important in the selection of students for admission to colleges and universities. In fact, most colleges and universities cooperate and develop agreements with the APP and high schools participating in the program. There are also non-high-school-focused APPs in which high school students take AP classes in community or other colleges and receive dual credit. Most states, in fact, also require the availability of dual enrollment programs that are both school and college based.

Overview

History of the APP. The APP was created and launched by the College Entrance Examination Board (College Board) in 1955 (Manzo, 2004; Ranborn, 1983). The College Board is a New York City-based nonprofit association and the founder and sponsor of the APP. The organization oversees and manages the APP, develops course summaries for the various AP courses, and develops, administers, and redesigns 38 AP exams annually (College Board, 2017b). The mandate of the program was to provide high-achieving students access to college-level coursework while still in high school. Since its establishment, the program has undergone many changes, had various problems, and yet has seen steadily increasing demand and growth.

Student participation in the APP has grown from 1,229 in the 1955–56 school year to over 2.7 million in 2016–17 (College Board, 2017a). The number of AP courses nearly doubled from 1982 to 1990 (Cetron & Gayle, 1991). The percentage of high school students graduating with advanced-placement credit in Iowa, for example, in 1987 was 2.2, which ranked it 49th among the states. By comparison, Utah, the national leader in that year, had 26.6 percent of its high school students graduating with advanced placement credit (Cetron & Gayle, 1991).

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, the APP was growing at approximately 10 percent each year (Ranborn, 1983). The programs continued to grow dramatically during the decade from 1995 to 2005. Around the turn of the twenty-first century, the APP was made up of 31 college-level courses and exams in 19 subject areas that were taught in 65 different countries, including the United States. (Reising, 2000; Rothschild, 1999). The APP served 22,169 schools in the 2016–17 school year (College Board, 2017a). The numbers of courses, examinations, subject areas, schools, and participating countries in the APP continue to grow.

Further Insights

The following section will summarize and describe five basic elements related to the APP. These AP programmatic elements, which will be discussed in turn, are (a) courses and classes, (b) teachers, (c) students, (d) examinations, and (e) credit (see Table 2).

AP Courses & Classes. The College Board sponsors, audits, and reviews high school AP courses and oversees how they are carried out (Klein, 2006). It evaluates and approves course syllabi, which are required to meet the APP curricular requirements. Regular college-level coursework is taken and completed on a part-time basis by students to receive college-level credit while still enrolled in high school.

The level of work of AP courses, which is equivalent to those of an introductory college curriculum, offers numerous benefits to high school students. The courses are meant to reflect the greater rigor of college-level work and to prepare students for more advanced college study. Subjects are delved into in greater detail and depth. Compared to high school courses, there is an increased workload and greater preparation is required. Students may not only get into more selective colleges and universities based on their participation in the APP, but they also may have greater success once they get there.

AP courses have traditionally been characterized by both vertical acceleration involving more advanced work and horizontal enrichment involving more intellectually stimulating curricula (Olson, 1964). In light of criticisms that AP courses were trying to cover too much content with too great an emphasis on memorization, the APP decided to redesign its science and history curricula in particular to increase the depth of learning and somewhat decrease its breadth going forward (Packer, 2011). AP classes offer "college-like" seminars with group discussions for secondary school "scholars." Students are able to improve their critical thinking, creative problem-solving, reasoning, and writing skills. They can develop better study habits and have opportunities for individual work and independent research.

There is an ever-increasing availability, access to, and participation in AP courses in all or most high schools across every state. They are offered many times in nearby area colleges as well. AP courses can also be offered in online classes, in which case, course materials, assignments, and due dates are posted for the convenience of students. Online classes, which offer advantages in relation to scheduling and flexibility in timing, better prepare high school students for their college careers by helping them to take AP courses and earn college credit while still in high school.

AP courses prepare students for AP examinations. However, students are not required to take AP courses in order to take AP exams. With passing scores on the exams, the AP courses are listed on students' high school transcripts.

AP Teachers. The high school teachers who teach the AP classes are specifically certified to teach AP courses (Reeves, 2004). The success of the APP depends on the ability of its teachers. Because AP courses are more academically demanding and require supplementary training activities, AP teachers are more likely to have a master's degree. The higher salaries commanded by AP teachers and the typically smaller class sizes of AP courses result in the increased cost of an APP for a school district (Johnson, 2004). In addition, due to the paucity of trained AP teachers and the need to increase the number of teachers qualified to teach AP classes, the federal government issued grants to train AP teachers. Also, sometimes regular college faculty teach AP courses and provide college-level instruction to high school students in the APP.

