1 USING DISTANCE LEARNING TO IMPACT

2 ACCESS OF DIVERSE LEARNERS

3 TO ADVANCED PLACEMENT PROGRAMS

4 Nicole S. Fenty and Andrea Allio

5 Binghamton University, State University of New York

6 Distance learning has been used as one method to increase access for students who have otherwise been underrepresented in college preparatory courses like Advanced Placement (AP). This study evaluated the impact of a statewide Virtual Advanced Placement (VAP) program on access to AP courses for students from underrepresented populations. Survey and interview data indicate a heavy focus on recruiting students from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. However, English language learners and students with disabilities con-tinued to be underrepresented in VAP programs. A discussion of the findings and implications for research and practice are also provided.

7 INTRODUCTION

8 Advanced Placement (AP) programs were established in the mid 20th century in an effort to increase rigor for students who had mas-tered typical high school curricula. Generally, AP provides high school students access to college level coursework and allows these stu-dents to, at the discretion of colleges and uni-versities, receive college credit given successful completion of coursework and accompanying exams (Walker & Pearsall, 2012). Some researchers have suggested that

9

10 involvement in advanced or rigorous course-work such as AP during high school can have a significant positive impact on students’ aca-demic and social outcomes (Attewell & Domina, 2008; Foust, Hertberg-Davis & Cal-lahan, 2009). Specifically, AP participation has been associated with higher levels of satis-faction with high school experiences, competi-tive advantages for college admission, higher levels of 4-year college enrollment, higher col-lege grade point averages, and greater long-term financial success (Clinedinst & Hawkins, 2009; Flowers, 2008; Taliaferro & DeCuir-

11 • Nicole S. Fenty, Assistant Professor, Department of Teaching Learning and Educational Leadership, College of Commu-nity and Public Health Academic Building B, Room 236, PO Box 6000. Binghamton University, State University of New York

12

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18 Gunby, 2008). Even stronger positive correla-tions exist on the aforementioned outcomes for those students who both participate in AP cur-riculum and earn passing scores of three out of five or better on AP exams (Bleske-Rechek, Lubinski, & Benbow, 2004; Warne, Larsen, Anderson, & Odasso, 2015).

19 There are questions, however, about whether AP courses actually increase college readiness or whether the kinds of students who choose to take AP courses are already highly motivated and likely to attend and succeed in college (Foust et al. 2009; Klopfenstein, 2010). In addition, other factors associated with AP (e.g., smaller class sizes, being exposed to higher quality teachers, or associat-ing with students who are more motivated to learn) confound the ability to make specific claims about the benefits of AP programs. Despite the uncertainty about the full impact of taking AP courses, there is some research to suggest that increased access to AP would result in a reduction in the achievement gap experienced by some populations (e.g., stu-dents from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds, students from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, and students with diverse academic needs) (Walker & Pearsall, 2012).

20 Although there is evidence of growth in AP participation among diverse ethnic, social, and academic groups in recent years (Judson & Hobson, 2015), a disparity persists in the num-ber of students from diverse backgrounds rep-resented in college preparatory programs (Barnard-Brak, McGaha-Garnett, & Burley, 2011; Cisneros, Holloway-Libell, Gomez, Corley, & Powers, 2014). Over the last decade, distance education has risen in popularity partly in an effort to increase student access to coursework that may otherwise be unavailable. Distance education can allow schools and dis-tricts to combine small numbers of students to create larger numbers who may access course-work online (Barbour & Mulcahy, 2006; Bur-ney & Cross, 2006). Consequently, distance education has the potential to open up access to courses, such as AP, for students who have otherwise been underrepresented.

21 The purpose of this paper is to outline infor-mation gathered through an evaluation of a statewide Virtual Advanced Placement (VAP) program. One of the main purposes of the pro-gram was to increase access to AP courses for students who would have otherwise been underrepresented in AP programs. Twenty schools, districts, and school district consortia received grant funding to support implement-ing the VAP program and were evaluated over the course of 18 months. To begin, we will look at the literature examining access to advanced programs for underrepresented groups. We will also examine the literature on the use of distance learning as a method of pro-viding access to underrepresented groups. Then, we will share the procedures and results surrounding our evaluation of the participating schools and districts. Finally we will discuss the implications for schools and districts that use distance learning to increase AP access to students from underrepresented populations.

22 UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS

23 The literature surrounding underrepresented groups and AP focuses on the following themes: issues of access to AP, AP enrollment, AP exams, students with disabilities and AP, and structural supports needed for AP success. See Table 1 for additional details about each study. Although there is literature that exam-ines gender, findings seem to indicate that underrepresentation related to gender is less clear than with other groups (e.g., minorities, low SES, and students with disabilities). Therefore we will not focus on gender in our presentation of the literature.

