简介:Racialdisparitiesinadvancedcoursetakinghaveremainedandevenincreasedagainstthebackdropoftherecentadvancedplacement(AP)anddualenrollment(DE)programexpansiontoanopenaccess,yetfewhaveexaminedtheunderlyingdynamics.UsingtheCollegeBoard’sSATquestionnairedataofthe2008and2014publichighschoolseniors,weshowthatadvancedcoursetakingbecameincreasinglyprevalent,yetBlackstudents’coursetakingratesremainedthelowest,andHispanicstudents’progresswasrelativelylimited.Thethree-wayinteractionmodelsillustratetheunderlyingdynamics.Blackstudentshadpersistentlyloweracademicachievement;higher-achievingBlackfellfurtherbehind,andmid-achievingHispanicstudentshadnotkeptupwiththeirrespectiveWhitecounterpartinadvancedcoursetakingovertime.Justastheeffectivelymaintainedinequality(EMI)theorypredictsthatadvantagedgroupswouldeffectivelyseekqualitativeadvantages,Whitestudentsnotonlyhadfurtherstrengthenedtheiracademicachievements,theyhadalsoincreasinglygraspedtheopportunitiestotakeadvancedcoursesacrossachievementlevels,whichwouldenablethemtodistinguishthemselvesintheupcomingtransitiontocollege.