A committee of high school and college faculty prepare course descriptions, teacher guides, and exams for the APP. AP teachers also develop and work from AP course syllabi in their subject area. Models and examples of all these documents are found in booklets that are published by the APP for AP teachers to use. AP teachers also have their courses audited by the College Board. They are required to submit a completed audit form and a copy of their course syllabus to prove that their AP class meets the College Board's rigorous course standards (Klein, 2006).

AP Students. The APP is open to high school students with the necessary foundation to succeed in AP courses. If students have an interest in a specific subject area and a desire to pursue college-level studies while still in secondary school, they can elect to take an AP course in that subject or content area (Beane, Toepfer, & Alessi, 1986). Typical students in APP may take two or more AP courses, an honors class or two, and other elective classes. A growing number of high school juniors and seniors have been known to take as many as five to seven AP courses at one time. The APP has been a cost-effective means to obtain college-level coursework experience and advanced standing in college for many students. It has also been an important factor in admissions, provided students added advantages in their college applications, and put students on an equal footing to compete and succeed with classmates in advanced college study, although these benefits have been somewhat diminished as participation has increased and competition for college admission grown fiercer.

At one time, the APP was limited to a very small percentage of students. Traditionally, it has been "reserved" for more highly qualified students. Since the late 1990s and early 2000s, the APP has adopted the goal to expand participation to a broader range of students. There is a desire to increase students' access to and participation in AP courses. This is especially true for rural, low-income, and minority students who have been underrepresented in the APP (Ndura, Robinson, & Ochs, 2003). These groups of students, including African Americans and Hispanics, have historically had less access and opportunity to take AP courses, and they remain less likely to have such access and opportunity (Solorzano & Omelas, 2004; Battey, 2013). The APP thus increases academic opportunity for some minority high school students. By enrolling larger numbers of minority students, helping to raise their expectations, and increasing their achievement, the APP better prepares them for college and university study (Watkins, 1988). The federal government has increased its financial support to assist rural, low-income, and minority students to participate and succeed in AP courses and tests.

AP Examinations. The College Board designs, sets up, administers, and grades AP course examinations for high school students. The exams for all AP courses are offered in May of each year. The scores of AP exams are forwarded in July of each year to the student, his or her high school, and the registrars of the colleges and universities he or she plans to attend. The 2018 cost for each regular AP exam is ninety-four dollars, although fee reductions are made available to those who demonstrate financial hardship (College Board, 2018).

The number of students taking AP tests has increased significantly from year to year. About 10 percent more students took AP exams in 2006 compared to 2005, and nearly 50 percent more students took AP exams in 2016 compared to 2006 (Wasley, 2007; College Board, 2017b). Approximately 32 percent of the students that graduated high school in 2012 signed up for AP examinations ("AP Exam Participation Rates Grow," 2013; Adams, 2013). In 2017, AP students took more than 4.9 million AP exams (College Board, 2017a). Students arrange to take the AP tests during their senior year of high school through their high school guidance counselors. Prior to taking the exams, they can practice with online test-preparation classes and tutorials.

Satisfactory scores on the AP examinations may permit students to earn college credit. The exams are graded on a 5-point qualifying scale: 5 = extremely well qualified; 4 = well qualified; 3 = qualified; 2 = possibly qualified; and 1 = no recommendation (A2Z Colleges, 2007). A score of 3 is the minimum required to demonstrate college-level competence in a particular subject and is considered "passing" since most colleges and universities give credit to students who have achieved this score (Kaye, 2006; Wasley, 2007). Of the 1.1 million high school graduates who took at least one AP exam in the United States in 2016, 21.9 percent earned a score of 3 or higher (College Board, 2017b). By comparison, in the year 2000, approximately 10 percent had scores of 3 or higher (Wasley, 2007). However, failure rates have also grown as the participation rate has increased, with 40 percent not passing in 2012, up from 35 percent a decade earlier (Toppo, 2013).

APP president Trevor Packer led an effort in 2011 to redesign the AP exams in order to provide additional information regarding students' mastery of subject matter. Thereafter, exams would still be scored on the 5-point scale but would also include detailed mastery results for the various course learning objectives in order to better inform colleges and universities of the student's actual skill level (Packer, 2011).

AP Credit. Secondary school students bound for postsecondary educational institutions have almost limitless opportunities to earn advanced placement credits and advanced standing while still in high school. AP students have various choices and options available related to earned credit and advanced standing in colleges and universities. Some AP courses offer automatic credit upon course completion. Other courses offer credit only when students become enrolled in postsecondary education. Colleges and universities may, and usually do, limit the number of academic areas in which a student may receive advanced credit or standing (e.g., a maximum of three).

