While scholarly debate continues about the relative value of having students take AP courses and exams, one leading expert said the federal Advanced Placement Test Fee program is “admirable” and should lead to better outcomes for students from underrepresented groups.
“I think that the federal government is probably putting the money on the table because it knows that the courses are connected to helping kids prepare for college,” said Joseph Hawkins, senior study director at Westat, a Capitol Region research consulting firm located in the capital region.
He said that, even if students don’t achieve AP exam scores of four or five—which are the scores many colleges require in order for students to reap the benefit of college credit for the exams—“on average, it’s still a better experience than for them not to have taken the class and not to have taken the exams.”
“I think it’s a good thing,” Hawkins said.
The federal funding announced Monday is meant to close racial gaps in access to rigorous coursework aimed at preparing students for college and the workforce. For instance, an analysis of federal data suggests that, although Black and Latino students together represent 37 percent of high school graduates, only 27 percent were enrolled in at least one Advanced Placement course and just 10.2 percent had taken an AP exam.
Based on the anticipated number of tests to be taken, the U.S. Department of Education stated, the grants under the Advanced Placement Test Fee program are expected to be sufficient to pay for all except $18 of the cost of each test taken by low-income students—with states and other stakeholders left to figure out how much of the remainder of the exam cost to cover.
