AP credits: Not what they used to be?
February 19, 2010 by Geneva ReidPosted in: Academics, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views
For years, we’ve assumed students who take AP courses are better prepared for college. But is it still true? Some numbers suggest otherwise. According to a USA Today analysis:
- 704,000 students took AP exams in 1999 — and 36.5% failed.
- Last year, 1.7 million took the exams, with 41.5% failing.
- More than 48% of students failed in the South (defined as Texas to Delaware).
- Statewide, the highest failure rate was Arkansas’s 70.3%.
Overall, more students clearly are passing the exams than failing them. And experts say it’s expected that grades will drop as more students take the exams.
But the rising failure rate is cause for some concern: Are poorly trained teachers sending students into the exams with inadequate preparation?
It might even be that many students – who normally wouldn’t enroll in AP classes — are being pressured into taking them because of the increasing competition in the college admissions game.
Why do you think more students are failing AP exams — and are these courses really worth the extra effort and cost?
Let us know in the comments section below.
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Tags: advanced placement, AP exams
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February 17th, 2010 at 10:47 am
When my son took the AP exams, it was almost assumed that no one really passes the test. I’m not sure if they are taught at the level of the test.
February 17th, 2010 at 12:01 pm
My son took a 5 or 6 AP classes and scored a 5 on all but one. That was the one where a coach was teaching chemistry and doing a lousy job ( I work in chemistry) as a teacher. The classes just presenting the material is not enough to get the students to pass- the instructor has to know how to get the students to pass the test as well as learn most of the material.
Do I think most can skip the college class after taking the AP class? Not really, but it does usually give them a better prep than the non AP class. One daughter dropped to just college prep English her senior year due to a schedule conflict, and the level of instruction an order of magnitude lower.
February 17th, 2010 at 12:28 pm
I agree with Sally, that taking and passing AP courses don’t necessarily mean the student has learned the material at the college level. My son took AP courses his entire high school period and had to retake two of the six courses in college. I do think he received a better, more advanced education due to those courses and was better prepared to tackle the courses in college. There has been a drive here for all students to take AP courses in high school, as the school district is really promoting them, for what reason I can’t understand. My daughter has students in her classes that are clearly over their head; as a result the instructors are teaching at a lower level just to reach them and she is missing the benefit of advanced learning.
February 17th, 2010 at 12:35 pm
My daughter took three AP courses & passed all of the exams. In one AP class, Bio, instruction was jammed into half a school year and the requirements seemed unreasonably difficult – much more so than I remembered from my college Bio class. The others seemed rigorously taught, but more reasonable. Many of her classmates took far more AP classes. I don’t know their pass/fail rate. I think that students are pressured (by high schools, parents, peers, & college admissions) to take AP classes. When they take many, they are often taking AP as their introduction to a subject which seems unduly stressful for students. However, it was great that my daughter got college credit for the AP courses. With those credits in the bag, she has more flexibility to take classes that she wants rather than just required courses. I still have very mixed feeling about AP classes & will have another child entering H.S. soon.
February 17th, 2010 at 12:49 pm
I am not at all surprised. Many AP courses do not have the rigor that they used to, and the population of students taking them is less elite. Many parents want their children to take AP courses, since these are often the only courses taught at an acceptable academic level. What I find completely unacceptable is school districts that give a bonus in the GPA calculation for AP courses.
Today I am suspicious of all AP credits. Just because a student scored a 5 on the exam doesn’t mean they really know the material.
February 17th, 2010 at 1:07 pm
My son has a learning difference, and we wondered how he’d do on the AP exams. Well, he got two scores of 4 and two scores of 5. The tests really let his ability shine through. He was very proud of himself and it gave him confidence in college (his college does not give credit for AP courses but I’m sure his scores helped him get in.)
Some students in his AP classes were less committed to the reading and the course content, and did not memorize the material. They failed. But some have gone on to do very well in college!
I don’t know that standardized tests demonstrate ability to do college work, since college demands a flexible, creative mind. These tests do let some students show their talent, but should never be the sole way we decide if a student is “college material.”
