Advanced Placement

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The Advanced Placement program offers college level courses at high schools across the United States and Canada. According to the Good Schools Guide International, it is "usually much more rigorous than the general course offerings."^[1] The most taken exam in 2008 was AP United States History with 346,641 students, and the least taken was AP Italian Language and Culture with 1,930 students.

History

After World War II, the Ford Foundation created a fund that supported committees studying education^[2]. The first spartan study was conducted by three prep schools—the Lawrenceville School, Phillips Academy and Phillips Exeter Academy—and three universities—Harvard University, Princeton University and Yale University. In 1952 they issued the report General Education in School and College: A Committee Report which recommended allowing high school seniors to study college level material and to take achievement exams that allowed them to attain college credit for this work.^[3] The second committee, the Committee on Admission with Advanced Standing, developed and implemented the plan to choose a curriculum. A pilot program was run in 1952 which covered eleven disciplines.

The College Board, a non-profit organization^[4] based in New York City, has run the AP program since 1955.^[5] It develops and maintains guidelines for the teaching of higher level courses in various subject areas. In addition, it supports teachers of AP courses, and supports universities.^[6] These activities are funded through fees charged to students taking AP Exams.

In 2006, over one million students took over two million AP examinations.^[7] Many high schools in the United States offer AP courses^[8], though the College Board allows any student to take any examination, regardless of participation in its respective course.^[9] Therefore, home-schooled students and students from schools that do not offer AP courses have an equal opportunity to take the examination.

As of the 2009 testing season, exams cost $86 each,^[10] though the cost may be subsidized by local or state programs. Financial aid is available for students who qualify for it; the exam reduction is $22 per exam from College Board plus an additional $8 rebate per fee-reduced exam from the school. There may be further reductions depending on the state. Out of the $86, $8 goes directly to the school to pay for the administration of the test, which some schools will reduce to lower the cost to the student.

On April 3, 2008, the College Board announced that four AP courses - French Literature, Latin Literature, Computer Science AB, and Italian Language and Culture - will be discontinued after the 2008-2009 school year due to lack of funding.^{[11] [12]}

Scoring

AP tests are scored differently from the A-F grading scale common in the United States. They are scored on a numeric scale, 1 to 5. As of 2007, the test that test-takers scored the lowest on by percentage was AP United States Government and Politics and the highest was AP Chinese Language and Culture.

These scores are obtained with a bell curved grading scale - thus students are scored competing against each other rather than on a set standard.^{[dubious – discuss]}

These scorings are used by some colleges to exempt students from introductory coursework if they demonstrate mastery through an AP test. Each college's policy is different (see link below), but most accept scores of 4 or 5, and some accept scores of 3.^[13] Typically this is credited with a "CR" grade on the college transcript although some colleges and universities will award an A grade for a 5 score.

Exam subsidies

Recognizing that the cost could be an impediment to students of limited means, a number of states and municipalities independent of the College Board have partially or fully subsidized the cost. For example, the State of Florida reimburses schools districts for the exam costs of students enrolled in Advanced Placement courses. The Los Angeles Unified School District, the Montebello Unified School District, the Hawaii Department of Education, and the Edmonds School District currently subsidize Advanced Placement fees of students who enroll in the free school lunch program. In addition some school districts, such as Springdale Public Schools, offer free tests to all students enrolled in any Advanced Placement class.

See also

• Education in the United States
• Education in Canada
• Advanced Placement Awards
• International Baccalaureate

Notes and References

External links

• http://domeapreview.com provides practice materials for exam preparation
• http://www.teaching-point.net supplies complete instructional support materials, mentoring teacher access by email and student books for instructors new to an assignment
• AP Study Notes (vocabulary terms, chapter outlines, course descriptions)
• Explanatory article at the Good Schools Guide International
• The College Board's AP website for students and parents