The Advanced Placement (AP) program was created in the 1950s by The College Board, a not-for-profit membership association with the mission to create college opportunities and success for students. Advanced Placement’s college-level courses are created by the College Board. Any school wishing to offer these courses must be authorized through the College Board’s Audit each year.
The course exams provide students with an opportunity to earn college credit and/or advanced placement in college programs. Advanced Placement tests are administered during the first two weeks of May each year. The tests are scored on a one to five grading scale; a three or better on any of the course specific tests indicates a passing score. Passing scores on Advanced Placement tests provides high school students with college credit and/or advanced placement in college coursework.
The Advanced Placement Program
The Advanced Placement program provides an opportunity for students to take college level courses while in high school. The College Board program started in 1900, but its Advanced Placement program was not created until the 1950s.
Since the 1950s, the Advanced Placement program has expanded to offer 33 Advanced Placement courses (list of courses: http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/courses/teachers_corner/index.html) and exams in many content areas such as English/language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, world language, and the fine arts. Almost 70% of public schools in the United States now participate in the Advanced Placement program and over 1.7 million students take these tests annually. Ninety percent of all four-year colleges and universities in the United States, plus colleges in 60 countries internationally, award students credit, advanced placement, or both, for passing scores on Advanced Placement tests. Advanced Placement tests cost $89.00 each and are administered during the first two weeks of May, according to strict testing guidelines provided by the College Board in conjunction with the Educational Testing Service. The tests are created based on the content and skill typically taught in freshmen-level, introductory courses at colleges and universities.
The College Board touts many benefits to the Advanced Placement experience for high school students. Advantages include an enhanced high school transcript when applying for college admission, helping students qualify for post-secondary scholarships, earning college credit while in high school, obtaining advanced placement in college course-work, and acquiring the habits of mind to be successful in a rigorous academic setting such that institutions of higher education require. The College Board argues that Advanced Placement courses develop students’ academic writing skills, problem-solving abilities, and study habits.
Recent scholarly research has provided favorable findings in support of the Advanced Placement program. A comprehensive study published in 2008 of Texas public high school graduates and their performance in higher education offers much weight to an Advanced Placement program in which students not only take the rigorous course, but also take the Advanced Placement test. Researchers Linda Hargrove, Donn Godin and Barbara Dodd published “College Outcomes Comparisons by AP and non-AP High School Experiences.” The findings indicate that students, across gender and ethnic groups, who participated in both the AP course and exam, were significantly more likely to graduate from college within four years. The results also showed that students who participate in both the AP course and the exam had higher GPAs and credit hours earned than those students who did not participate in the Advanced Placement program. Overall, the results from this study strongly support participation, not only in Advanced Placement course work, but also the course specific exams.
The significance of Advanced Placement tests and scores increased in the late 1990s as reporter Jay Mathews of The Washington Post began publishing a ranked list of high schools in the United States. In 1997, Mathews created a way to compare all high schools based on the degree to which a school encouraged students to take rigorous course work and exams and called it his “Challenge Index.” The index is calculated by dividing the total number of college-level tests given by the number of graduating seniors. Mathews’s annual list, “America’s Best High Schools” includes an approximate ranking, the school’s ratio of tests to graduating seniors, the percentage of students in poverty at the school, and the percentage of seniors who passed a college-level exam while in high school. The index includes Advanced Placement tests as one of its indicators for a high school’s success. As Advanced Placement has entered the public spotlight, many school districts are using it to drive school reform efforts. The program provides professional development in both content and instruction for teachers and many incentives for students, teachers and schools.
The Advanced Placement Debate
Some in education have criticized the Advanced Placement program as a program for the privileged. Initially, the program, founded by a group of educators from elite preparatory academies, grew slowly. Just a few years after its initial founding, exams started to be administered to select students participating in the program. Even now, some sixty years after the program’s inception, a larger number of Advanced Placement opportunities can be found in upper class, urban and suburban, public and private high schools, as compared to rural and urban high schools. The cost to take the exam can also be seen as prohibitive to students in poverty.
