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21 A World of Possibilities: Gifted Hispanic Students Overcoming Barriers to Advanced Placement
Students considered low-SES and/or CLD are identified as gifted and participate in advanced programming less frequently than expected based on their overall percentages in the general population (Callahan, 2014; Hébert & Beardsley, 2001; Ford, Grantham, & Whiting, 2008) Additionally, factors influencing their success in Advanced Placement (AP) courses (Kyburg, Hertberg-Davis, & Callahan, 2007) may differ from those of the traditional AP population. To date, this has been primarily examined qualitatively.
The purpose of this study was to quantitatively examine factors predictive of success on AP exams for gifted Hispanic students in a low-income, high-CLD high school.
Research Questions:
1. How does gifted Hispanic students’ performance on AP exams compare to gifted Caucasian students?
2. How does gifted Hispanic students’ performance on AP exams compare to non-identified Hispanic students’ performance?
3. What factors predict success on AP exams for Hispanic students?
The low-SES, high-CLD high school sampled for this study was selected because of its emphasis on preparing underrepresented students for AP success. In 2012, the school received a three-year grant to increase the diversity of its AP student population. Secondary data were examined for 152 gifted students, 52 gifted Hispanic students, and 257 non-identified Hispanic students who took an AP exam during the grant period.
Correlation analyses were conducted to examine the bivariate relationships between variables. Data were not normally distributed; therefore, chi-square tests of independence and logistic regression were implemented.
Results indicated that: (1) Gifted Hispanic students were slightly more likely (57.7%) to pass an AP exam than gifted Caucasian students (52.7%); (2) Hispanic students identified as gifted were more likely (57.7%) to pass an AP exam than Hispanic students not identified as gifted (33.5%); Gifted Hispanic students were 2.8 times more likely to pass an AP exam than Hispanic students not identified as gifted.
Contrary to prior research, low-SES, ESL, and Hispanic ethnicity were not negatively associated with AP exam success for the gifted students in this study. In fact, gifted identification was the only significant factor predictive of success. There was no statistically significant difference in the performance of gifted Caucasian and gifted Hispanic students. Further, gifted Hispanic students were almost three times more likely to pass an AP exam than non-identified Hispanic students, even when controlling for GPA, suggesting that the combination of strategies employed by this high school in addition to ongoing gifted programming could have contributed significantly to the positive outcomes for these students.