Massachusetts AP Exam Participation by Subject and Student Group

Advanced Placement exam participation counts for all Massachusetts public school students from 2007 onward. Data is disaggregated by test subject, student demographic group, and school district. The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education publishes this dataset.

Use Cases

• Analyze trends in `TEST_TAKERS_CNT` by `SUBJ_CAT` over `SY` to identify growth or decline in specific AP subject areas.
• Compare `ONE_TEST_CNT` and `FIVE_PLUS_TEST_CNT` across `STU_GRP` to assess equity in exam-taking intensity among different student demographics.
• Model the relationship between `ORG_TYPE` and `TESTS_TAKEN_CNT` to understand participation patterns across different school types.
• Track changes in participation for specific `SUBJ` like 'Computer Sci A' before and after policy initiatives aimed at increasing STEM access.

Strengths

• Data spans over 15 years from 2007, enabling longitudinal analysis.
• Includes detailed disaggregation by more than 50 specific AP subjects and multiple student demographic groups.

Limitations

• Changes in the definition of economic disadvantage (`STU_GRP` values 'Low Income' vs 'Economically Disadvantaged') across 2015 and 2022 complicate time-series comparisons for that metric.
• The dataset lacks individual student records, containing only aggregated counts per group, school, and year.

Provenance

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).

Collection Method

Aggregated from mandatory reporting by all Massachusetts public schools.

Time Range

2007 to present.

Freshness

Updated regularly, with data current through the 2025-2026 school year.

Geography

Massachusetts, United States.