The Impact of At-Risk Students Enrolled In Advanced Placement Courses on a High School Culture

1. The Impact of At-Risk Students Enrolled In Advanced Placement Courses on a High School Culture David Posthuma, Ed.D. Fullerton Joint Union High School District

2. Researcher’s Background • Social Science Teacher/Social Science Department Chair, Fullerton Union High School. Fullerton Joint Union High School District. • Dean, Sunny Hills High School. Fullerton Joint Union High School District. • Assistant Principal, Sunny Hills High School. Fullerton Joint Union High School District. • Credentials: Professional Clear Single Subject (Social Science); Professional Clear Multiple Subject; Professional Clear Tier II Administrative Services. • M.S. in Educational Leadership, M.A. in Biblical Education

3. Student Concerns • “The impact of a high school curriculum of high academic intensity and quality on degree completion is far more pronounced—and positively—for African-American and Latino students than any other pre-college indicator of academic resources. The impact for African-American and Latino students is also much greater than it is for white students” (1999, p. 84-86). Clifford Adelman Senior Research Analyst U.S. Department of Education • “The mission of the College Board is to connect students to college success and opportunity. We believe this is best achieved through giving students college success skills and supporting them in rigorous academics so that they can take full advantage of the opportunities before them” (2008, p. 1). Peter Negroni The College Board Vice President for Teaching and Learning

4. Topic Background • The at-risk student and educational opportunity (Stefkovich, 2006) • Promoting educational equity and student achievement (Adleman, 1999, 2006) • The AVID connection (Powell-McMillian, 2004) • The AVID student and college plans (Powell-McMillian, 2005) • The College Board supporting the AVID student (Negroni, 2007) • A gap in qualitative research

5. Problem Statement The purpose of this study is to examine the impact that AVID students taking advanced placement courses is having on a high school culture from the perspectives of site administrators, of teachers and of the students themselves. (Adelman, 1999, Blasik, et. al. 2003, Hurst, et. al. 2003, Hurwitz & Hurwitz, 2003, Metcalf, 2007, Powell-McMillian, 2005 and Watt, et. al. 2004)

6. Importance of the Research • Teachers, students, and administrators • The impact of AVID students in AP courses on the school culture • Contribution to scholarly literature • Catalyst for change • Adding to the body of research for improving schools • Noddings (2007) • Marshall (2004)

7. Conceptual Framework • Critical Theory • Educational Equity • School Culture • Adequacy Critical Theory: Educational Equity for all students Educational Adequacy: Elements of Basic Education School Culture Beyond Theory to Practice

8. Research Questions Primary Research Question: What impact is AVID students’ participation in AP courses having on the high school culture? Secondary Research Question: What are participants’ perceptions regarding educational equity of the AP program in terms of how power is managed, modified, or shifted within the culture under study?

9. Critical Ethnography Methodology • “The purpose of ethnographic research is to describe and interpret cultural behavior” (Wolcott, 1987, p. 43). • “Ethnography is the art and science of describing a group or culture; the description may be of a small tribal group in an exotic land or a classroom in middle-class suburbia” (Fetterman, 1998, p. 2). • “A critical ethnography as a method of research allows the researcher to see the ethnographic project as an aspect of critical theory, which must eventually be completed in political and social action” (Quantz, 1992, p 467). • Hall and Hord (2006) state that a noteworthy way to study program policy implementation is to conduct “extended ethnographic fieldwork” (p. 161). • A critical ethnography as a method of research allows the researcher the opportunity to discover the inner workings of the culture as practice on a high school campus.

10. Research Design: Data Collection and Analysis Embedded Observations Interviews and Questionnaires Document Review Reflection and Refinement

11. Data Collection

12. Data Analysis

13. Reflection and Refinement Analytical Model

14. Assuring Validity of Data Analysisin an Ethnographic Study

15. Negative Past Practices Current Practices -------- Positive -------- Current Practices Future Action Findings • The data: • Questionnaires and interviews of administration, teachers, and students • Observations and memos of the embedded researcher The focus of the participants: 1. Either Positive or Negative 2. Chronological

16. Findings • Theme One: • Examples of Past Inequity • Utilized six of the seventeen codes • Perceptions reflected upon past practice at CHS that hindered student access to AP courses. • Epigraph: Past English Department Heads viewed themselves as “gatekeepers” in regards to who was allowed to teach and what students were allowed to participate in an AP course. (CHS teacher, 21:14)

17. Examples of Past Inequity Practice, continued • Key Issues: • Gatekeeping Practices • Maintaining High AP Exam scores • Answering the first research question, i.e., perceptions: • Many seek to maintain restrictive past practice • Answering the second research question, i.e., power: • The goal: to control the academic ability of students allowed into an AP course.

