Enhancing AP Education: New Resources and Support

1. Open Forum 2005 • 1. AP in 2005 • 2. New Resources/Support for Teachers • AP Instructional Planning Report • AP’s 50th Anniversary: Free Workshops • New publications • 3. More Flexibility for Schools • New AP Exam date options • 4. More Guidance for School Administrators & Quality Assurance for Colleges • Change to AP Student Grade Roster • AP Course Audit • 5. Open Q&A

2. AP in 2005 • 15,000 schools participated in AP 15% increase in the number of private schools • Largest 1-year increase ever in the number of students taking AP • 1.2 million students took 2.1 million exams

3. What does such growth mean for AP in 2005-2006 and beyond? • Teachers need support and resources • Schools need flexibility in managing the challenges of the AP Exam administration • Administrators need understanding of how to support teacher and student participation in AP • Colleges and universities need assurance of the quality of courses labeled “AP”

4. New Resources and Support for AP Teachers

5. AP Instructional Planning Report • A powerful resource for AP teachers: Replaces and improves upon the Report to AP Teachers • Automatically sent to principals in September for distribution to teachers • Separate report for each subject; compares the performance of a school’s students to the total population of students taking the exam • Helps teachers target areas for increased attention and focus in the curriculum. Can help guide teachers in course planning and professional development

6. AP Instructional Planning Report • Front page provides “big picture” view of overall score distribution and performance on multiple-choice and free-response sections • Bar graphs give teachers immediate picture of how their students’ scores are distributed vs. the global population • Instructions for reading and interpreting the charts appear next to each chart

7. AP Instructional Planning Report • Student performance on multiple-choice and free-response sections: • Gray bars represent the global group, divided evenly into fourths based on performance • Black bars show the percentage of a school’s students who fall into each fourth • If the local score distribution is comparable to that of the global population, expect to see students distributed evenly across the fourths • Grouping of students in the higher or lower fourths indicates higher or lower performance than the total population

8. AP Instructional Planning Report • Back page provides “drilled-down” view of students’ performance on specific content categories on the multiple-choice and free-response sections

9. AP’s 50th Anniversary:Honoring the AP Community • Free AP workshops: one voucher sent to each school in fall 2005 • Publications highlighting powerful AP teaching and college faculty involvement in AP • AP’s 50th kick-off at the AP National Conference

10. AP National Conference 2005July 14-18, 2005 Houston, Texas • AP’s 50th kick-off celebration • Gala dinner and reception at the Museum of Natural Science • Exhibition documenting AP’s fifty-year history with special feature on AP Reading • Professional development workshops in AP subjects and Pre-AP areas • Best practices for AP administrators and coordinators • Methods and policies for increasing access and equity • Nationally recognized plenary speakers: • Dr. Calvin Mackie, educator and author • Juan Williams, author and senior correspondent for NPR and Fox Television • Dr. Mae Jemison, scientist and the first African American woman to go into space • Additional info can be found at: http://www.collegeboard.com/apnc

11. New Publications • Chemistry 2006 Course Description (Currently Available) • Environmental Science 2006, 2007 Course Description (Currently Available)

12. Greater Flexibility for Schools

13. Greater Flexibility for Schools • At last year’s Readings, we proposed adding a second set of testing dates in late May of each year • We hope to offer this in ten subjects beginning in May 2007: • Biology English Literature • Calculus AB European History • Calculus BC Physics B • Chemistry Spanish Language • English Language U.S. History

14. Greater Flexibility for Schools • A decision to go forward with this will hinge on assessment of need/desirability: In fall 2005, schools will be asked to commit to testing dates in May 2007 and 2008 • A decision about whether to offer this option in May 2007 will be made and announced by February 2006

15. More Guidance for School Administrators and Quality Assurance for Colleges and Universities

16. AP Report to the Nation • Three themes in 2005 Report: • A wider segment of students than ever before are scoring 3+ on an AP Exam during high school • Gap remains in preparation for college – many more students going off to college than are prepared to succeed • While AP classrooms are increasingly diverse, participation and performance among traditionally underserved students continues to be low in AP courses

17. AP Report to the Nation • Also highlights schools that are international leaders demonstrating exemplary performance and participation in a given subject area • 2005 AP Report to the Nation • PDF can be found at: http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apreport • Hard copies can be obtained: http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/freepubs • The 2006 AP Report to the Nation will be released February 6, 2006

18. Change to AP Student Grade Roster • The metric used in the AP Report to the Nation will now appear in AP Student Grade Roster • Proportion of the graduating class that received at least one grade of 3-5 on an AP Exam during their high school career • Each student only counts once regardless of how many AP Exams he or she takes • No way to inflate this percentage by restricting access to AP; students who score 1s or 2s neither increase nor reduce the percentage

19. Sample: AP Student Grade Roster • AP Equity and Excellence Section: • 10th Grade – 5.2% • 11th Grade – 9.1% • 12th Grade – 10.0% • * NEW - Graduating Class Summary – 12.3%

20. Maintaining AP Course Quality • Beginning in Fall 2006, the AP Program will conduct an annual course audit of all schools that wish to use the “AP” label on course names or student transcripts

21. Context: Why an AP Course Audit? • We have received requests from school administrators, department chairs, and AP teachers to provide parameters or guidelines for improving their AP courses • New and expanding AP programs need a clear understanding of what curricular and professional development expectations should be part of an AP program

22. Context: Why an AP Course Audit? • In light of the decreases in funding being made available to teachers for professional development, administrators need reminders of the importance of supporting teacher participation in professional development opportunities; • College and university members of the College Board have urged us to preserve the use of the label “AP” for courses that truly deliver a rigorous, college-level experience to their students, and not allow the value of the AP trademark as an admission credential to be watered down by indiscriminate usage of the “AP” designation

23. The New AP Course Audit • The AP Course Audit outlines the curricular, resource, and exam administration requirements of each AP course, and provides recommendations to strengthen AP programs • Schools that meet quality criteria will receive authorization to entitle qualifying courses “AP” • Ledger of schools with official, qualifying AP courses will be distributed with AP Exam grades to all colleges and universities

24. The New AP Course Audit • New process will provide two options: • Schools may offer both AP Courses and AP Exams Requirement: Complete AP Course Audit annually and meet AP Exam administration security requirements • Schools may offer AP Exams, but courses cannot be labeled “AP” Requirement: Meet AP Exam administration security requirements

25. Timeline: AP Course Audit • 2005-2006 academic year: Draft AP Course Audit documents circulated to raise awareness of requirements • February 2006: Final version of AP Course Audit documents for 2006-2007 academic year AP courses posted on AP Central • September 2006: Final version of AP Course Audit documents for 2006-2007 academic year AP courses sent to all schools • November 15, 2006: AP Course Audit due for 2006-2007 academic year AP courses • December 2006: Principal receives authorization from CB to use the “AP” designation on courses that meet the requirements • July 1, 2007: Colleges and universities receive with their AP Grade Reports a book listing all schools authorized to use the AP label on courses as well as the names of the courses authorized at each school • [This cycle will repeat annually]

26. To give us your feedback about the AP Course Audit, visit: • http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/courseaudit/feedback

27. Questions, Comments, and Discussion