Payment of Advanced Placement Exam Fees by Virginia Public School Divisions and Its Impact on Advanced Placement Enrollment and Scores
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Virginia Commonwealth University VCU Scholars Compass Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 2010 PAYMENT OF ADVANCED PLACEMENT EXAM FEES BY VIRGINIA PUBLIC SCHOOL DIVISIONS AND ITS IMPACT ON ADVANCED PLACEMENT ENROLLMENT AND SCORES Mary Grupe Cirillo Virginia Commonwealth University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd Part of the Education Commons © The Author Downloaded from https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/2075 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at VCU Scholars Compass. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of VCU Scholars Compass. For more information, please contact [email protected]. COPYRIGHT PAGE Mary Grupe Cirillo 2010 All Rights Reserved PAYMENT OF ADVANCED PLACEMENT EXAM FEES BY VIRGINIA PUBLIC SCHOOL DIVISIONS AND ITS IMPACT ON ADVANCED PLACEMENT ENROLLMENT AND SCORES A Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University. by MARY GRUPE CIRILLO Masters of Science, St. John’s University, 1978 Bachelor’s of Science, St. John’s University, 1975 Director: DR. CHAROL SHAKESHAFT DEPARTMENT CHAIR, EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, Virginia February, 2010 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to offer my sincere thanks to my husband, Ken, for his love, patience and support, without which I would not have been able to complete this degree. I would also like to thank Dr. Charol Shakeshaft for her guidance through the dissertation process. Finally I would like to thank my fellow Henrico Cohort 3 members who have made this degree program a true team effort, assuring that each of us received the support we needed to be successful and cheering each other on through the process. I have been blessed to have been a part of this group. ii Table of Contents Page Acknowledgement…………………………………………………………………..….......ii List of Tables……………………………………………………………………................. v ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………….vii Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................1 Background ...................................................................................................1 Statement of Problem ....................................................................................4 Purpose and Research Questions...................................................................5 Operational Definitions .................................................................................7 2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE ..........................................................................10 History of AP...............................................................................................11 Why AP? .....................................................................................................12 AP and College Readiness ......................................................................... 14 Underrepresented in AP ............................................................................. 19 AP Sciences................................................................................................ 23 Motivated to Learn, Motivated to succeed................................................. 29 Are Financial Incentives the Answer?........................................................ 32 Summary .................................................................................................... 37 3 METHODOLOGY ......................................................................................... 39 iii Research Design..........................................................................................39 Phase I .........................................................................................................39 Research questions .................................................................................39 Sources of Data ……..………………….…………………………….41 Sample..................................................................................................42 Variables & regression models............................................................ 44 Phase II........................................................................................................48 Research Question.................................................................................48 Sample...................................................................................................49 Variables & regression models..............................................................49 Procedure.................................................................................................... 52 Data Analysis ............................................................................................. 54 Limitations……………………………………………………………….. 56 Researcher Perspective............................................................................... 57 4 FINDINGS...................................................................................................... 59 Advanced Placement enrollment.................................................................60 Advanced Placement exams taken..............................................................67 Advanced Placement science exams taken.................................................73 Average scores on Advanced Placement exams.........................................78 Average scores on Advanced Placement science exams ............................83 Qualifying Advanced Placement scores......................................................88 Qualifying Advanced Placement science scores .........................................91 iv Ancillary results ..........................................................................................94 Limitations...................................................................................................98 5 DISCUSSION, CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS .................. 101 Discussion ................................................................................................102 Conclusions..............................................................................................110 Recommendations for further study.........................................................112 6 REFERENCES ..............................................................................................114 7 APPENDICES ...............................................................................................123 Appendix 1: Quia electronic survey..........................................................123 Appendix 2: Quia electronic survey to Virginia public high school guidance directors…………………………………..126 VITA………..….…………………………………………………………….…...131 v List of Tables Page Table 1: Sample Size and Percent of Schools Included by Variable.................................43 Table 2: Variables by Research Question..........................................................................51 Table 3: Number of Schools Paying for AP Exam Fees by Year......................................60 Table 4: Paired t-tests on AP Enrollment by Year.............................................................61 Table 5: AP Enrollment by Payment/Nonpayment of Exam Fees ....................................62 Table 6: Paired t-tests on AP Enrollment by Payment of Exam Fees. ..............................63 Table 7: ANOVA on AP Enrollment by Years Exam Fees Paid.......................................64 Table 8: Relationship of AP Enrollment by School Level Variables. ...............................66 Table 9: Paired t-tests on Number of AP Exams Taken by Year. .....................................67 Table 10: Number of AP Exams Taken by Exam Fee Payment........................................68 Table 11: Percent of Schools Paying Exam Fees by School Enrollment. .........................68 Table 12: AP Exams Taken by School Enrollment. ..........................................................69 Table 13: Change in Number of AP Exams by Fee Payment............................................70 Table 14: ANOVA on Number of AP Exams by Year .....................................................71 Table 15: Relationship of Number of AP Exams by School-Level Variables. ................73 Table 16: Paired t-tests on Number of AP Science Exams by Year..................................74 Table 17: Number of AP Science Exams by Fee Payment................................................75 Table 18: ANOVA on Number of AP Science Exams by Years Fees Paid. .....................76 Table 19: Relationship of Number of AP Science Exams by School-Level Variables.....78 Table 20: ANOVA on Average Scores on AP Exams by Years Fees Paid.......................80 vi Table 21: ANOVA on Change in Average Scores on AP Exams by Years Fees Paid......81 Table 22: Relationship of Average Scores on AP Exams by School Level Variables......83 Table 23: ANOVA on Average AP Science Scores by Years Exam Fees Paid................85 Table 24: ANOVA on Change in Average AP Science Scores by Years Fees Paid.........86 Table 25: Relationship of Average AP Science Scores by School Level Variables. ........88 Table 26: Relationship of Qualifying AP Scores by School-Level Variables...................91 Table 27: ANOVA on Qualifying AP Science Scores by Years Fees Paid.......................92 Table 28: Relationship of Qualifying AP Science Scores by School Level Variables......94 Table 29: AP