24 Access for Underrepresented Groups

25 The research surrounding access to AP for underrepresented groups examined the impact of school structures, school characteristics, and schoolwide incentives. Researchers inter-viewed over 200 English language learners (ELL) and Latino students and their parents to

28 determine the structures in place that encour-age and inhibit AP participation. They found that ELL and Latino students were more likely to take remedial and regular courses than AP courses (Kanno & Kangas, 2014; Walker & Pearsall, 2012). Similarly, researchers exam-ined more than 12,000 students to determine how school characteristics such as SES and proportion of minority students impacted access to AP courses. Researchers found that schools with high populations of minority stu-dents and high populations of students from low SES backgrounds participated less in AP courses (Barnard-Brak et al., 2011). When examining the impact of offering to pay for AP exams on school AP course offerings, Klug-man (2013) found that offering an incentive did not significantly impact AP course offer-ings in schools with high minority or low-income populations. These results across stud-ies suggest that the issue of AP access is com-plicated and often systemic. Researchers across studies have suggested that schools need to examine the following issues related to access: (1) bias in identification and assess-ment practices, (2) teachers and counselors tending to direct certain populations of stu-dents away from AP courses, (3) student fear of failure and alienation, and (4) not being able to afford college tuition costs. These findings suggest that the issue of access is complicated by multiple cultural, sociological, and struc-tural factors. The findings also suggest that both students and staff need training and sup-port to help encourage AP participation among underrepresented groups.

29 Enrollment for 

30 Underrepresented Groups

31 The research surrounding enrollment and underrepresented groups examined differences in enrollment across race/ethnicity in specific states. In addition, some researchers also eval-uated open enrollment to determine whether it had a significant impact on enrollments for low SES and minority populations. Several researchers examined data sets from thousands

32 of public high schools in the state of Texas to determine whether differences exist in AP enrollment across race. Researchers found sta-tistically significant differences among enroll-ment of African American, Hispanic, and Caucasian students, with Caucasian students experiencing the highest rates of enrollment and African American students experiencing the lowest rates of enrollment (Klopfenstein, 2004; Moore & Slate 2008; Saenz, Slate, & Joyner, 2011). In addition to race, Klopfen-stein (2004) also examined the effect of SES on enrollment and found that students from low SES backgrounds participated in AP at significantly lower rates. Researchers who examined the impact of open enrollment (i.e., no recommendation or assessment restrictions) on African American student AP enrollment found that despite open access, African Amer-ican students enrolled at significantly lower rates than Caucasian students (Corra, Carter, & Carter, 2011; Corra & Lovaglia, 2012). Results suggest that social pressures (e.g., fear of not being “cool” or “acting White”) may cause African American students to opt out of taking AP courses and may impact discrepan-cies in AP minority enrollment overall. Like the issue of access, results across studies indi-cate that underrepresentation in AP may also involve cultural and sociological factors.

33 Exam Scores

34 for Underrepresented Groups

35 The research surrounding exam scores for underrepresented groups examined changes in AP participation over time, differences in AP exam scores among racial/ethnicity and SES across states, and the impact of incentives on AP exam participation. Researchers who examined how AP exam participation has changed over the last two decades, found an increase in AP exam participation (Judson & Hobson, 2015). However, when Judson and Hobson (2015) evaluated AP exam scores by race, they found that Asian and Caucasian stu-dents scored significantly better than African American and Hispanic students. Similar

36 42The Quarterly Review of Distance EducationVol. 18, No. 2, 2017

37 research conducted with several thousand stu-dents in the state of Florida yielded somewhat contrasting results in that Hispanic students experienced the highest passing rates on AP exams (Leonard, Blasik, Dilgen, & Till, 2003). Despite some discrepancies across studies, it appears that students from certain minority groups, especially African American students, have persistently scored lower on AP exams. When African American students AP exam scores are isolated for further examination across individual states, researchers have found that California had the highest percent-age of African American students score a three or higher on AP exams. Furthermore, Texas had the highest percentage of African Ameri-can students scoring below a three on AP exams (Davis, Joyner, & Slate, 2011; Wilson, Slate, Moore, & Barnes, 2014). Researchers suggested that states with higher graduation rates among minority students experienced higher AP exams scores among minority stu-dents. The correlation between graduation rates and AP exam scores supports previous research that suggests the significant impact of structural factors on AP success.

38 Researchers also evaluated whether provid-ing incentives like open enrollment or paying for the AP exam would impact AP participa-tion. Researchers found that a majority of stu-dents from low income and minority backgrounds benefited from incentives and did take the AP exam (Hallett & Vengas, 2011; Jeong, 2009). Unfortunately, these students were passing the AP exams at low rates. These results suggest that, especially for students from low income and minority backgrounds, factors beyond access (e.g., teacher training and explicit instruction) are needed to support AP exam success.

