Advanced Placement English Exam Scores: A Comparison of Scores for Hispanic Students From California, Texas, and Arizona

We compared the performance of Hispanic students from California, Texas, and Arizona on the two Advanced Placement (AP) English exams (i.e., English Language and Composition and English Literature and Composition) using archival data from the College Board from 1997 through 2012. Pearson chi-square tests yielded statistically significant differences in all 16 comparisons for the English Language and Composition exams and in 15 of the 16 comparisons for the English Literature and Composition exams. Students from Arizona had the highest passing rate in 21 comparisons, California had the highest passing rate in 11 comparisons, and Texas had the lowest passing rate in all 32 comparisons. The majority of Hispanic students who took an AP English exam failed to earn a score that would result in college credit. Implications of our findings are discussed.