The AP ® Course Audit: Overview

1. The AP® Course Audit: Overview • The College Board will audit all 2007-08 courses that schools wish to label “AP” on students’ transcripts. • Each AP teacher must submit an AP Course Audit form and a syllabus for review by the College Board. Qualifying courses will receive authorization to use the “AP” designation. • Schools may: • List courses they plan to offer as “AP” in course selection materials before participating in the audit • Order and administer exams without participating in the audit

2. Background • The College Board created the AP Course Audit at the request of its members (secondary schools and colleges) who sought a means for the organization to: • Provide teachers and administrators with clear guidelines on curricular and resource requirements that must be in place for AP courses • Help colleges and universities better interpret secondary school courses marked “AP” on students’ transcripts

3. Support for the AP Course Audit from Colleges and Universities “The AP Course Audit process will ensure that courses that are called AP are, indeed, providing the highest level of preparation for students across the country.” Jerome A. Lucido, Vice Provost for Enrollment Policy and Management, University of Southern California “The AP Course Audit will give assurance to admissions personnel that the student has experienced college-level work in high school.” Pam Horne, Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Management and Dean of Admissions, Purdue University “The AP Course Audit will help ensure consistency across schools so that AP, regardless of where it is taught, continues to be of the same high quality we have come to trust.” Bruce Walker, Vice Provost and Director of Admissions, University of Texas at Austin

4. Define Standards and Parameters The AP Course Audit will not: • Prescribe a set curriculum nor specify particular delivery models for courses • Mandate particular teacher credentials, professional development, or certification The AP Course Audit will: • Specify common, essential elements of corresponding college courses and define resources, such as college-level textbooks, necessary for the course • Require teachers and principals to attest to the inclusion of these elements in the course • Preserve the flexibility that all teachers and schools can and should have to create their own curricula and syllabi for AP courses

5. Sample Curricular and Resource Requirements • Curricular Requirements • AP English Language and Composition: The course teaches students to analyze how both graphics and visual images relate to written texts and serve as alternative forms of text themselves. • AP Calculus AB: The course teaches students how to use graphing calculators to help solve problems, experiment, interpret results, and support conclusions. • Resource Requirements • AP Spanish Language: The school provides audio and video equipment and materials that facilitate significant speaking and listening practice for the students throughout the course. This equipment can include cassette/compact disc players or language labs, and video or DVD players or computers. • AP United States History: The school ensures that each student has copies of primary sources and other instructional materials used in the course for individual use inside and outside the classroom.

6. Timeline • Teachers may submit AP Course Audit materials beginning in January 2007. • The deadline to request authorization for 2007-08 is June 1, 2007. • The College Board will review materials received after this date but cannot guarantee inclusion in the first edition of the ledger listing authorized AP courses. • A ledger of schools with their authorized courses will be made available to colleges and universities by November of each year. • Colleges and universities will be informed of courses authorized after June 1, 2007, via periodic updates to the ledger.

7. Process Web-based submission process: • Principals, AP Coordinators, and district officials will receive instructions for accessing the Web site in January 2007 (via mail). • Each AP teacher will then create an account and do two things: • Print the subject-specific AP Course Audit form, obtain teacher and principal signatures, and submit the form via fax • Submit an electronic version of a syllabus for review via her or his account • Within two months of receiving both the AP Course Audit form and syllabus, the teacher will receive notification that the course has been authorized or that further dialogue is required before authorization can be given. • Schools and districts will have the ability to track the status of their courses through the Web site.

8. Additional Reviews • If the College Board needs more information to grant authorization for the use of the “AP” designation, the teacher and principal will be notified via email and letter. • The College Board will give all teachers the opportunity to supply more materials and/or explanation about the course. • If a determination still cannot be made, a College Board–appointed senior reviewer will work with the school to define what needs to be in place before the school can label the course “AP.”

9. Syllabus Review • The syllabus must corroborate what the teacher and principal attest on the AP Course Audit form regarding the course. • Each curricular requirement, or an alternative approach to a requirement, must be clearly evidenced on the syllabus. • The College Board will select reviewers from among college and university professors as well as recently retired AP teachers.

10. Syllabus Preparation Resources Available on apcentral.collegeboard.com/courseaudit: • Syllabus self-evaluation checklist: (September 2006) • The checklist helps ensure that the syllabus includes everything required and helps teachers avoid simple mistakes. • Annotated sample syllabi: (October 2006) • These are samples for each AP course, with annotated evidence that curricular requirements are met. • These syllabi illustrate that there are multiple ways that any given AP course can be taught. • Teachers can use these sample syllabi as examples as they craft their own syllabi.

11. Textbooks • Nonexhaustive lists of example textbooks that fulfill AP Course Audit curricular requirements appear on apcentral.collegeboard.com/courseaudit. • Reviewers will consider textbooks and classroom resources listed on the syllabus holistically to confirm that the items collectively provide students with the course content delineated in the curricular requirements of the AP Course Audit. • The Teachers’ Resources area at apcentral.collegeboard.com/resourcereviews includes reviews of a wide variety of instructional materials that teachers may wish to use in their courses.

12. Online AP Course Providers • Online AP courses provided by an online provider, such as a virtual school, may be listed as “AP” on the transcript providing the online provider has been approved to label its courses “AP” by the College Board. • Online providers offering authorized AP courses will be listed at apcentral.collegeboard.com/courseaudit. • Schools have the opportunity to indicate which online courses they are providing their students through the AP Course Audit Web site.

13. Renewal Process • In subsequent years, principals may request renewal of the authorization through a form that will be provided by the College Board. • Teachers will not be asked to resubmit approved syllabi each year. Syllabi need only be submitted if the College Board makes significant changes to the course or if the teacher changes schools.

14. Additional AP Course Audit Resources • Articles written by district officials who have conducted district-wide professional development activities to facilitate syllabi development (to be available at apcentral.collegeboard.com/courseaudit in September 2006) • Free online presentations in fall 2006 (October 26, November 30, and December 14) • apcentral.collegeboard.com/onlineevents • AP Course Audit Web site demo (December)

15. More Information • For complete information about the AP Course Audit—including curricular requirements, resource requirements, syllabus preparation guidelines, and example textbooks, visit apcentral.collegeboard.com/courseaudit.