39 Students With Disabilities

40 The research surrounding AP participation among students with disabilities focused on rates of participation, issues of interest, and support. When researchers examined rates of AP participation among students with disabili-

41 ties, they found that these students were signifi-cantly underrepresented in AP courses (Klopfenstein, 2004; Moore & Slate, 2008). Hitching, Retish, and Horvath (2005) tried to determine if underrepresentation among this population could be attributed to interest in con-tinuing their education beyond high school. Researchers found that a majority of students with disabilities began high school interested in going to college but by the end of high school that interest had waned. Results suggest that students who remain interested in higher edu-cation at the end of high school received high levels of support and encouragement from teachers, counselors, and parents. These find-ings are supported by Schultz (2012), who examined the factors that impacted students with disabilities’ participation in AP. The researchers found that factors such as poor school culture and restrictive admission guide-lines negatively impacted students with disabil-ities. Like Hitching et al. (2005), Schultz (2012) also found that mentoring and teacher support significantly increased the success experienced by this population of students in AP.

42 DISTANCE LEARNING AND AP

43 The literature surrounding distance learning and AP focuses on the following two themes: examining the benefits and challenges of dis-tance learning and comparing the efficacy of distance learning with traditional learning environments.

44 Benefits and Challenges

45 When researchers examined the benefits and challenges of accessing AP coursework through distance learning environments, they found that a large majority of the students they surveyed expressed satisfaction with their dis-tance-learning environment (Barbour, 2008; Beese, 2014). For those students who dropped their distance-learning course, a majority cited difficulty balancing their schedules and meet-ing course expectations as a rationale for drop-

48 ping the course (Beese, 2014; Hannum, Irvin, Banks, & Farmer, 2009). Relatedly, Barbour (2008) suggests that students who are most successful in online learning environments possess good time management skills and are motivated and self-directed learners. Barbour also points out, however, that many students may not already have these skills and may need support in acquiring and developing these skills to be successful in distance learning environments.

49 Distance Versus Traditional

50 Researchers surveyed and interviewed stu-dents to determine the impact (e.g., student achievement, performance on AP exams, etc.) of distance learning versus traditional learning environments. They found that students partic-ipating in distance learning environments were more likely to take the corresponding AP exam than those enrolled in traditional learning envi-ronments (Barbour & Mulcahy, 2006; John-ston & Barbour, 2013). When comparing students enrolled in Florida Virtual School (FLVS) with traditional learning environments in Florida, researchers found that virtual par-ticipants scored higher than students enrolled in traditional AP courses across the state (Johnston & Barbour, 2013). The results of this research suggests that enrollment in a dis-tance AP program may not compromise the quality of the content provided to students. In addition, Johnston and Barbour found that Florida Virtual School, partially due to con-certed recruitment efforts, attracted a higher population of minority students to AP courses than traditional environments. This suggests that the distance component may help to alle-viate some of the cultural, sociological, and structural factors that affect the AP participa-tion of underrepresented groups.

51 STUDY PURPOSE

52 One important predictor of postsecondary attendance and success is participation in rig-orous college preparation programs such as

53 AP. Unfortunately, students from minority backgrounds, low-income backgrounds, ELLs, and students with disabilities are least likely to be targeted for involvement in college prepara-tory courses (Klopfenstein, 2004; Walker & Pearsall, 2012). There is some evidence to sup-port the use of distance learning as a method for increasing access to AP coursework for students from underrepresented groups (Beese, 2014; Johnston & Barbour, 2013).

54 In the current study we seek to merge the lit-erature surrounding underrepresented groups, distance learning, and AP. We examine how implementing VAP across New York state impacted access to AP programing for under-represented groups (i.e., students from minority backgrounds, students from low-income backgrounds, and student with disabil-ities). This study is unique because we use mul-tiple and mixed methods data collection and analysis to examine the impact of a statewide distance-learning program on AP access for underrepresented groups.

55 The research questions guiding this study include the following: (1) Who have high schools in New York state targeted for increased access to VAP? (2). How does enrollment in the VAP program compare with statewide enrollment across underrepresented groups? (3) What challenges to VAP access have high schools experienced?

56 METHODS

57 The data presented in this article is part of a larger evaluation study funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Race to the Top initiative. Other components of the VAP eval-uation (not presented here) included examin-ing student motivation, student engagement, student satisfaction, student content course choice, and distance learning structures across funding recipients. Six staff members (three university faculty members, and three doctoral students) located at a university in the state of New York led the evaluation process.

58 TABLE 1

59 Summary of Studies

60

122 •12,144 adolescent high school stu- •Data obtained from National Cen-

123 dents across the nation.ter of Education Statistics.