February 17th, 2010 at 1:14 pm
I have been teaching at a community college for 43 years in the engineering transfer program. We have about 900 FT and PT students in the program. Our main transfer institution is the University of Maryland, College Park, where we transfer about 60 students per year in engineering. Many of our incoming students have taken AP courses. Mostly they seem to have taken Calculus AP. If they have taken the BC level and scored a 5, then they generally seem to be prepared for the next calculus course. If they did the AP AB rather than the BC level, I think that they are well advised to repeat Calculus I at college. The biggest problem with incoming students is that they often have not learned that it is their responsibility to learn the material. It is NOT the sole responsibilty of their high school teacher. High school teachers are mainly good and adequately prepared (at least in Montgomery County, Maryland) but teachers have a very difficult time enforcing any sort of standards on students. High school teachers cannot give the grades that the students have earned or deserve without being in danger of losing their job. Everyone is above average! So then the students come to college and get shocked when they discover that they need to do the assigned reading, they need to come to class, they need to write up the labs neatly with adequate English usage, they need to do the homework, and they need to learn to think (not just memorize for the next exam). I think that the reason for the AP course popularity resides partly in the fact that the AP exam gives a dispassionate assessment of the AP student’s real capabilities. Of course, students could still feel that their teacher was at fault for not preparing them properly, but I don’t see much of that. The students mostly accept the fact that they scored below a passing grade on the AP exam and they recognize that they didn’t really expend the effort that they knew they should in order to really master the course material. AP is good, but NOT because the students might get college credit. AP is good because it is a step up from the typical high school classes where the majority of the students expect a good grade for little or no work on their part.
February 17th, 2010 at 1:34 pm
I believe that students can take the AP exams without taking an AP class and that, in fact, many now do take the exams with only self-study prep. And, while I do not have statistics on this, I suspect that this is a factor in the passing rate drop.
RLN
February 17th, 2010 at 1:50 pm
I agree with Hank’s comments. In order for my kids to get courses at an acceptable level of difficulty, I urged my kids to take AP courses. Otherwise, courses were taught at such a low level and the teachers had low expectations for students in regular classes. My kids did well on the tests but No, I didn’t get the sense it was a challenging curriculum. The AP classes were probably at the level I had in my non-AP classes 30 years ago.
February 17th, 2010 at 1:53 pm
My daughter took 3 AP classes and was 0/3. She was not at all concerned about passing and did not study for the tests. Her thoughts were that the classes would be of higher quality than on level. I don’t think she thought it was in her best interest to skip the basic level courses in college.
February 17th, 2010 at 1:54 pm
Futher comment. She did fine her first semester with all of her courses
February 17th, 2010 at 1:58 pm
I have gradded AP essays in the past and I got to admit the results were pretty dissapointing. My impressions agree with some comments I have seen: unqualified instructors with the result of poorly prepared students; pressure from administration to increase numbers with disregard for students background, interest or ability… i am afraid courses are not what they used to be and students readiness is questionable a lot of the time.
February 17th, 2010 at 2:19 pm
In this era of dual enrollment or taking regular college classes while in high school, the student may be better off taking the college course than taking the AP course and the AP exams because college credits on a college transcript may be more transportable. Some states are beginning to mandate that English 101 (for example) taken one public college in a state must be accepted for college credit at all public colleges and universities in the state.
February 17th, 2010 at 2:30 pm
I took several AP English and History courses in the late 80s and scored well on the tests. This resulted in me having enough credits to be admitted into university as a sophomore. *Half-way* through my *first year* at university I was told I needed to declare a major — because I was going to be a junior the next year and you had to have a declared major your junior year. I was still 18 years old. I ended up dropping out of university after my first year and it took me 10 years to return to finally get an undergrad. Maybe (hopefully) things have changed. I did fine in the university-level courses but was in no way ready to declare a major. Skipping me past a whole college year was clearly a mistake. So, while I think it was great to have access to the courses in high school (I would have been bored silly and a troublemaker at the regular level) I don’t think they should have counted the way they did in the university’s eyes.
February 17th, 2010 at 2:31 pm
My daughter’s H.S. guidance counselor strongly advised her to take AP courses instead of taking college courses. He said that college admissions preferred AP because grades awarded were more standardized and that course credit was more likely to be awarded for AP classes than for taking college courses.
February 17th, 2010 at 2:42 pm
I know exactly why these rates are changing, because I am a grader for AP exams. WE have a huge number of exams where students either turn in a completely blank essay book, or simply draw a picture. When I asked why they would waste $85 and not even try, I was told that at a lot of schools, they are ranked by how many students TAKE an AP exam, and not by how many pass. So they are giving these exams to students who haven’t even taken an AP class! The school system is picking up the tab, knowing that the loss oof $85 will be offset by an increase in funding. It is all a scam.
