Promoting Equity

States have made great strides in recent years in closing equity gaps for underserved minority and low-income students, but these students remain underrepresented in AP classrooms and in the population of students scoring 3 or higher on AP Exams. To achieve equity, we must increase diversity and performance at the same time, and ensure that the demographics of both AP participation and success align with the demographics of the overall student population.

In Figure 6, you’ll see which states have closed the equity gap in participation, and which have closed the gap in success. Although work remains in the coming years to continue this progress, we have a lot to celebrate. For instance, 32 states have made progress since last year in closing the participation gap for black/African American students, and 38 states and the District of Columbia have made progress in closing the success gap for these students.

Visit Strategies for Progress for strategies to support teachers and give underserved students the confidence, encouragement and preparation they need to take on the challenge of AP courses and to succeed at them.