124 •Twelfth-grade students academi-•Participants were interviewed and

125 cally at risk (e.g., low income);surveyed. Student course docu-

126 Urban public high school in Ohio.ments were analyzed.

127 •Five high schools in a North Caro- •Examined enrollment statistics for

128 lina public school district with a47 core courses across disciplines.

129 total enrollment of 5,470 students.

130 •Six high schools in North Carolina•Examined 70 core courses across

131 with total enrollment of 6,656.disciplines.

132 • Percentage of low-SES and minority students in a school cor-related with reduced number of AP courses available.

133 • 62% of students dropped their AP course. Students reported diffi-culty managing their schedule, and meeting course expectations.

134 • Caucasian students make up the majority of students enrolled in AP. African Americans were choosing to take less challenging courses for social reasons.

135 • Caucasian students make up 60– 84% of AP enrollment depending on school; African Americans choosing less advanced courses.

205 •Participants enrolled in AP

206 courses at high rates, however,

207 scored low on AP exams (46% of

208 participants scored 3 or above).

209 •92.1% of participants reported

210 being satisfied with distance learn-

211 ing; time or scheduling and fund-

212 ing difficulties reported as

213 barriers.

214 •Most students who started on col-

215 lege prep track dropped college

216 prep courses by 11th grade;

217 switched to vocational track.

218 •AP exam incentive significantly

219 correlated with AP exam partici-

220 pation; Minorities and students

221 from low SES backgrounds less

222 likely to achieve passing score on

223 AP exam.

255

256 • Students surveyed and inter-viewed; AP exam scores analyzed.

257 • AP data (enrollment and exam participation) collected from the College Board database from 1996 to 2012 across ethnic groups.

258 • Participants interviewed over time; participants observed in class.

259 •FLVS students scored 5% higher

260 than traditional students on AP

261 exam; FLVS had increased

262 minority participation in AP.

263 •Increase in number of minority

264 students taking AP exam; African

265 American and Hispanic students

266 pass AP exam at decreased rates.

267 •Participants tracked and enrolled

268 in ELL courses and remedial

269 courses; Teachers and counselors

270 recommend students not take

271 advance courses.

273 (Table continues on next page.)

275 TABLE 1

276 (Continued)

277

278 Author/DateStudy Theme and PurposeParticipants and SettingMethodsFindings

279

297 students from low-income back-grounds.

298 • Analysis of AP course taking behavior across students by race.

299 • Data collected from the California Basic Educational Data System; Semi-structured interviews with school districts.

300 • Caucasian students participate at the highest rates; Students from low SES backgrounds experienced reduced AP participation by 40%.

301 • Students from wealthy back-grounds more likely to increase participation due to incentive; Results impacted by emphasis on college admission in wealthy school districts.

323 • Focus groups, individual inter-views, and observations conducted with teachers, students, counsel-ors, administrators, and coordina-tors.

324 • Data collected from the College Board from 1999–2002.

325 • Supportive student networks and mentoring result in more success with AP programs among minority students.

326 • Hispanic and Asian students enrolled in AP and passed AP exam at the highest rates. African Americans enrolled and passed at the lowest rates.

336 • Data downloaded from Texas Education website for the 2004– 2006 school years.

337 • Percent of Caucasian students in AP was statistically significantly higher than African American stu-dents; African American students least likely to score 3 or above.

407 •
Interviewed participants and reviewed high school policies.

408 • Data collected from the California Department of Education from 2000-2001.

409 • Interviews conducted with advi-sors of AEA (a support group for academic achievement for stu-dents of color).

410 • Focus groups conducted with stu-dents and parents.

411 • Data collected from information published on the College Board website.

412 • Counselors and parents often advised students with disabilities not to enroll in AP; Adult mentor-ing important for AP success among this population.

413 • Latino students disproportionately underrepresented in AP; Schools with large minority populations have low AP enrollment.

414 • AEA created and promoted a cul-ture of acceptance and belonging for African American students.

415 • Identification and assessment sys-tems contribute to Latino under-representation in AP; Participants cited college course work a waste of time due to tuition cost and res-idency requirements.

416 • Texas—lowest % of participants scoring 3 or above; Connecticut— highest % of participants with AP exam scores eligible for college credit.

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420 Participants

421 Initially, there were 17 grant recipients for the VAP program implementation during the 2013–2014 academic year. These 17 recipients also received a no-cost extension for the 2014–2015 academic year. An addi-tional three recipients received funding to provide VAP programs in 2014–2015. The 20 grant recipients (who will be referred to as grantees) consisted of nine individual school districts, eight Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES), and three BOCES consortia. Grantees represented the southern, central, eastern, and western geo-graphic regions of the state and included the following: school districts and BOCES of about 125,000 to over 1 million students, small cities, rural towns, and individual schools. To qualify for funding, grantees were required to demonstrate that at least 25% of their total student population was from high-poverty backgrounds. In an effort to answer the research questions for this study, our focus will be on data surround-ing administrators, teachers, and students that participated in each grantee’s VAP pro-gram.

