Student Participation and Performance on Advanced Placement Exams: Do State-Sponsored Incentives Make a Difference?

Many states provide incentives to students, teachers, and schools for the participation and success of students on Advanced Placement (AP) examinations administered by the College Board. The purpose of this article is to examine whether these incentives help students enroll and succeed in AP exams. An analysis of nationally representative AP exam data, taken from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002, revealed that AP exam fee exemption, the most prevalent incentives, leads to an increase in the likelihood of AP course enrollees taking the exam—in particular, the disadvantaged. In contrast, little evidence was found that performance-based incentives, to which several states link AP test results, are helpful for improving AP exam participation and performance.