With an annual yearly growth rate of 9.3 percent over the last two decades, Advanced Placement courses have become a juggernaut in American high school education. AP courses are routinely perceived as an indicator of educational rigor, and many schools push to enroll low-income or minority students in these courses in the hope of preparing them for success in college-level courses. This rapid expansion of AP courses raises important questions. What are the advantages and disadvantages of courses geared toward the AP exams? How well do AP courses prepare students for college-level work or predict students' success in college? Should colleges award credit for AP courses? Is the AP program a cost-effective tool for closing the gap between students in privileged and struggling communities? This volume draws together the most recent and rigorous research on the strengths and weaknesses of the Advanced Placement program. It examines closely the differences between AP and other high school courses, as well as variations among AP courses. In-depth studies gauge the impact of AP coursework on student performance in college. Finally, researchers examine the use of AP information in college admissions. Taken together, these studies present a comprehensive picture of the history, impact, and future of the Advanced Placement program. This book is divided into four parts. Part I, An Introduction and Overview, includes the following chapters: (1) Advanced Placement in a Changing Educational Landscape (Philip M. Sadler); and (2) Examining AP: Access, Rigor, and Revenue in the History of the Advanced Placement Program. Part II, Inside AP, includes the following chapters: (3) How Are AP Courses Different? (Philip M. Sadler); (4) AP Biology Teacher Characteristics and Practices and Their Relationship to Student AP Exam Performance (Pamela L. Paek, Henry Braun, Eva Ponte, Catherine Trapani, and Donald E. Powers); and (5) Validating AP Exam Scores: Current Research and New Directions (Maureen Ewing, Kristen Huff, and Pamela Kaliski). Part III, Correlates of AP Participation, includes the following chapters: (6) Advanced Placement Course Enrollment and Long-Range Educational Outcomes (Robert H. Tai, Christine Qi Liu, John T. Almarode, and Xitao Fan); (7) High School Advanced Placement and Success in College Coursework in the Sciences (Philip M. Sadler and Gerhard Sonnert); and (8) Persistence and Performance at a Four-Year University: The Relationship with Advanced Coursework During High School (William R. Duffy II). Finally, Part IV, Policy Issues, includes the following chapters: (9) Advanced Placement Participation: Evaluating the Policies of States and Colleges (Kristin Klopfenstein and M. Kathleen Thomas); (10) Does the Advanced Placement Program Save Taxpayers Money? The Effect of AP Participation on Time to College Graduation (Kristin Klopfenstein); (11) Preparing Students for Advanced Placement: It's a PreK-12 Issue (Chrys Dougherty and Lynn T. Mellor); (12) Whither Advanced Placement--Now? (William Lichten); (13) Advanced High School Coursework and College Admission Decisions (Philip M. Sadler); and (14) Key Findings (Philip M. Sadler).