422 Over 200 teachers, 20 administrators, and 3,264 students participated in the VAP pro-gram across grantees. Caucasian Americans represented the majority (54.7%) of stu-dents. Although significantly lower, African Americans represented the next largest pro-portion of participating students (19.1%). Students from Hispanic, Asian, and Other backgrounds made up the smallest propor-tion of the participating VAP population, with 1.3%, .9%, and .6% respectively. We use the term Other to refer to Native Ameri-cans, Pacific Islanders, Caribbean Islanders, Middle Eastern/Arab, and Multiethnic stu-dents. In addition, 57% of students partici-pating in the VAP program were female and 43% were male. Finally, approximately 29% of participating students qualified for free or reduced lunch.

423 Measures

424 Several quantitative and qualitative mea-sures were used to answer each of the three study research questions. First, previously existing statewide enrollment data were col-lected from the New York State Education Department (NYSED) website. This allowed for demographic comparisons between state-wide enrollment and VAP enrollment. In addi-tion, in early fall (2014), and again in late spring (2015), surveys developed by the six staff members working on the evaluation proj-ect were distributed to program directors over-seeing each grantee’s VAP program. The survey asked grantees to report nonduplicated student enrollment according to the following demographic information: Students who qual-ify for an Individual Education Plan (IEP) or 504; Students who qualify for free or reduced lunch; and students who are English language learners. Additionally, the survey asked for the numbers of students who, as indicated in school records, were African American, Asian (or Asian/Pacific Islander), Hispanic, Cauca-sian, and Other. The survey also asked about the methods used to recruit students for VAP courses as well as which students from under-represented groups were being targeted for recruitment. Finally, interview protocols were used in the data collection process. Staff mem-bers working on the evaluation project devel-oped separate protocols targeting a variety of participants. The focus of the data presented here is on interviews conducted with school administrators, teachers, and students. One example of a question posed to administrators in the project is “how did you recruit students for the VAP program?” One example of a question posed to teachers in the project is-“how do you support students with diverse learning needs in your course(s)?” One exam-ple of a question posed to students in the proj-ect is “how did you become eligible to participate in the VAP program?”

427 Data Collection Procedures

428 Archival, public-use data from NYSED (NY State Public School Enrollment (2014– 2015), were retrieved from [https:// data.nysed.gov/enrollment.php?year=2015 &state=yes] and were used to calculate state-level numbers of students in each of the ethnic categories for Grades 9 through 12. These numbers were also specifically collected for students attending school districts affiliated with the VAP project.

429 Also, surveys were uploaded online via Qualtrics, a software program used to collect both qualitative and quantitative survey data, and the 20 VAP program directors affiliated with the project were asked to collect and com-plete the survey. Although program directors were provided with up to three reminders via e-mail and/or phone, seven of the grantees sub-mitted no responses to the surveys. The survey data presented and discussed in this study is based on submissions from 13 of the grantees that submitted information in spring 2015.

430 Finally, for focus group interviews, the team formed three pairs, with one faculty member and one graduate student in each pair. Likewise, the grantees were divided into three groups, with six or seven grantees in each group. Each faculty member/graduate student pair conducted focus group interviews with a distinct group of six or seven grantees. The interviews were conducted primarily in person and involved interviewing distinct groups of administrators, teachers, and students. Evalua-tors asked each grantee’s program coordinator to organize and schedule the focus groups. Interviews with each group took approxi-mately 60 minutes to complete. Evaluators typically spent 1 day engaging in interviews with all groups (i.e., administrators, teachers, and students) from a particular grantee. A few of the interviews, often due to weather, were conducted using the videoconferencing hard-ware Cisco TelePresence supported by the vid-eoconferencing software WebEx. At the beginning of each interview participants were

431 asked to assign themselves a pseudonym and were instructed to use that pseudonym when responding to questions throughout the inter-view.

432 Data Analysis

433 Descriptive statistics were calculated to determine the most common methods used to recruit students and to determine which stu-dents were targeted for recruitment. Also, the chi-square goodness of fit test was used to compare the demographic breakdown of stu-dents who participated in the VAP programs to the demographic breakdown of students attending Grades 9 through 12 statewide in 2015. The chi-square goodness of fit test is used to determine if the numbers of students affiliated with the grantee school districts in each of the ethnic categories was notably dif-ferent compared to expected numbers based on overall statewide percentages for 2014/2015. The chi-square goodness of fit test was also used to compare the differences in the percent-ages of students who participated in the VAP program per socioeconomic status, for English Language Learners, and for students who qual-ified for IEPs or 504s. Significant results sug-gest that the groups being compared are dissimilar.

