Quantitative Analysis of Minority Students' College Preparedness and Matriculation Through Advanced Placement Test Sores

Abstract

This study evaluated Advanced Placement test scores of high school students in local Maryland school systems to determine college preparedness and educational success of minority groups. The research utilized data provided by the Maryland State Department of Education to conduct a quantitative study that analyzed the percent of passing scores in relation to the ratio of minority students in local school counties. Analogous to that of the Critical Race Theory, it was hypothesized that minorities are not well prepared for college matriculation because of the epistemological perspective of social constructivism which has created educational gaps. Among the 24 local school systems in Maryland, Charles County, Howard County, and Prince George’s County were used for the study. The classifications used when choosing the counties to evaluate were based on the rating of college preparedness. The counties selected were either (a) top-ranking, (b) average-ranking, or (c) low-ranking. Using ranking measures, the study closely evaluated each county to determine the relation between Advanced Placement test scores and the ratio of minorities within the school systems. The findings of the study suggested that Advanced Placement test scores were lower in counties with a higher percentage of minority students and higher in counties with a lower percentage of minority students. Therefore, the results confirmed that counties with high minorities population are ill-prepared for college matriculation.