Credit is generally treated as transfer credit without a grade. Credit is used in fulfilling specific curriculum requirements and is counted toward graduation degree requirements. The amount of credit granted, the equivalent college or university courses for which credit is granted, and any special placements are determined either by the registrar's office of the college or university or by the head of the department in which the course is offered. Students may also petition an academic dean for college or university credit and advanced placement by completing and filing an AP credit application. The registrar's office typically notifies the student about the earned credit and/or advanced placement by letter in the summer or early fall before or upon arrival at the college or university.

Colleges and universities grant advanced placement, academic credit, and appropriate advanced placement or standing for AP courses based on scores variously described as minimum, passing, acceptable, sufficiently high, or qualifying on the AP examinations. The scores facilitate students' acceptance at various colleges and universities and provide them access to programs of interest. Colleges and universities may exempt students who pass AP examinations with acceptable scores from taking certain introductory level courses. Students may also be granted permission to take higher-level or more advanced courses in the subject area.

A student's relative proficiency on AP exams is verified and validated by their AP scores. In order to receive advanced placement credit, composite scores of 3, 4 or 5 are typically needed. Two semesters, two units, or one year of credit may be granted for scores of 4 or 5, and one semester or one unit of credit for a score of 3 by most departments and subject areas (e.g., history, art, English, foreign languages). Other departments and subject areas, such as the sciences and mathematics, may grant only one semester or one unit of credit for a score of 4 or 5 and no credit for a lower score.

Issues

AP Standards. AP courses are demanding, and there are high expectations for all students in the program. Students who are admitted into the APP must meet the uniform high standards established for AP classes. The long history of the AP exams demonstrates that intellectual performance is to a large extent noncontroversial and amenable to formal evaluation (Wiggins, 1998).

And yet, a debate has arisen concerning whether the APP should broaden the base and the cross-section of students taking AP courses at the possible expense of lowering standards and reducing the rigor and demand of courses (Bishop & Johnson, 2006). The question then that must be asked is: Can the APP maintain or improve its high passing rate while greatly increasing the numbers of students (e.g., rural, low-income, and minority) taking AP courses and examinations?

Achievement tests such as AP exams are generally based on the underlying premise that scores should fairly approximate a standard curve, and that is the intended result in the design of test scoring (Wiggins, 1993). However, AP exams represent standards applied to only a small percentage of students and not all students. If all students got a 5 on an AP exam, most everyone associated with the program would be delighted and not unduly upset because the results did not approximate a standard curve. And, in fact, the AP exam does serve as a good example of how uniformly high standards can ideally be upheld and met by all or almost all students (Wiggins, 1993).

External standards such as AP exams are needed even though tests are constrained by typical limits of national tests (Wiggins, 1998). For example, although the AP exam in U.S. history is built on a number of inauthentic constraints (e.g., students are not allowed to have access to or use their own research, libraries, or other resources), the results of the exam correlate well with students' history performance in college (Wiggins, 1998). However, Wiggins (1993) argues that students should be allowed access to their own notes, history reference material, and human resources in writing essay questions on the AP exam after they have already provided answers to the other general objective items in the first hour of the exam. He concludes that these resources would more closely mimic criterion situations in subjects such as math.

The AP exams use a combination of selected-response or multiple-choice items and free-, open-, or constructed-response items. The multiple-choice items are objectively scored, and the free- response items are subjectively scored using rubrics or scoring guides that outline a set of descriptive evaluative criteria or quality definitions with assigned numerical scores typically ranging from 0 to 4, for example (Popham, 2003).

A major part of each AP exam uses a scoring system of sophisticated rubric criteria to judge student performance (Wiggins, 1998). Two examples are the AP English composition essay and the AP art portfolio. The scoring rubrics used to score the AP English composition essay have defined criteria for writing a good persuasive essay. The essays are scored by teacher-judges, and the scores are judgment-based (Wiggins, 1998). For the AP art class portfolio exam, students submit an in-depth project including a set of major pieces of artwork focused on a theme, style, or problem. In an accompanying one-page letter, students perform a self-assessment by summarizing and explaining how their intent in the set of artworks is revealed in the actual effect. Judges determine the effectiveness of the realization of the students' intentions in the artworks and their breadth of control (Wiggins, 1993).

The APP makes their tests and student papers public each year (Wiggins, 1993). They release questions or items, answer keys, rubrics, sources for prompts, anchor papers, and performance standards in booklets of the College Board. Public inspection provides a means of formal validation of the value and the validity of the tests (Wiggins, 1993; Wiggins, 1998).