434 Finally, semistructured focus group inter-views were conducted, recorded, and uploaded into NVivo, a qualitative software program, for analysis. The evaluation team engaged in open and axial coding of the interview data (Creswell, 1998) to achieve a rigorous data analysis process. Data credibility and trustwor-thiness were considered early in the process by having interviews transcribed by a profes-sional transcription service that signed an affi-davit of confidentiality. Researchers then read, coded, and memoed the data independently to reduce persuasion or bias. Each researcher employed an inductive approach, using open coding, reading each of the interviews, and documenting themes.

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436 RESULTS

437 Results are presented according to the three research questions provided earlier. The results incorporate archival data collected from the NYSED website, researcher-created sur-vey data, and focus group interview data.

438 Who Have High Schools in New York State Targeted for Increased Access to VAP?

439 Grantees reported using multiple methods to recruit students. Descriptive statistics indi-cate that recommendations from school coun-selors (11 grantees) and teachers (eight grantees) comprised the majority of the tools used to recruit students into the VAP program. Parent (two grantees) and student (three grant-ees) application were the tools least likely used by grantees. Grantees were most likely to focus on students from low-income house-holds (12 grantees) and traditionally underrep-resented racial and ethnic groups (eight grantees). Grantees were least likely to focus their recruitment efforts on students with dis-abilities (three grantees).

440 Across grantees, the majority of focus group interviews conducted with administrators, teachers, and students revealed that grantees actually focused on academically able students when targeting access to the VAP program. One administrator stated, “We used a formula provided by the AP College Board to find out who has the potential to score a 3, 4, or 5 on the AP exam and we used that to generate student rosters.” Another administrator stated, “We wanted to tap into a diverse group of students so we also tapped into the current honors pro-gram.” One student stated, “In order to take the [VAP] class you had to maintain high averages in previous sciences.” Another student stated, “In order to get a teacher recommendation you had to meet a certain standard.” This is consis-tent with the survey data, since academically able students were most likely to be recom-mended by guidance counselors and teachers.

441 A few stakeholders reported a focus on stu-dents who are economically disadvantaged.

442 One teacher stated, “The program opened up access to students who wouldn’t be able to afford the AP exam.” Still another teacher stated, “It opened up access to technology for students who normally would not be able to afford an iPad.” Some stakeholders reported focusing on race or ethnicity when targeting students. One administrator revealed, “We had a goal to enroll a certain percentage of minority students, we didn’t meet our goal but we enrolled a large number of students over-all.” Another administrator stated, “We identi-fied students we thought would be appropriate based on certain factors such as race.” This is also consistent with the survey data, which suggests heavy recruitment efforts with low income and minority populations of students.

443 Surprisingly, some stakeholders were unsure about the types of students that were in their respective VAP programs. One teacher stated, “I’m not given any information about student disability or ELLs.” Another teacher stated, “I personally don’t know of any stu-dents from low SES backgrounds. It doesn't matter to us as teachers.” One administrator stated, “I don’t know how many students with IEPs are in VAP, but I know we have a few.” Another administrator stated, “The districts had to be a high-needs districts to participate, but the students that actually signed up to take the courses you know I don’t have their spe-cific backgrounds.”

444 How Does Student Enrollment in the VAP Program Compare

445 With Statewide Enrollment Across Underrepresented Groups?

446 Enrollment data for students who partici-pated in VAP programs was compared with enrollment data for students in grades 9 through 12 statewide (see Table 2). Based on a chi-square goodness of fit test, the number and percentage of African American students par-ticipating in VAP programs (N = 623, 19.1%) was comparable to the percentage of African American students enrolled in districts state-wide (X 2 (1) = 0.28, .90 > p > .75). Addition-ally, the number and percentage of Asian/

492

493 Note: * = numbers reported by grantees. ** = grantee number expected based on state percentages. *** = Other represents Native American, Caribbean Islander, and Middle Eastern students.

494 TABLE 3

495 Number and Percentages of AP Student Participants per Economic Status,

496 Disability Services, and ELLs Grantees Compared to Percentages for New York State (2014–2015)

497

518

519 Note: * = numbers reported by grantees; ** = grantee number expected based on state percentages; *** = Percentages based on K–12 student data.

520 Pacific Islander students participating in VAP programs (N = 322, 9.8%) was comparable to the percentage of Asian/Pacific Islander stu-dents enrolled in districts statewide (X 2 (1) = 0.73, .5 > p > .25). However, the number and percentages of Hispanic (N = 337, 10.3%), Caucasian (N = 1,787, 54.7%), and Other/Mul-tiethnic (N = 195, 6.0%) students participating in VAP programs was not comparable to the percentages of Hispanic (24.5%), Caucasian (46.2%), and Other/Multiethnic (1.2%) state-wide. When all ethnic groups are combined, the overall differences result in populations that are dissimilar (X 2 (9) = 944.61, p < .01).

