Disruptiveness of COVID-19: Differences in Course Engagement, Self-appraisal, and Learning

We investigated how the transition to remote instruction amidst the COVID-19 pandemic affected students’ engagement, self-appraisals, and learning in advanced placement (AP) Statistics courses. Participants included 681 (Mage=16.7 years, SDage=.90; %female=55.4) students enrolled in the course during 2017-2018 (N=266), 2018-2019 (N=200), and the pandemic-affected 2019-2020 (N=215) year. Students enrolled during the pandemic-affected year reported a greater improvement in affective engagement but a decrease in cognitive engagement in the spring semester relative to a previous year. Females enrolled in the pandemic-affected year experienced a greater negative change in affective and behavioral engagement. Students enrolled during the pandemic-affected year reported a greater decrease in their anticipated AP exam scores and received lower scores on a practice exam aligned with the AP exam compared to a prior year. Though resilient in some respects, students’ self-appraisal and learning appeared negatively affected by pandemic circumstances.

Advanced Placement and Initial College Enrollment: Evidence from an Experiment

To evaluate how Advanced Placement courses affect college-going, we randomly assigned the offer of enrollment into an AP science course to over 1,800 students in 23 schools that had not previously offered the course. We find no AP course effects on students’ college entrance exam scores (SAT/ACT). As expected, AP course-takers are substantially more likely to take the AP exam than their control group counterparts. At the same time, treatment group students opt out of the exam at very high rates and most do not earn a passing score on the AP exam. Though less precisely estimated, the results also suggest that taking the AP course increases students’ aspirations to attend higher-quality colleges but does not lead to enrollment in such institutions.

Are High School Students Accurate in Predicting Their AP Exam Scores?

Are high school students accurate in predicting test performance? If so, do their predictions explain variation in performance, even after accounting for other factors? We examined these questions in two testing contexts (low-stakes and high-stakes) among students enrolled in a high school advanced placement (AP) statistics class. We found that even two months before taking the exam, students were moderately accurate in predicting their scores on the actual AP exam (κweighted = .62). When the same variables were entered into models predicting inaccuracy and overconfidence bias, results did not provide evidence that age, gender, parental education, number of math classes previously taken, or course engagement accounted for variation in accuracy. Overconfidence bias was associated with the students’ school. Results indicated that students’ predictions of performance were positively associated with performance in both low- and high-stakes testing contexts. The findings shed light on ways to leverage students’ self-assessment for learning.

Does Advanced Placement Economics Exam Participation and Performance Predict Undergraduate Economics Major Completion?

Students who take an Advanced Placement (AP) Microeconomics and/or AP Macroeconomics exam may be more interested in economics than their non-AP exam peers and more likely to complete an economics major. Performance on AP exams in economics may also affect students’ economics major completion. This study uses binary probit estimations to assess how participation in and performance on AP exams in economics affects students’ completion of an economics major. The findings suggest students who take both AP exams in economics are significantly more likely to graduate with an economics major compared with non-AP students who complete their introductory economics coursework in college. In addition, strong performance on the AP Microeconomics exam significantly increases a student’s probability of earning an economics major. Receiving high scores on both AP Economics exams is also significantly and positively correlated with economics major completion. JEL Classifications: A21, A22

Backtalk

English teacher Francis Hahn was tempted to accept the $5,000 stipend from the New Mexico Public Education Department. The state offered him a bonus because the percentage of of AP Lit students who passed the national AP exam increased in 2012. Hahn said he couldn’t accept the award because many people had contributed to his students’ success. He calls merit pay inequitable and divisive, and says it encourages teachers to emphasize tested material over other content, often comes in lieu of real wage increases, and encourages teachers to place their own interests ahead of their students’ interests.