AP Research. It has been posited that the APP provides an effective approach for maintaining the context of the all-school program for the broadest possible base of students (Beane, Toepfer, & Alessi, 1986). The APP is able to preserve this balance better than the earlier use of tracking programs, which subdivided aspects of the all-school program into tracks or subtracks. There was little flexibility in tracking programs. Students were placed in high-ability or high-achievement tracks in all subjects and were limited to a high-track schedule even if they needed a lower-ability track in some subjects. By contrast, the APP allows maximum flexibility because students do not have to elect high-challenge courses in subject areas other than the ones in which they choose to participate (Beane, Toepfer, & Alessi, 1986).

The focus of much research related to the APP has centered around the predictive validity of AP examinations to anticipate AP students' future performance, grades, success, and likelihood of degree completion in college or university compared to those same outcomes for non-AP students. Predictive validity is simply defined as the degree to which predictions made by a test, such as an AP examination, are confirmed by the later behavior of students (Borg & Gall, 1989).

Research by the College Board not too surprisingly has confirmed the relationship between AP and college success; takers of AP courses and exams were found to outperform and have better grades in college than students who do not (National Science Teachers Association, 2007). The same study concluded that students who took high school AP courses were more likely to graduate from college with higher grade-point averages than students who did not take AP classes (Klein, 2007). Other research also suggests that students who take AP courses and examinations perform better than students who do not (Kaye, 2006). Clifford Adelman (1999, 2006) of the U.S. Department of Education found that both the quality and academic integrity of a student's high school curriculum were determinants of later success in earning a college degree. However, a study by researchers at the University of California-Berkeley found that the number of AP courses taken in high school and resulting scores on AP examinations that appear on a student's transcript do not have a relationship to a student's later good performance and success in college (Geiser & Santelices, 2004).

Another line of related research has looked at the relative performance of boys and girls in AP science and math courses and on AP examinations. In 2006, males made up approximately 85 percent of the students in AP science and math courses (Hubler, 2006). Spelke & Grace (2006) conclude that AP tests have a number of drawbacks in measuring boys' and girls' relative cognitive abilities in science and math. Robelen (2012) uncovered a more nuanced picture of gender participation across subjects. He found that males represented nearly 60 percent of the AP calculus BC participants, over 80 percent of computer science takers, and more than 70 percent of physics students, while calculus AB and statistics were relatively evenly split between genders and females constituted 59 percent of biology students (Robelen, 2012). Nevertheless, ongoing concerns about the underrepresentation of girls and women in science, math, engineering, and technology (STEM) both in academia and the workforce prompted the APP to launch an initiative, the AP STEM Access Program, to recruit more female and minority public high school students into its math and science courses, beginning in 2012 (College Board, 2011).

In a historic research study, Casserly (1979) examined 12 U.S. high schools that enrolled more than twice the national average of girls in AP science and mathematics courses. He found that the high school teachers shared several common attributes. They actively recruited girls into the AP programs; homogeneously grouped "gifted students" in accelerated programs from, in many cases, the fourth grade on; exhibited few signs of sex-role stereotyping in their thinking or classroom behaviors; created a nurturing and comfortable environment for learning that had the effect of breaking down social and cultural barriers; and expected and demanded high-level performances from the girls as well as the boys (Kirk & Gallagher, 1989). As a result, the ultimate success of the APP in the high schools is likely a natural extension of the attributes, practices, behaviors, expectations, and environments associated with the programs.

The continued future success of the APP is not guaranteed. It has become problematic or at least challenging for the APP to maintain its historically uniform high academic standards while further broadening the base and cross-section of students taking AP courses and exams. The predictive validity of AP exams to anticipate AP students' future performance and success in college has been suggested but not incontrovertibly proven by related research studies.

Terms & Concepts

Advanced Placement (AP): Sometimes referred to as advanced standing. Academic status recognized by the granting or awarding of units of credit to a high school student for successful composite scores on college-level examinations; AP may also exempt students from taking certain introductory level college courses and make them eligible to take higher-level courses in the subject area.

Advanced Placement Classes: Introductory college-level courses of study in various subject areas that high school students take to earn credit applied to postsecondary curricular and graduation requirements.

Advanced Placement Credit: A quantity or amount of academic recognition or standing earned in units and granted to students for acceptable performance on AP examinations and applied to a college's or university's curricular or graduation requirements.

Advanced Placement Examinations: End-of-course tests that are administered and scored by the College Board and that are used to validate AP college-level courses and earn units of credit that high school students can apply toward curricular and graduation requirements at a college or university.

Advanced Placement Program (APP): An early college option in which high school students take college-level courses and associated college-level end-of-course examinations to earn units of credit that apply toward postsecondary curricular & graduation requirements.