18. Findings • Theme Two: • Section Two: Current Practice against Inclusion • Utilized six of the seventeen codes • Continuing staff resistance to including AVID students in AP courses • Epigraph Quotation: The saddest thing that I’m finding out is that I’m meeting people that, you know, went to Valley [High School] or other places and, uh, mainly cuz the door was shut on them, and these are great students that we lost. (CHS teacher, 34:23)

19. Theme Two: Current Practice against Inclusion, continued • Answering the research questions: • AP course prerequisites continue to be a hindering factor • Few if any changes in planning, curriculum, instruction, or assessment • Students counseled to drop difficult courses • Under representation of at-risk groups in AP courses at CHS • Turning away great students • Key issues: • A power maintenance issue: teachers desire the assignment to AP courses • A power management issue: teachers are lazy

20. Findings • Theme Three: • Current and Ongoing Practice for Improvement • Utilized seven of the seventeen codes • CHS is beginning to change • Epigraph: There’s a lot of people here I think who are coming around to, like, you know, this is really what teaching’s all about. (CHS teacher, 34:18)

21. Theme Three: Current and Ongoing Practice for Improvement, continued • Answering the research questions-perceptions are: • Improved teaching at CHS • Students are challenged and succeeding • More students of color are engaged in the AP experience • AVID students are treated fairly and equally • Greater student choice in course selection and program at CHS • More innovation in planning, curriculum, instruction, and assessment practice

22. FINDINGS • Theme Four: • Future Action • Utilized four of the seventeen codes • Improvement suggestions from the participants • Epigraph: For equity to exist fully, the stakeholders will need to reexamine the philosophy of the AP program as a whole and address the issues of access and define what constitutes success (school principal, 30:6).

23. Theme Four: Future Action, continued • Answering the research questions-perceptions are: • Redefining success for the AP teacher and course • Encouragement for the AVID student • Continue to modify planning, curriculum, instruction, and assessment • Greater support for all students in AP courses • Lower achieving students should receive the very best the teacher has to offer • A better school for all students is an ongoing goal.

24. FINDINGS • Power and the culture of the school • Answering the research questions: • Teacher benefits from AP courses • Teacher desire to retain AP teacher status • The older teachers: the problem is the student; vs. the new paradigm: the problem is the reluctance to improve practice • The “lazy” teacher (Mr. Hawkins)

25. DISCUSSION • Conclusions Based on the Findings • Inequities Exist at CHS-Critical Theory • Entrance Exams • Gatekeeping • Teachers, Department Chairs, Counselors • Culture as Practice • Passion at CHS to either retain past inequitable practices or… • Passion at CHS to improve current and future practice

26. DISCUSSION (continued) • The Managing, Shifting, or Modifying of Power • Gatekeeping as an aspect of power • Power to place teachers • Power to choose students • Artificially maintain high test scores • Support for learning-the true need at CHS • Verifying learning vs. supporting learning • Commit to improve student learning

27. DISCUSSION (continued) • Strengths of the Study • Participant perceptions • Embedded researcher • Critical Ethnographic Methodology • Weaknesses of the Study • Limited number of participants • Difficult to generalize • Filtered through the mind of the researcher

28. DISCUSSION: • Implications: • How a school practiced inequity • The cultural changes at CHS • Power aspects of the study • Future Scholarship and Research • Expansion of the study with more participants • Focus on perceptions of one group of participants

29. DISCUSSION: • For Practitioners • Research Base to support change proposals • Re-examine school programs in the light of Critical Theory and Culture as Practice

30. DISCUSSION: Recommendations for Changes in Educational Practice • Support for change • Financial • Professional Development • Utilization of Best Practice by teachers • Teaching versus Learning (DuFour, 1998) • Accept the Challenge of Supporting the At-Risk Student • Support Innovations • Partnerships between relevant groups (Jeong, 2009) • Staff Commitment and Dedication

31. CONCLUSION • Remember Araceli… • She was willing and motivated • She broke out of the academic “box” of limitations • The perceptions of the participants in this study provide significance in this field of educational research and literature.

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