Hello Friends,
As you know, I am a believer that if a student wants to take an AP class, he/she should be allowed to take the class. Simple, right? No, much debate surrounds AP courses.
Some students enroll in the course but do not sit for the AP test. Other students do not put in the effort to get a good score. Some students simply just have difficulty with the AP test. What most researchers are not stating is the following:
A College Board spokesperson states that enrollment growth means the raw numbers of students earning passing scores is climbing even if the overall failure rate is climbing as well.
Enrollment has grown from 704,000 in 1999 to 1.7 million last year. Fabulous. The AP courses were once available only for the elite, but now thousands more are taking the courses. Great!
Teachers, administrators, and curriculum coordinators must work within their districts to align the curriculum so that the entire discipline leads to the AP end result. Take a close look at Maryland's system which seems to be significantly improving their AP scores despite the increase of students taking the exams and courses.
Standards are important and if the nation would use AP exams as the final step in the academic ladder, the nation's youngsters regardless of socioeconomic background would benefit and be provided an excellent, rigorous curriculum which would prepare all students for many options after high school.
Your thoughts?
Brenda
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