February 17th, 2010 at 2:52 pm
All teachers who teach AP courses at the high school level are qualified to teach them. From a financial stance, it is cheaper to have your child take an AP exam than pay tuition for concurrent credit for college. College tuition is not cheap. If you can pay a small fee and your child passes the exam you can save yourself a significant amount of tuition. We saved a year of college expenses by our son taking AP courses and being successful. That’s $38,000 at the university our son attends.
Students typically have to meet criteria for AP courses and concurrent credit for college. The sad part is that criteria are not as specific for the person who teaches. If the teacher truly teaches AP course work, students should be able to do well.
High schools need to stop allowing students to take AP courses that do not have a reasonable chance of passing. They also need to make sure that the curriculum taught is at the appropriate level for a brighter student to be successful.
February 17th, 2010 at 2:56 pm
The problem is a multi-faceted one. Many school districts in Texas award extra gradepoints for students who take the AP classes; as a result, students will often take the classes simply to “bump up” their class rank and GPAs. Some districts even mandate that a student must take (but not necessarily pass) the AP exam to get the extra high school gradepoint credits. Clearly, this situation means that students take the AP classes but have no expectation to earn passing scores on the tests. And it may also indicate that the classes lack the rigor that they should have. And finally, in Texas, school districts are paid a $100 cash award for every student who passes an AP exam. Though this state policy was intended to encourage greater participation in advanced-level courses, in practice it means that councilors often encourage students to take the AP courses even though they may be unprepared to pass the tests or even marginally qualified to face the rigors of the courses.
February 17th, 2010 at 3:00 pm
Auditorium taught courses with minimal teaching effort but slightly rigorous expectations can be tough on college freshmen who are typically living away from home for the first time. These are the “flunk out” courses.
Generally, if you are going to send your kid to a school which uses the auditorium approach to herd freshmen, it’s a good idea to have him or her first take the auditorium courses as AP courses in high school. The AP course will be taught from a comparable text book. The high school teacher will usually be better prepared and speak a more comprehensible dialect than the teaching assistants assigned as herders. Typically the high school teacher is more concerned than the professor who has been “saddled” with the talking head role in the freshmen course. For example, homework is more likely to be collected and graded in the high school course.
February 17th, 2010 at 3:12 pm
I’m sure that somehow schools are receiving recognition for the number of students taking AP courses, because like many of the other schools mentioned, my daughter’s school strongly encourages kids to take AP courses. The AP courses are more difficult than the standard courses, and perhaps students benefit from this. However I did not enroll my daughter in the AP courses because many of the teachers at her school are not very good. I don’t see the benefit of taking a harder (i.e. more work) course with a teacher that is not good. That’s a waste of time and can take time away from true learning. Furthermore, I am not in a hurry to have her skip the experiences of taking college courses (see Yuri’s comments). I think learning takes time and maturity. However I DO wish that high school courses were more rigorous. They are WAY too easy and students are not at all prepared for the work of college, which in itself has become much easier. How are we going to compete on an international level when our students are not used to comittment and hard work?
February 17th, 2010 at 3:23 pm
At our local high school, students must be recommended for the AP classess, they cannot just decide to take them at will.
February 17th, 2010 at 3:31 pm
Most students who skip a precursor class because of high school AP clearance get a C in my course.
It turns out that their high school AP course was often way too trivial to replace a college course or it appears that the students coasted through the course as they do with other high school courses rather than practicing independent college type learning and self responsibility.
February 17th, 2010 at 3:42 pm
All of the comments thus far have been insightful and to the point. However, only one or two folks have questioned the validity of Standardized Tests and their role in preparation for College. In my opinion, students’ ability to pass AP exams should not be a true reflection of their ability in a subject. Rather, scoring a 4 or 5 on the AP is a raw assessment of students’ ability to test well.
My concern is that AP teachers feel such pressure for their students to do well on the Exam that they ‘teach to the test.’ Is this the correct approach? I think not.
I work at a College in New York and I evaluate all transfer credit, including AP credit. In my experience, there is no direct correlation between students being successful on the AP and their being successful in College-level courses. I have witnessed students with AP credit flunk out, and I have seen students with zero AP background excel. We shouldn’t allow the AP to continue to be seen as the gold standard for college preparation.