The College Board responded to these criticisms by promoting increases in both equity and access to Advanced Placement course work across a number of student groups. In 2002, College Board issued their Equity Policy Statement, which makes clear the program’s belief in Advanced Placement opportunities for all students:
The College Board and the Advanced Placement Program encourage teachers, AP Coordinators, and school administrators to make equitable access a guiding principle for their AP Programs. The College Board is committed to the principle that all students deserve an opportunity to participate in rigorous and academically challenging courses and programs. All students who are willing to accept the challenge of a rigorous academic curriculum should be considered for admission to AP courses. The Board encourages the elimination of barriers that restrict access to AP courses for students from ethnic, racial and socioeconomic groups that have been traditionally under-represented in the AP Program. Schools should make every effort to ensure that their AP classes reflect the diversity of their student population.
The College Board has also engaged in other efforts to promote equity and access such as offering grants for teacher training at Advanced Placement institutes, collaborating with various institutions in support of equity initiatives, and exam fee reductions for students who qualify for free and/or reduced lunch programs.
The College Board responded to these criticisms with collaboration with high school teachers, college professors, and leaders in educational reform. The College Board is paring down the amount of content to be covered in many of the courses, as well as being more explicit about what will, and what will not, be tested on the Advanced Placement exams. The structure of some exams is changing; fewer questions in the selected response, or multiple-choice, section and more free response, or writing, questions. The changes to the Advanced Placement program appear to shift the focus of learning; less class time spent quickly on a great deal of content and more time on applicable, content-related skills. The College Board argues the changes will expand opportunities for students and teachers to explore concepts in a much deeper way, with hopes of a more meaningful learning experience for students.
Amber M. Graeber, M.Ed, NBCT
Advanced Placement Coordinator, Des Moines Public Schools, Des Moines, Iowa
Further Readings and Information
AP Data & Reports. http://professionals.collegeboard.com/data-reports-research/ap
Conley, D. (2010). College and career ready: Helping all students succeed beyond high school. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Hargrove, L., Godin, D., & Dodd, B. (2008). College outcomes comparisons by AP and non-AP high school experiences. New York: The College Board.
Luce, T. & Thompson, L. (2005). Do what works: How proven practices can improve America’s public schools. Dallas: Ascent Education Press.
Mathews, J. (2009, June 8). “Is AP for all a formula for failure?” Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com
The course exams provide students with an opportunity to earn college credit and/or advanced placement in college programs. Advanced Placement tests are administered during the first two weeks of May each year. The tests are scored on a one to five grading scale; a three or better on any of the course specific tests indicates a passing score. Passing scores on Advanced Placement tests provides high school students with college credit and/or advanced placement in college coursework.
The Advanced Placement Program
The Advanced Placement program provides an opportunity for students to take college level courses while in high school. The College Board program started in 1900, but its Advanced Placement program was not created until the 1950s.
Since the 1950s, the Advanced Placement program has expanded to offer 33 Advanced Placement courses (list of courses: http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/courses/teachers_corner/index.html) and exams in many content areas such as English/language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, world language, and the fine arts. Almost 70% of public schools in the United States now participate in the Advanced Placement program and over 1.7 million students take these tests annually. Ninety percent of all four-year colleges and universities in the United States, plus colleges in 60 countries internationally, award students credit, advanced placement, or both, for passing scores on Advanced Placement tests. Advanced Placement tests cost $89.00 each and are administered during the first two weeks of May, according to strict testing guidelines provided by the College Board in conjunction with the Educational Testing Service. The tests are created based on the content and skill typically taught in freshmen-level, introductory courses at colleges and universities.
The College Board touts many benefits to the Advanced Placement experience for high school students. Advantages include an enhanced high school transcript when applying for college admission, helping students qualify for post-secondary scholarships, earning college credit while in high school, obtaining advanced placement in college course-work, and acquiring the habits of mind to be successful in a rigorous academic setting such that institutions of higher education require. The College Board argues that Advanced Placement courses develop students’ academic writing skills, problem-solving abilities, and study habits.
