Learning and Understanding Improving Advanced Study of Mathematics and Science in U.S. High Schools (2002) / Chapter Skim
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3. The Advanced Placement Program
3. The Advanced Placement Program
Pages 64-82
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Supported by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) , the College Board develops AP course descriptions and yearly end-of-course examinations that represent an attempt to mirror the coverage typical of college-level introductory courses.
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During the past 45 years, the AP program has grown from a small program that served only the top students from largely suburban public and private high schools to one that now is available in a much more diverse group of approximately 62 percent of the nation's high schools. The program experienced a decade of rapid growth during the 1990s as the number of students taking AP examinations increased from 206,000 to more than 760,000 a year.
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. A course description for each AP course briefly outlines the topics that may be included on the end-of-course examination, describes the examination format, and provides sample questions.
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The committee prepares the course description for each subject and compiles a list of the textbooks used most frequently in the corresponding college course. Development committees for AP science courses may also recommend laboratory activities that are representative of work done by college students in the corresponding introductory course.
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There is a common recommendation that at least one double period per week in AP chemistry and AP physics and two double periods per week in AP biology be spent in laboratory work. The AP physics course description does not recommend specific laboratory exercises, but rather presents survey results on laboratory emphases ir1 typical introductory col
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43~43. Recent guidelines given to the AP science course development committees include a charge to assess knowledge about laboratory skills and experimentation.
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breadth, the AP physics course description states, "concentration on basic principles of physics and their applications through careful and selective treatment of well-chosen areas is more important than superficial and encyclopedic coverage of many detailed topics" (CEEB, 2001d, p.
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Fact? ~alfree-response question about cellular energeticsirom the 1989 AP biology examination: Explain what occurs during the Krebs (citric acid)
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For example, a letter to teachers from Gasper Caperton, President of the College Board, is included as a preface to the May 2002-May 2003 course descriptions for AP biology, calculus, chemistry, and physics. He states, "This AP Course Description provides an outline of content and description of course goals, while still allowing teachers the flexibility to develop their own lesson plans and syllabi, and to bring their individual creativity to the AP classroom." Consistent with this message, for example, the May 2002-May 2003 AP physics course description features a message from the development committee encouraging the following broad instructional goals (CEEB, 2001d)
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5~59) The section of the May 2002-May 2003 course description for AP chemistry entitled A Guide for the Recommended laboratory Program for Advanced Placement Chemistry (CEEB, 2001c, pp.
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101. Messages About Instruction Conveyed by AP Examinations Recent guidelines given to the development committees for AP science courses include a charge to assess knowledge about laboratories and experimentation.
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The development committee for each AP course is responsible for deciding the general content of the examination and the ability level to be tested. The examination is constructed using the topic percentages from the AP course descriptions as a guideline for the distribution of questions.
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21. The College Board does not, however, employ systematic research to determine the validity of test items in measuring cognitive processes.7 As questions are being written and refined, the development committees propose preliminary scoring standards that are based on consistent criteria from year to year.
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throughout the United States each.Tune.8 Because it is essential that students' responses be scored consistently, "a great deal of attention is paid to the creation of detailed scoring guidelines, the thorough training of all faculty consultants, and various 'checks and balances' applied throughout the AP Readin~,."9 Composite scores are created using formulas developed by each development committee. AP uses a five-point scale for awarding final grades on the examinations.
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· Statistical information about students' performance on the examinaHow the College Boars' Determines Nether AP Examinations Accomphish Their Purpose AP examinations must be valid and reliable measures of students' achievement at the college level. Colleges need to know that the AP grades they receive for their incoming students represent a level of achievement equivalent to that of students who take the corresponding introductory course in college.
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Assigning teachers to AP courses is usually a school-level decision; the College Board does not certify teachers and has relatively little to say about the matter of teacher qualifications. School administrators attending an AP workshop reported that arbitrary assignment of teachers to AP courses is used only when absolutely necessary and that in many cases, teachers apply specifically to take an AP assignment (Burton, Bruschi, Kindig, and Courtney, 20003.
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Consequently, many of the teachers who participate in AP professional development activities do so on their own time and at their own expense. The two principal types of professional development available to AP teachers nationally are 1- and 2-day AP workshops offered by the College Board's regional offices and AP summer institutes, usually 5 days long and offered by a variety of independent agencies.
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The College Board presents no information about local professional development activities available for AP teachers, but AP teacher's guides for the individual disciplines refer teachers to their respective professional organizations, which often sponsor sessions on AP at state and national conventions. The CFAPP report warns that the current models for AP professional development are and will continue to be insufficient.
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evaluating and incorporating new models of professional development that support instructional and curricular changes. The commission also recommends that the College Board expand the development and implementation of the AP Vertical Teams program.
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