On a personal note, I was not offered the opportunity to take AP English in my Senior year of high school. Rather, I took Shakespeare/Poetry with the same teacher who taught all English AP courses. That teacher approached our class with the same level or rigor, and was still able to meet the weaker students half-way. I have since completed a BA in English, I’m looking into Ph.D. programs, and it’s due in large part to that teacher. Whether in an AP class or a standard high school class, the teacher must be able to adapt to students’ varying ability levels.
We place far too much attention on looking at the numbers and analyzing test results. Perhaps we should spend more time assessing student LEARNING. These days, everyone is going to college (or, at least, has intentions of doing so), and yet basic math, science, and writing skills are egregiously subpar (but that’s a larger issue!).
Sorry; I didn’t foresee a rant, but thanks for reading.
February 17th, 2010 at 3:45 pm
I work in higher education and also have a daughter that just graduated from high school. The quality of high school teaching varies widely depending on the state, the school district, the school and the teacher. I think both suggestions in the article are true: poorly trained teachers are sending students into the exams with inadequate preparation and students are being pressured into taking AP because of the increasing competition in the college admissions game, or at least they THINK that is true. I also noticed that there is pressure on students from their parents to take AP classes. It’s kind of a “status thing” among parents. Mr. Day’s comment that AP classes are a “step up from the typical high school classes where the majority of the students expect a good grade for little or no work on their part” is very true. In many schools, the non-AP classes are baby-sitting services where even the most motivated students quickly get discouraged, so parents that truly take an interest their student’s education don’t want them in those classes. However, I don’t understand why a high school student would want to take an AP class with a high school teacher who has a Bachelor’s degree (probably in education, not the field they are teaching), when they could learn the subject with a Ph.D in college who is an expert in the field. I would say that if AP classes are the only viable quality options in a specific school, by all means take AP, but don’t expect them to substitute for college level classes. If the high school teaches high-quality classes at all levels, and AP is truly a “step-up,” then perhaps they could substitute for a college class.
Getting a quality education isn’t a race to see who can finish faster. It’s all about learning to learn. In most cases, we don’t teach our kids how to take responsibility for their learning until they reach college. We should really be starting this process for all students by kindergarten.
February 17th, 2010 at 3:48 pm
I told my daughter she did not have to take AP classes in high school. I wanted her to be a normal happy kid. She is in her second year of college and has all A’s and and one A- in a very academically challenging curriculum. As an educator in the K-12 system for 33 years, and a full time college instructor for four years, I think I am qualified to say that these classes are a joke. Most parents in my experience want their children to take them so they can polish their parenting skills buttons to show off to their friends.
February 17th, 2010 at 3:51 pm
“M”: Just read your posting. Wow! That is mind-boggling. Thanks for sharing.
February 17th, 2010 at 3:58 pm
Well actually the AP exam is not a pass/fail situation. The score you receive on the exam is used to determine a particular level knowledge in the subject, and does that knowledge warrant the awarding of college credit. If a student performs at a level that does not warrant the awarding of college credit the student has not failed. If the only reason the student took the AP class was to get college credit, and did not, I guess they may view that as having failed the exam. Many students get very good grades in their AP classes, but do not receive college credit.
February 17th, 2010 at 5:45 pm
As someone who works in a place that administers the AP exams, I can say that I have seen myriad reasons for why the students take the exams in the first place. The fact that they ARE taking the exams is often not synonymous with they “should” be taking the exams. I will not comment here on what precisely those reasons are, but suffice to say, they’re not always in the best interest of the student(s). (“Well-intended” mind you. Just not always the best idea from an educational standpoint…imho). The original article addresses 2 of the biggies though…under-education and pressure from sources other than the student to take and pass the exam(s).
That said, I think it also bears noting that simply “taking” the classes regardless of the student’s eventual score (or pass/fail) on the AP exams themselves, can often be the bigger payoff even if they ultimately don’t get the AP credit. Simple “exposure” to the AP materials can often be as beneficial (perhaps more so in some cases) than earning the right to not take the class later.
Hypothetical question: How many students would take the AP classes if there were no exams…meaning just for the benefit of the additional knowledge and knowing that it would likely benefit them further down the road in their education?
February 17th, 2010 at 5:48 pm
Another aspect of the AP process to consider is the use of AP classes as a factor in college admissions. It is my understanding that some colleges look at the successful completion of an AP course as well as a good AP exam score in the admissions decision. This is a separate consideration from getting college credit for an AP class. Some colleges may not even give advance credit for AP classes but will look favorably on AP classes/scores in deciding to whom a freshmen slot will be offered.
