AP Course Auditors Reject Top Teachers’ Syllabi
Posted 24 Sep, 2007
The College Board’s Advanced Placement (AP) program has become more and more popular over the recent years. Students take the classes both to improve their competitiveness on college applications, and to save money on college costs (passing AP tests with a good score can often mean skipping an introductory college course).
For months now the College Board has been auditing their Advanced Placement (AP) program, requiring all AP teachers to submit their syllabi for review. The College Board started the audit out of concern: they want to make sure AP courses continue to be challenging enough that colleges will continue to offer credit if students score well on an AP test.
But many teachers have found the audit results surprising. The Washington Post reported that even teachers who have repeatedly had a majority of students perform well on the AP tests have had their syllabi rejected by AP auditors.
The review board even rejected one teacher whose class had 29 scores of 5 (the highest), 11 scores of 4, and 2 scores of 3 (the lowest score that still earns college credit at certain colleges). None of his students scored less than a 3. Whatever his pre-review methods were, they seemed to be working.
What do you think? Should the College Board be strict about syllabus requirements for AP courses, or does a nationwide restriction limit a teacher’s ability to effectively teach?
All the best,
Deborah Fox
Deborah Fox is the founder of Fox College Funding, a nationwide company that helps families find creative ways to reduce their college costs.
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The College Board’s Advanced Placement (AP) program has become more and more popular over the recent years. Students take the classes both to improve their competitiveness on college applications, and to save money on college costs (passing AP tests with a good score can often mean skipping an introductory college course).
For months now the College Board has been auditing their Advanced Placement (AP) program, requiring all AP teachers to submit their syllabi for review. The College Board started the audit out of concern: they want to make sure AP courses continue to be challenging enough that colleges will continue to offer credit if students score well on an AP test.
But many teachers have found the audit results surprising. The Washington Post reported that even teachers who have repeatedly had a majority of students perform well on the AP tests have had their syllabi rejected by AP auditors.
The review board even rejected one teacher whose class had 29 scores of 5 (the highest), 11 scores of 4, and 2 scores of 3 (the lowest score that still earns college credit at certain colleges). None of his students scored less than a 3. Whatever his pre-review methods were, they seemed to be working.
What do you think? Should the College Board be strict about syllabus requirements for AP courses, or does a nationwide restriction limit a teacher’s ability to effectively teach?
All the best,
Deborah Fox
Deborah Fox is the founder of Fox College Funding, a nationwide company that helps families find creative ways to reduce their college costs.
Subscribe in a reader
Subscribe by Email
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