ABSTRACT
Advanced Placement (AP) Art and Design (titled AP Studio Art from 1972 through 2020) is an art-based portfolio curriculum and assessment encouraging examinees to submit original artworks demonstrating the following skills: inquiry; practice, experimentation, and revision; synthesis of materials, processes, and ideas; and artmaking. Although the course has evolved over the years, the portfolio structure has always encouraged student choice in creating a body of work with minimal content, style, materials, and media constraints. As a result, exam takers can use their cultural background, beliefs, and experiences to inspire and find expression in their work. AP Art and Design is a model for socioculturally responsive assessment (SCRA) based on the idea that students are more likely to successfully demonstrate knowledge and skills when engaging with personal ideas and relevant cultural backgrounds. Because it is socioculturally responsive and has no prerequisites, AP Art and Design allows many underrepresented students to achieve college credit, including those with lower PSAT scores, whose parents have an associate degree or less, or who come from traditionally underserved groups. Analysis of a national sample of students in the high school graduating class of 2022 found that taking at least one AP Art and Design exam was associated with an increased likelihood of enrolling in a college or university immediately after graduation. In this chapter, we look at the structure of AP Art and Design, particularly the requirements for the current curriculum, link AP Art and Design to SCRA literature and theory, and explore the qualitative outcomes through four student sample portfolios and quantitative outcomes via a national sample of AP students of the AP Art and Design portfolio exams. We showcase how AP Art and Design, viewed through the lens of SCRA, is an assessment model applicable across disciplines.