February 17th, 2010 at 7:00 pm
“All teachers who teach AP courses at the high school level are qualified to teach them.” Not true, in my experience! I started the AP Biology program at an inner-city high school (I have a PhD in Immunology – not that it’s a necessary qualification at that level); I purchased equipment for all the labs and ran a rigorous course for students who were not well-prepared. None of them scored above a 3 on the exam, but more than one contacted me the next year to say that my AP Bio course was the only reason they were passing Biology in college. When I left that school the next year, teaching AP Biology was passed to a teacher with a BA in Biology from 20 years earlier (the one who had sent me those under-prepared students), who told me that he would not be doing any of the labs because it was “just too much trouble”. I’m sure that school is still getting credit for having students in AP classes, but I doubt that any of the students are getting an appropriate preparation in Biology. Advanced? In comparison to other courses, yes. College-level? In many cases, I doubt it.
February 17th, 2010 at 9:26 pm
Yuri – in the system that I went through (UK circa 1973), you basically picked a college major at age 16, in order to schedule your last 2 years of school. I could have chosen mathematics, statistics, computer science, physics, or engineering, based on the courses that I took in those years.
My opinion:
1. Taking AP courses is fine. My daughter got a full semester’s credit at UMBC, and was able to take more electives that way. My preferred choice for most talented and emotionally mature students is to do post-secondary work. That way, they both get the transferrable credit, and a more realistic perspective on a university classroom.
2. Many students are forced into AP courses by ambitious parents. In this area of Ohio, it is popular to take the AP course, but not the test. That way, students can pad their resumes without any risk of failure.
3. Pointing at failure rates as a bad thing may be the wrong way to look at it. Not everyone has the talent or work habits to learn the material. Even the most talented and experienced teacher can do so much, despite what administrators, parents and the general public seem to believe.
4. Based on my recent experience, the AP AB Calculus test has been diluted. Our Honors students who took the test do not have the skills that their counterparts had a few years ago.
5. As for the quote on ‘testing well’, versus knowing the material – I have taught mathematics for 32 years at state universities. In that time, I have had precisely 1 student who could explain the material, yet not perform on tests. That particular student had a learning disability.
6. In our Department, the Calculus and PreCalculus courses top out at about 40 students, almost exclusively taught by full-time faculty, mostly with Ph.D.’s. Most of us assign and collect homework, and do our best to ensure that students actually learn something.
February 17th, 2010 at 10:01 pm
In our area of NC, high schools are ranked according to how many students take the AP exams, so students are pushed to take AP classes, beginning in the sophomore year. In some cases, the student may have no choice. They are told these courses will count in college.
I work at a local university where AP courses may well count as electives, but a full spectrum history of the world course will not transfer in as a history credit for General Education requirements because the university does not teach a similar history course. History courses in college have a much reduced scope of time for in-depth learning.
February 18th, 2010 at 10:39 am
The KNEE JERK suggestion that perhaps the TEACHERS are to blame, is a sad commentary on the endless “school reform” debate that has been current for more years than I’ve been alive and I am in my 60s.
I currently work in higher education, but I taught high school and spent over a dozen years closely involved with elementary & intermediate schools visiting hundreds of classrooms in 3 states and also conducting dozens of teacher workshops.
I have seen no evidence that the percentage of “bad” to “good” teachers has ever changed. There are, of course, “bad” and “good” school systems, which can either help or hinder teachers in their work. BUT – SCHOOL SYSTEMS ARE NOT RUN BY TEACHERS. They are run by administrators [& school boards] who -with rare exception- have the least amount of teaching experience of anyone in the system. This, of course, is aided and abetted by State Departments of Education, who believe that they should control teaching methods and content -minute by minute- in every classroom from their offices at the state capitol. What all this leads to is obvious from the above comments on AP classes.
February 18th, 2010 at 10:59 am
Although, inadaquate preparation and lack of qualified teachers were the major reasons for high failiure rate in AP, I noticed an interesting observation. My son got 5 in AP biology and 2 in AP Calculus AB. However, in college, he is doing very well in calculus but not that so good in biology. But, one think I remeber was his AP biology teacher focused on testing rather than teaching while the AP calculus teacher’s focus was on teaching basic knowledge and skills. Although, my son didn’t do well in AP calculus, the knowledge he gained in the AP calculus retained for a long way.
