Open Forum 2005

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Open Forum 2005

• 1. AP in 2005
• 2. New Resources/Support for Teachers
• AP Instructional Planning Report
• APs 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 QA

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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

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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

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• New Resources and Support for AP Teachers

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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 schools 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

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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

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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 schools
  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

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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

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APs 50th AnniversaryHonoring 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
• APs 50th kick-off at the AP National Conference

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AP National Conference 2005July 14-18, 2005
Houston, Texas

• APs 50th kick-off celebration
• Gala dinner and reception at the Museum of
  Natural Science
• Exhibition documenting APs 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

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New Publications

• Chemistry
• 2006 Course Description (Currently Available)
• Environmental Science
• 2006, 2007 Course Description (Currently
  Available)

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• Greater Flexibility for Schools

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Greater Flexibility for Schools

• At last years 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

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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

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• More Guidance for School Administrators and
  Quality Assurance for Colleges and Universities

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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

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• Questions, Comments, and Discussion