Recent scholarly research has provided favorable findings in support of the Advanced Placement program. A comprehensive study published in 2008 of Texas public high school graduates and their performance in higher education offers much weight to an Advanced Placement program in which students not only take the rigorous course, but also take the Advanced Placement test. Researchers Linda Hargrove, Donn Godin and Barbara Dodd published “College Outcomes Comparisons by AP and non-AP High School Experiences.” The findings indicate that students, across gender and ethnic groups, who participated in both the AP course and exam, were significantly more likely to graduate from college within four years. The results also showed that students who participate in both the AP course and the exam had higher GPAs and credit hours earned than those students who did not participate in the Advanced Placement program. Overall, the results from this study strongly support participation, not only in Advanced Placement course work, but also the course specific exams.
The significance of Advanced Placement tests and scores increased in the late 1990s as reporter Jay Mathews of The Washington Post began publishing a ranked list of high schools in the United States. In 1997, Mathews created a way to compare all high schools based on the degree to which a school encouraged students to take rigorous course work and exams and called it his “Challenge Index.” The index is calculated by dividing the total number of college-level tests given by the number of graduating seniors. Mathews’s annual list, “America’s Best High Schools” includes an approximate ranking, the school’s ratio of tests to graduating seniors, the percentage of students in poverty at the school, and the percentage of seniors who passed a college-level exam while in high school. The index includes Advanced Placement tests as one of its indicators for a high school’s success. As Advanced Placement has entered the public spotlight, many school districts are using it to drive school reform efforts. The program provides professional development in both content and instruction for teachers and many incentives for students, teachers and schools.
The Advanced Placement Debate
Some in education have criticized the Advanced Placement program as a program for the privileged. Initially, the program, founded by a group of educators from elite preparatory academies, grew slowly. Just a few years after its initial founding, exams started to be administered to select students participating in the program. Even now, some sixty years after the program’s inception, a larger number of Advanced Placement opportunities can be found in upper class, urban and suburban, public and private high schools, as compared to rural and urban high schools. The cost to take the exam can also be seen as prohibitive to students in poverty.
The College Board responded to these criticisms by promoting increases in both equity and access to Advanced Placement course work across a number of student groups. In 2002, College Board issued their Equity Policy Statement, which makes clear the program’s belief in Advanced Placement opportunities for all students:
The College Board and the Advanced Placement Program encourage teachers, AP Coordinators, and school administrators to make equitable access a guiding principle for their AP Programs. The College Board is committed to the principle that all students deserve an opportunity to participate in rigorous and academically challenging courses and programs. All students who are willing to accept the challenge of a rigorous academic curriculum should be considered for admission to AP courses. The Board encourages the elimination of barriers that restrict access to AP courses for students from ethnic, racial and socioeconomic groups that have been traditionally under-represented in the AP Program. Schools should make every effort to ensure that their AP classes reflect the diversity of their student population.
The College Board has also engaged in other efforts to promote equity and access such as offering grants for teacher training at Advanced Placement institutes, collaborating with various institutions in support of equity initiatives, and exam fee reductions for students who qualify for free and/or reduced lunch programs.
The College Board responded to these criticisms with collaboration with high school teachers, college professors, and leaders in educational reform. The College Board is paring down the amount of content to be covered in many of the courses, as well as being more explicit about what will, and what will not, be tested on the Advanced Placement exams. The structure of some exams is changing; fewer questions in the selected response, or multiple-choice, section and more free response, or writing, questions. The changes to the Advanced Placement program appear to shift the focus of learning; less class time spent quickly on a great deal of content and more time on applicable, content-related skills. The College Board argues the changes will expand opportunities for students and teachers to explore concepts in a much deeper way, with hopes of a more meaningful learning experience for students.
Amber M. Graeber, M.Ed, NBCT
Advanced Placement Coordinator, Des Moines Public Schools, Des Moines, Iowa
Further Readings and Information
AP Data & Reports. http://professionals.collegeboard.com/data-reports-research/ap
Conley, D. (2010). College and career ready: Helping all students succeed beyond high school. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Hargrove, L., Godin, D., & Dodd, B. (2008). College outcomes comparisons by AP and non-AP high school experiences. New York: The College Board.
Luce, T. & Thompson, L. (2005). Do what works: How proven practices can improve America’s public schools. Dallas: Ascent Education Press.
Mathews, J. (2009, June 8). “Is AP for all a formula for failure?” Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com
