Taking AP courses or fourth-year math in senior year is associated with higher college enrollment but not with college retention¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · associational r2 · q2 · i0 negligible
Currency · newest study 2013 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? After matching students across schools to address selection bias, senior-year AP coursetaking is associated with increased likelihood of enrolling in colleges students are qualified to attend, but no association with retention is found. → Melissa Roderick 2013 q2 i0 There is no association between taking AP courses, fourth-year mathematics, or four core courses and retention in college once enrolled. → Melissa Roderick 2013 (2)

Evidence¶

Melissa Roderick 2013¶

Melissa Roderick, Vanessa Coca, Eliza Moeller, and Thomas Kelley-Kemple. (2013). From High School to the Future: The Challenge of Senior Year in Chicago Public Schools. UChicago CCSR Research Report. https://consortium.uchicago.edu/publications/high-school-future-challenge-senior-year-chicago-public-schools

q2 · i? · associational · r2

Quasi-experimental matching of similar students across CPS schools (linked to National Student Clearinghouse data) estimated effects of senior coursetaking on four-year college enrollment and selective-college match; without selection controls the effects would be overestimated.

"After addressing this problem of selection, senior year coursetaking, particularly taking AP courses, is associated with an increase in the likelihood that students will attend colleges that they are qualified to attend."

Melissa Roderick 2013 (2)¶

Melissa Roderick, Vanessa Coca, Eliza Moeller, and Thomas Kelley-Kemple. (2013). From High School to the Future: The Challenge of Senior Year in Chicago Public Schools. UChicago CCSR Research Report. https://consortium.uchicago.edu/publications/high-school-future-challenge-senior-year-chicago-public-schools

q2 · i0 · associational · r2

The same matched analysis examined two-year continuous enrollment in a four-year college and found no coursetaking effect on retention; the report notes it cannot examine grades or remediation without college transcript data, so equivalence was not tested on those outcomes.

"However, while coursetaking is strongly associated with college enrollment, there is no association between taking AP courses, fourth-year mathematics, or four core courses and retention in college."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Among similarly qualified seniors, the high school attended largely determines coursetaking patterns — related
• Senior-year advanced coursework is unevenly distributed by race/ethnicity among CPS graduates — related
• Most interviewed CPS seniors describe senior year as unchallenging and easier than previous years — related
• Pipeline applied to HSLS:09 recovers that advanced mathematics coursework benefits students least likely to enroll in four-year college the most — related