Advanced placement courses with open enrollment : the experiences of students who qualify for free or reduced lunch

Across the nation every May, students take the exams for their Advanced Placement classes in high school. Some schools require certain grades, an application process, or recommendations in order for a student to be eligible to take these college level courses. Other schools have no requirements in place and employ an open enrollment policy. This case study aimed to answer the following research question: How do students, teachers, and administrators believe students who qualify for free and reduced lunch experience Advanced Placement courses at an open enrollment high school? Students, teachers, and one administrator completed individual interviews with the researcher as participants in this study. Findings revealed that overall students categorized their experiences in these rigorous classes as extremely positive; these students spoke at length about the challenging workload of Advanced Placement helping them to prepare for college. Teachers were not so optimistic, citing poor grades and lack of motivation where free and reduced lunch students were concerned. Administration shed a favorable light on the program, saying that exposure to college level courses is what matters in the long run and that open enrollment allowed all students this excellent opportunity. Overall, it became clear that students and administrators viewed this open enrollment policy as favorable while Advanced Placement teachers believed that there should at least be minimum requirements that students need to meet in order to enroll in these courses.