Achieving Equity
Ensure equitable access to AP at your school
The College Board and the Advanced Placement Program® encourage teachers, AP Coordinators, and school administrators to make equitable access a guiding principle for their AP programs.
The College Board is committed to the principle that all students deserve an opportunity to participate in rigorous and academically challenging courses and programs. We believe:
- All students who are prepared and willing to accept the challenge of a rigorous academic curriculum should be considered for admission to AP courses.
- Barriers that restrict access to AP courses should be eliminated for students from ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic groups that have been traditionally underrepresented in the AP Program.
- Schools should make every effort to ensure that their AP classes reflect the diversity of their student population.
Financial resources for schools, teachers, and students
The College Board provides a $22 fee reduction per exam for qualified students with acute financial need. Schools normally forgo their $8 rebate in these instances. More than 40 states also use federal and/or state funds to further supplement the College Board fee reduction.
Partnerships for achieving equity
The AP Program is exploring partnerships with several national and regional organizations that share our mission to expand access to high-quality education for all students. Through our collaborative efforts we hope to increase access to rigorous course work for all students, particularly those who have been historically underrepresented. To date we have taken the following steps:
- We have established multi-year partnerships with the National Indian Education Association (NIEA) and the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU).
- We are currently negotiating partnership agreements with the National Alliance of Black School Educators (NABSE), the NAACP, and several other organizations.
In a recent national survey of AP teachers, the College Board learned that approximately five percent of AP teachers are people of color. In an effort to diversify our AP teaching population, we have partnered with Hispanic Serving Institutes and Historically Black Colleges and Universities to offer professional development to teachers. Through an integrated set of joint activities we hope to prepare and inspire teachers of color to join the ranks of AP professionals.
Publications
The AP Program has created and disseminated materials to further our goal of expanding access to AP. Materials include:
- Get with the Program (.pdf/2.7MB) is a brochure targeted at students and their families. Requires Adobe Reader (latest version recommended). Over 300,000 copies have been distributed since 2001 through schools, churches, civic organizations, and youth groups. It is a valuable communication tool to help students of all ages understand the benefits of AP. The brochure is also available in Spanish (.pdf/2.56MB).
- Opening Classroom Doors (.pdf/2MB) highlights strategies used by schools all over the country to expand access to AP and draw a more diverse group of students into challenging classes. The publication is targeted to administrators and teachers who want to learn about schools in situations similar to their own and look for best practices for expanding access to AP.
- Building Strong AP Programs at Small Rural Schools (.pdf/6.51MB) addresses the unique challenges small rural schools face as they implement and grow AP programs. Structured according to a challenge/solution format, this book includes best practices for raising academic expectations, building instructional support, recruiting students, and overcoming funding challenges; along with specific examples of how small rural schools have put these practices into action.