The Fractured College Prep Pipeline

This book walks readers through the stages of the high school college prep pipeline that introduce interlocked structural barriers to student achievement. The author shows how these barriers reinforce segregated structures that unfairly distribute the public good of education to some students and not others. Price argues that the college prep pipeline of Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate coursework in American high schools constitutes a new form of tracking in the 21st century. Even further, this new tracking introduces a façade of “college readiness” that veils the unequal learning opportunities that send some students out into the college world with pockets full of counterfeit credentials that serve only to reinforce the historically oppressive system. Whether intentional or not, this new form of tracking is embedded in schools across the United States and has lifetime consequences for individual students that reinforce historical racial, ethnic, and spatial inequalities.

Book Features:

• Follows all the stages in the college prep pipeline, from access to curriculum to participation in classes to demonstration of mastery of the course content.
• Provides a more valid measure of quality by using the national tests of College Board Advanced Placement to compare the learning outcomes of students enrolled in the same classes across the nation.
• Uses Arizona, Florida, Michigan, and North Carolina as case studies that exemplify the variation in practice and policy across the United States.
• Compares public districts to charter high schools, showing how the rise in school choice policies hinders integration efforts.

Heather E. Price is assistant professor of leadership studies doctoral program with concurrent appointment in the Social, Behavioral, and Forensic Sciences department at Marian University.

“ The Fractured College Prep Pipeline is a cogent explanation of the issues the existing college-prep pipeline poses, consisting of Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate coursework geared toward predominantly white students and other college-prep credentials of lesser value geared toward less-privileged students.”

—CHOICE

“ The Fractured College Prep Pipeline is a helpful primer for understanding the college prep landscape and the organizational conditions that hinder students from gaining a bona fide college readiness credential.”

—Teachers College Record

"This book is a rigorous and engaging portrait of the architecture of opportunity in American schools. With a fine-grained analysis that never loses sight of the big picture, Heather Price reveals structural realities of college readiness in the United States that are ripe for change."
—Sean Kelly, University of Pittsburgh

“Never before has college access mattered more. In light of that reality, contemporary U.S. high schools have embraced the goal of providing all students with the opportunity to prepare for college. But as Heather Price demonstrates, they often lack the resources to meet that goal. The Fractured College Prep Pipeline succinctly describes the result: A system that perpetuates familiar inequalities, particularly in rural communities and communities of color.”
—Thurston Domina, professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Contents

Prelude vi

Acknowledgments vii

1. Introduction 1
21st-Century Education Policy, In Brief 2
Interlude: Words, Terminology, and Language Use 4
Contribution 9
Summary of Chapters 9

2. A Simmering Problem 11
with Kristi Donaldson
College and Career Readiness = College for All 13
From High School “College For All” Expectation to Actually going to College 14
The Puzzle 18
Theoretical Framework 20
Methods 23
Case Studies: Four “Spotlight States” 26

3. The Landscape of College-Preparatory Curriculum in American High Schools 31
American High School Landscape 31
Spotlight States: High School Landscape 38
College-Prep Curriculum Landscape 42
The College-Preparatory Pipeline 47
Spotlight States: The AP and IB Landscape 48

4. The Foundation of Access to Opportunity 50
Historical Background on Access to Curriculum 50
District Access in the United States 51
District Resources: Concentration vs. Dilution 53
Unequal Consequences for Students Without Access 58
Summary: Stage 1 of the Pipeline 60
Spotlight States: How Does Access Work Within States? 61
Conclusion 66

5. In the Pipeline: Participating in AP and IB Courses 68
Brief Background on Curriculum Tracking 69
Student Enrollment in Schools with AP or IB Courses 70
Tracked-Out: No-CP Schools 71
AP and IB Participation in the United States 74
Concentration vs. Dilution of Curricula 76
Inside the Classrooms 78
Tracked-in: CP-Specialty Schools 80
Concentration vs. Dilution: Impact on Participation Rates 85
Summary: Stage 2 of the Pipeline 86
Spotlight States: How Does Participation Work Within States? 89
Conclusion 93

6. The Last Stage of the Pipeline: Passing the Exams 95
U.S. History on Testing Knowledge: States’ Rights 96
AP Exams 97
Summary: Stage 3 of the Pipeline 110
Spotlight States: How Does AP Testing Work Within States? 112
Conclusion 115

7. College-Prep Credentials: Who Gets Nothing, Who Gets Swindled, and Who Gets the Real Quality 117
Segregated Learning 120
New to the Educational Marketplace: The Counterfeit Credential 127
Research Implications 128
Reflection 130
Conclusion 130

8. Implications and Thoughts on Moving Forward 132
How Did We Get Here? 133
Data Analysis and Social Structures 134
College Admissions 136
Policies on the Horizon 136
Students and Families 138
Conclusion 139

Notes 140

References 144

Index 161

About the Author 168

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