Some High Schools Are Dropping Out of the Advanced Placement Program

AP or IB?

I would be interested in seeing how the College Board's AP framework compares with the International Baccalaureate's Dimploma program through the eyes of students, educators and admissions officers. It seems that many schools, both public and private, are adopting the IB in tandem with (or in place of) A.P. courses. How do schools and school boards decide which is the best fit? Which framework is better engineered for the learner? Which credential carries the most weight with admission officers here in the U.S.?

AP vs Dual Credit

I am a HS counselor in a mall Midwest town. My high school has dropped some AP courses in recent years in favor of dual credit courses through the local junior college. These courses cost more (about $200 compared to $84 for an AP exam) but because the local college requires a minimum ACT score to take the dual credit classes, virtually everyone who takes the classes is successful. In contrast, only 50% of our AP Government student score enough on the AP exam to earn any college credit. Our teachers agree that AP is mor rigorous, but if the students' goal is to save time and money by earning college credit while in high school, dual credit is the better bet.

grammar

a person WHO is an ap teacher. It is tragic that the people teaching our youth can't use proper grammar. And they are those who speak of rigor, when they can't write the English language properly.

For any of you WHO

God help us when our AP programs are left to be taught by the likes of you.

grammar

a person WHO is an ap teacher. It is tragic that the people teaching our youth can't use proper grammar. And they are those who speak of rigor, when they can't write the English language properly.

For any of you WHO

God help us when our AP programs are left to be taught to the likes of you.

Ignorance is Bliss - or is it

I have read the comments posted here. I am a person that was an AP student growing up, and have sinced joined the teaching ranks and currently teach AP, Honors and Regular education.

There is a huge difference in AP. For any of you that simply state it is memorizing..you are not delving into the program for what it is worth.

As for the college professors that posted here, I can honestly state you learn more in AP than is ever taught in an Intro to history course. Your passion may be the Civil war, and that is what you are going to focus on, but an intro course is designed to cover a blanket of material to wet the appetite. This is what AP does.

Yes it is hard, and yes the teachers are accountable for teaching the material and then the students being tested on it.

The college board rates the students and then the success of those students rates the teachers. A great teacher will always try to prepare students for success, yet just like any other environment, you can lead a horse to water, you cant force it to drink. The article talks of some people dropping Ap due to rigor, and this is exactly what colleges want to see. If there is no validity for rigor, then what happens to the success rate of the population in America. The AP model is a great way to measure relevance and rigor...and perhaps this is what is needed in our education system, rather than whining and complaining about what is wrong all the time.

Leave AP alone, please

Many kids sitting in lousy public schools nationwide RELY on the AP classes to get a better education. Just the behavior alone in AP classes is enough to give a kid a much better chance of getting a good education! I am a teacher with a 3rd grade gifted son at a special magnet program (full-time gifted). However, my teen daughter is not gifted; she's an honors student and a phenominal reader and writer. When she isn't offered an AP course, she has to sit in REGULAR classes where the behavior of the students prevents consistent and quality education from taking place. She deserves better. We all do, especially since our tax dollars PAY FOR THE SCHOOLS. Leave AP alone and start reforming public schools without the same old trite call for more money (after bad)!

RECESSION IN THE U.S

How has the recession in America affected higher education market there? Are the overseas students still interested in joining u.s universities or is there a drop in overseas applications this year?

opinions???

history is not memorizing facts and then arguing opinions. No one cares a hoot about your opinions. The issue is being able to understand and reason about causality and change over time. By the way, I AM a college history teacher. I frankly don't care what your OPINION is about the French revolution. Yes facts matter and memorizing is a basic beginning. Certainly, advanced courses are beneficial -- but why make the end point the AP test? In fact, it may take 2 weeks to cover the French revolution in depth that goes beyond glib opinons, but the test calendar in early May precludes that depth.

Math and foreign languages may well be different -- and they can be taught to a test. But not history.

What's so wrong with knowing important stuff?

I thank my lucky stars everyday for choosing to take AP Government in high school. Not only was I able to earn college credit, but I learned invaluable information about the principles of our government, the constitution, landmark court cases, you name it. My college-prep high school didn't offer a civics class, so without this AP class I would not have learned any of this information in school.

Is a basic knowledge of U.S. history and fundamentals goverment such a horrible thing to have?

I thought the point of high school was to cover the basics and (gasp) memorize important information? I thought questioning the presentation and interpretation of our histories was the realm of colleges? How can you think critically about our history, government, politics if you do not first know the fundamentals?

And it seems like the loudest critics here have never taken an AP course. Believe me, we read primary sources and had to persuasively argue our opinions on them in an essay. That is a large portion of the test. And the only time we used to practice timed testing was our own (6:30am sessions before school).

AP Government Teacher

I teach AP US Government and Politics for the Illinois Virtual High School via the internet. The course is not memorization, but the development of reasoning and the ability to develop persuasive writing. This course is an opportunity for students in small high schools to level the playing field by students being challenged prior to going to college. There are many small high schools south of I-80 (i.e. southern Illinois) who cannot offer an AP course due to the lack of teachers or money. This allows schools to use IVHS to challenge those students who otherwise may not be challenged. I would like to think that my course helps prepare some students for college. I have had some tell me that this is the toughest course they have ever had, and then a year later, email me to thank me for helping prepare them for college.