Advanced Placement Students: Highly qualified high school students—typically eleventh- and twelfth-graders, juniors and seniors—who take AP college-level courses and/or examinations in one or more subject areas for college credit and/or advanced standing while they are still enrolled in high school.

Advanced Placement Teachers: High-school, and sometimes college, faculty members who teach AP courses, develop and work from AP syllabi, prepare course descriptions, teacher guides, and exams for the APP and complete course audits.

College Entrance Examination Board (College Board): A nonprofit association founded in 1900 that sponsors and administers the Advanced Placement Program (among others), including advanced placement courses and examinations.

Predictive Validity: The degree to which predictions of students' success, performance, or other outcomes are anticipated, realized, and/or confirmed by their later or future behavior.

Units of credit: A quantity or amount of academic credit awarded to students for acceptable performance on AP examinations, for example. Although it may vary somewhat from college to college and department to department, one unit of credit is often awarded for each successful AP exam; a unit is generally the equivalent of four semester hours or six quarter hours; units of credit apply toward the total number of units of academic credit required for graduation; and colleges and universities usually have a policy as to the total number of units of credit that can be awarded based on AP exam scores.

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Schudson, M. S. (1972). Organizing the "meritocracy": A history of the College Entrance Examination Board. Harvard Educational Review, 42 (1), 34-69. Retrieved May 7, 2007 from EBSCO online database Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=19749201&site=ehost-live

Solorzano, D. G., & Omelas, A. (2004). A critical race analysis of Latina/o and African American Advanced Placement enrollment in public high schools. High School Journal, 87 (3), 15-26. Retrieved May 7, 2007 from EBSCO online database Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=12383519&site=ehost-live

Spelke, E. S., & Grace, A. D. (2006). Abilities, motives, and personal styles. American Psychologist, 61 (7), 725-726. Retrieved May 7, 2007, from EBSCO online database Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=23055387&site=ehost-live

Toppo, Greg. (2013, February 21). Report: Opportunity for AP classes uneven in USA. USA Today. Retrieved December 5, 2013, from: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/02/20/advanced-placement-high-school-classes/1928913/

Valentine, J. A. (1987). The College Board and the school curriculum, 1900-1980. College Board Review, (143), 38-39.

Wasley, P. (2007). College Board reports more takers, and higher scores, for Advanced Placement Tests. Chronicle of Higher Education, 53 (25), A32. Retrieved May 7, 2007, from EBSCO online database Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=24281191&site=ehost-live

Watkins, B. T. (1988). Participation of minority students rises 32 percent in Advanced- Placement Tests: Many score high. Chronicle of Higher Education, 35 (16), A1, 26.

Wiggins, G. P. (1993). Assessing student performance: Exploring the purpose and limits of testing. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Wiggins, G. P. (1998). Educative assessment: Designing assessments to inform and improve student performance. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Suggested Reading

Corra, M., Scott Carter, J. J., & Carter, S. K. (2011). The interactive impact of race and gender on high school advanced course enrollment. Journal of Negro Education, 80(1), 33-46. Retrieved December 5, 2013, from EBSCO online database Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=62607837

Edvantia, Inc. (2006). Rethinking advanced placement. District Administration, 42 (6), Retrieved May 7, 2007 from http://www.districtadministration.com/viewarticle.aspx?articleid=223&pf=1

Fenty, N. S., & Allio, A. (2017). Using distance learning to impact access of diverse learners to advanced placement programs. Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 18(2), 39–56. Retrieved January 11, 2018, from EBSCO online database Education Source. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=125876172&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Geiser, S., & Santelices, V. (2004). The role of advanced placement and honors courses in college admissions. Berkeley, CA: University of California-Berkeley Center for Studies in Higher Education. Retrieved May 7, 2007 from http://ishi.lib.berkeley.edu/cshe/

Kaye, R. D. (2006). Progress in Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate in SREB states. Atlanta, GA: Southern Regional Educational Board. Retrieved May 7, 2007 from http://www.sreb.org/main/Goals/Publications/06E07-Progress%5FAP%5FIB.pdf

Klein, A. (2007). Researchers see college benefits for students who took AP courses. Education Week, 26 (22), 7. Retrieved May 7, 2007 From EBSCO online database Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=23973798&site=ehost-live

Paige, R. (2004). Remarks on advanced placement courses: Excellence will generate excellence. Executive Speeches, 18 (6), 35-37. Retrieved May 7, 2007 from EBSCO online database Business Source Complete. http://search.ebsco-host.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=13493157&site=ehost-live

Smith, L. S. (1999). College is for pursuing dreams -- high school is for the basics. Christian Science Monitor, 91 (24), 16.