521 Based on numbers reported by VAP pro-gram directors from 13 grantees, 42.8% of stu-dents participating in VAP programs were economically disadvantaged, 0.5% were ELL, and 1.8% qualified for IEPs/504s (see Table 3). These percentages are all lower than

522 expected based on percentages reported for students in grades K–12 by NYSED. For example, the number of students participating in VAP programs who qualified for IEPs/504s (N = 59) was not comparable to the expected number of 555 based on the statewide percent-age of 17% (X 2 (1) = 443.3, p < .01). Likewise, the number of VAP students identified as ELL and economically disadvantaged were also not comparable to the numbers expected based on statewide percentages (X 2 (1) = 261, p < .01, and X 2 (1) = 75.6, p < .01, respectively).

523 What Challenges to VAP Access

524 Have High Schools Experienced?

525 Data surrounding challenges to access revealed two themes—challenges related to students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds and challenges related to students

526 52The Quarterly Review of Distance EducationVol. 18, No. 2, 2017

527 who are academically disadvantaged. Some stakeholders focused their concerns on stu-dents who are economically disadvantaged. One administrator revealed, “The initial vision was to target students who are historically underrepresented. That is easier said than done.” Another administrator stated, “Trying to bring more low income students who may not be necessarily thinking about taking an AP course is sometimes a challenge. Students may inherently not be prepared to take AP courses. The rigor they’re experiencing is more than what they’re used to.” Some stakeholders cited the program being challenging for students who are academically disadvantaged. One administrator stated, “Self directed learning is challenging and for some students they said it was too much.” One teacher stated, “I don’t have any students with disabilities (SWDs). I think I had an ELL but he could not contend with this type of program. It was just way too difficult. I don’t know that the program pro-vided any additional support.”

528 DISCUSSION

529 Researchers who have examined traditional AP enrollment found that, across states, Afri-can American and Hispanic students were most likely to be underrepresented in AP pro-grams (Klopfenstein, 2004; Moore & Slate, 2008; Saenz et al., 2011). The ethnic, social, and academic disparities that continue to exist in AP participation and completion can be attributed to a variety of reasons. This popula-tion of students often experience reduced access to AP coursework at both the school and individual student levels. At the school level, schools with high minority and low-income populations either offer fewer AP courses or offer fewer types of AP courses (Adelman, 2006; Whiting & Ford, 2009). At the individual student level, researchers have identified bias in the referral and identification process and a lack of early support for students who are at risk (Cisneros et al., 2014). Accord-ing to Walker and Pearsall (2012), factors such

530 as race and SES are not in themselves predic-tors of what students are capable of learning; however, these factors are often associated with school policies, procedures, and program-ming that impact participation outcomes.

531 In an effort to combat these issues, Johnston and Barbour (2013) found that when distance learning was used to deliver AP programs, it attracted a higher population of minority stu-dents to AP courses than traditional environ-ments. Moreover, researchers have found that student achievement in distance learning envi-ronments is comparable to outcomes in tradi-tional environments (Bernard-Brak et al., 2004). However, researchers have also found that, in general, students need peer and adult support to ensure successful completion of online AP coursework (Barbour & Mulcahy, 2006).

532 The grantees in our study reported that Afri-can American students participated in VAP programs at rates proportional to statewide averages. However, Hispanic students partici-pated in VAP at rates lower than they are rep-resented statewide. The positive representation of African American students could be attributed to grantees’ heavy focus on recruit-ment of students from diverse backgrounds and the fact that many grantees offered to pay for the AP exam. A few issues suggested by Walker and Pearsall (2012) may explain the underrepresentation of Hispanic students in this study. In their study, the researchers found that ELL and Latino students and their parents were unlikely to enroll in AP courses because of concerns related to the cost of attending col-lege and the necessary residency requirements for attending and receiving financial aid for college.

533 In addition to recruiting students from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, the VAP program also focused on increasing the number of students from high poverty back-grounds participating in AP programs. How-ever, we found a lower than expected number of students from low-income backgrounds par-ticipating in VAP programs. This finding is comparable to the finding from Klugman

536 (2013), who found that issues such as bias in identification and assessment and student fear of failure and alienation played a negative role in increasing AP participation among students from low income backgrounds.

537 Our study also found a lower than expected number of students with or at risk for disabili-ties participating in VAP programs. This find-ing is comparable to findings from Klopfen-stein (2004) and Moore and Slate (2008), who also found that students with disabilities were significantly underrepresented in AP courses. Assumptions by some school stakeholders about the academic abilities of this population of students could explain some of this. During the focus group interviews in our study, both teachers and administrators suggested that stu-dents with disabilities might not be able to han-dle the rigor of the AP curriculum. Similarly Hitching et al. (2005) found that factors such as admission guidelines and lack of academic and social supports led to a steady decline in the number of students participating in advanced courses from freshman through senior year of high school.