Most of the students take AP, just to get college credit not to gain knowledge. It is very sad that our education system is designed such a way, students have to take classes that they are not interesed at all. As Timothy mentioned, I also came through an education system similar to that in UK where I had to pick either science or arts in grade 9 and choose between physical and biological sciences in grade 11. This has helped me a lot to focus on my major in college and beyond. I think, it is time to redisign our eduction system.
February 18th, 2010 at 8:26 pm
I have a son who has been taking honors level English courses and earns either low B or middle to high C’s. He is interested in taking his first AP English course in 11th grade. It was his idea, based on a presentation by the two AP English teachers to his honors class. I have mixed feelings about it. I am concerned because he isn’t making higher grades in his honors courses. Do any of you have any experiences regarding how student’s grades are affected when they move from the honors level to the AP level? Do student’s generally do just as well, or do their grades drop? I know courses vary from school district to school district, but I would like to hear from several of you about your experiences. Thank you.
February 18th, 2010 at 11:05 pm
Ruthirak – You raise a question that I have asked since I began teaching. What exactly is the intent of the US system? Our parents, politicians and public seem to believe that we can teach anyone anything, if ‘we do it right’. I have seen no evidence of that at all. In fact, even those groups tacitly accept my view for subjects that they dislike, such as mathematics, but then pretend that those subjects are simultaneously crucial to our economy, and unnecessary.
February 19th, 2010 at 10:51 am
Kathy – I have no real experience of the effect on grades of Honors courses. However, isn’t it better to have him struggle a little now, rather than at college? In the latter case, it can cost valuable time and thousands of dollars to repeat courses.
February 19th, 2010 at 2:36 pm
I have worked as a counselor at a major university for 34 years and what many people don’t realize is the universities really don’t want the students to enroll in these courses for credit and make it difficult for them to have the credit directly apply to their degree. Most will only give elective credit. But over the years many college don’t have a catagory called electives. They will tell the young native student “Oh it will be counted towards your elective credit”. but the truth of the matter is there is no “bucket” of elective courses to take for most programs. The deptment have sucked dry this catagory. In these times the universities need the money from the direct enrollment of the courses. Most Universities will nod and smile about accepting the courses but actually they not substitive units in their program.
February 19th, 2010 at 5:48 pm
We love students with the necessary AP Calculus scores, since it gets them into the science and engineering disciplines earlier. As for electives, our math and computer science majors, for example have about 10 credits of electives, after the general education and major requirements.
February 20th, 2010 at 1:14 am
I am a junior in high school (one ranked in the top 100 in the US, the ranking coming from the number of APs taken) currently enrolled in 4 AP Classes. Here is what I have come to realize…
AP European History (sophomore year) is a more selective class with only 50 students enrolled in it and it had a heavy work load. This year, I am taking AP US History because the only other option is regular US history which (I have heard) is a joke. Almost 75% of the junior class takes this course. It is much easier which is why so many students enroll and still “looks good” as an AP class. So yes, in a way, APs aren’t what they used to be but I believe that’s on a course to course basis. While 75% of the grade takes AP American History, the AP Spanish class has about 15 kids. That should say something about the level of difficulty.
Also, sometimes we have to take an AP class because they are the only courses offered. For example, I took Chemistry at the regular level. An Honors class is not offered so my next course (because I really liked chem) was AP Chemistry. Similarly, now that I am done with Pre-Calculus, my only options are AP Statistics or AP Calculus.
February 21st, 2010 at 8:36 pm
As a parent of two students who took the AP Exams seriously, I (they) saved thousands of dollars in college tuition for the Exams that were accepted by their schools. Like anything else, one must invest something to get a return. My pocket book is happy they worked so hard, and I’m a proud parent because they took the more challenging degree plan.
February 24th, 2010 at 5:24 pm
In my vicinity, most AP students do not even take the national test. If one counts this as failure, and I believe one should, the pass rate is below 33%.
February 25th, 2010 at 12:09 pm
I work for a community college as coordinator of the college’s dual credit and dual enrollment program (concurrent enrollment).
Posts to this discussion have said that students must be recommended to take AP classes in some schools. In the case of dual credit courses such as English Composition (ENG 101) and calculus have prerequisite test scores required prior to registration for the class. This is the same as students entering our regular college courses. To my knowledge, prerequisite testing is not a requirement for AP classes. This gives us assurance that the student is ready for college level work. Does anyone know if high school students taking AP classes have prerequisite test scores?