538 Finally, we examined some of the chal-lenges grantees experienced in implementing the VAP program. Teachers and administra-tors interviewed for this study frequently stated that the target recruitment population for the VAP program (i.e., students from econom-ically and academically disadvantage back-grounds) often possessed poor time management skills and were not self-directed learners. Although Barbour (2008) agrees that success in online learning environments requires good time management skills and self-directed learning, the researcher goes on to state that many high school students lack these skills. Furthermore, lacking these skills should not exclude students from distance learning AP programs and skills that promote better time management and self-directed learning should be explicitly taught (Barbour, 2008).

539 Limitations

540 The results of this study suggest there is potential in using distance learning to increase access to AP programs for underrepresented groups; however, there were several limita-tions. First, the survey used to collect enroll-ment data was completed by only 13 of the 20 grantees. If a larger number of the grantees had completed the survey, this would have pro-vided a more precise understanding of how VAP enrollments compared to statewide enrollments. In addition, evaluators were unable to collect AP exam data for the partici-pating students in the VAP program. This pre-vented evaluators from gathering exam participation and exam score data specifically related the VAP program. This would have helped to make comparisons between VAP and traditional AP programs. Although John-ston and Barbour (2013) found positive, sig-nificant differences between distance and traditional AP in AP exam participation and exam scores, our study was unable to bolster understanding in this area. Finally, U.S. Department of Education’s Race to the Top funds were cut after the second year of the project. Many grantees expressed an interest in longer term funding to help determine the ben-efits of the program. Several of the grantees stated that the first year or two of program implementation were focused on getting the program up and running and that they needed more time to test the efficacy of recruitment, retention, professional development, and instructional strategies.

541 Implications for Practice

542 The results of this study point to implica-tions for how best to implement distance learn-ing AP programs. First, professional development is needed to support stakeholders who are involved in identifying, recruiting, and retaining students from underrepresented backgrounds. Previous studies and the current study suggest that stakeholders struggle with reducing bias in the process of recruiting stu-

543 54The Quarterly Review of Distance EducationVol. 18, No. 2, 2017

544 dents to AP programs. Professional develop-ment is also needed for teachers who work directly with students from underrepresented groups. Teachers need specific ideas about how to differentiate instruction for diverse groups of learners.

545 Also, social supports in the form of peer-and adult mentoring is also needed to promote recruitment and retention of students from diverse backgrounds. Research has suggested that cultural, sociological, and structural fac-tors can all have a significant impact on AP participation and success of underrepresented groups. When researchers examined school environments and structures that were benefi-cial and supported success among underrepre-sented groups, they found that success could be attributed to consistent mentoring supports, a willingness to provide differentiated support, and encouragement (Kyburg et al., 2007; Sol-orzano & Ornelas, 2004; Taliaferro & Decuir-Gunby, 2008). It is important to note that men-toring for certain populations (e.g., ELL and Latino populations) may be somewhat unique in that there may be an added layer of concern surrounding being able to legally attend col-leges and universities.

546 Implications for Research

547 Based on the results, limitations, and impli-cations for practice of this study there are sev-eral possible areas for future research. First, future research should evaluate the best ways to measure students’ time management skills, motivation, and ability to engage in self-directed learning. There is research to support the importance of these skills in successfully navigating distance learning environments, and so it is important that these skills are iden-tified in students early in the recruitment pro-cess. The purpose of assessing these skills should not be to exclude students but to deter-mine which students are in need of additional supports to be successful. Along with these measures, researchers need to devise the best methods to support students who display a need in one or more of these areas.

548 In addition, more research is needed con-cerning at what rate students enrolled in dis-tance learning AP programs participate in AP exams and student scores on those exams. This will allow us to determine the efficacy of dis-tance learning AP programs. Specifically, if studies consistently show that students enrolled in distance learning AP programs are participating in AP exams at the same or at greater rates than those students participating in traditional AP programs then this may pro-vide a rationale for incorporating more dis-tance learning AP programs. A similar argument can be made if students enrolled in online AP programs are also scoring as well or better on AP exams than those enrolled in tra-ditional AP programs.

549 Finally, more research is needed to deter-mine the best ways to support students who are academically at risk and working in distance learning environments. Often these students will need some additional help to be successful in the distance learning environment. AP teachers may expect a certain kind of student to take their AP courses and may not be pre-pared to provide these supports. Research is needed that examines the impact of providing teachers with strategies to support a diverse population of students in online learning envi-ronments.

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