Office of Academic Initiatives (OAI)
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The Office of Academic Initiatives (OAI), within the College Readiness Unit, maintains close relations with the product development groups within the College Board and with the nation's academic community, and consults regularly with academic representatives and faculty of College Board member institutions.
Academic Advisory Committees
The department manages the work of the seven Academic Advisory Committees — Arts, English, History, Mathematical Sciences, Science, Social Sciences and World Languages
— so that each committee can provide guidance to the College Board on academic policies, programs, and services in its respective area. The charge to the Academic Advisory Committees is to fulfill the responsibilities and activities described below:
Purposes
- To provide a liaison between members of their disciplines and the College Board generally, and the Office of Academic Initiatives in particular, in order that the concerns and expertise of faculty members be represented in the activities of the College Board and that members of the disciplines become better informed about the programs of the College Board.
- To advise the College Board on what constitutes academic preparation needed for college, on curricular and instructional approaches to achieving this preparation, and on how colleges can build on this preparation.
- To advise the College Board on an effective and comprehensive set of examinations in their disciplines and across disciplines for use in preparation for college and in college selection, placement, credit and exemption; to advise the College Board on the appropriateness of its examinations to the curriculum and course patterns commonly found in secondary schools and institutions of higher education.
- To advise the College Board on the content and procedural features of the continuing professional development experiences of teachers within and across the several disciplines, as well as within the domain of pedagogy.
- To recommend research, validity studies, curriculum surveys or other intelligence-gathering activities which aid in improving the examinations; help institutions make better use of the examinations; or contribute to the College Board, the professions and the public an understanding of world-class curricular patterns in the subject.
- To advise the College Board on actions, programs and services that would be useful to members of the disciplines and to teachers, academic officers and institutions, generally.
- To assist the College Board in carrying out its mission to connect students to college success and opportunity, the organization contributes to the continuing national discussion of educational standards and the means to achieve those standards for all students.
Arts Advocacy
OAI works closely with the Advocacy, Government Relations and Development Division to implement the advocacy initiatives recommended by the College Board’s National Task Force on the Arts in Education. Get further information on the College Board’s arts advocacy work.
Downloads & Handouts
- College Board Standards for College Success™ English Language Arts (.pdf/1.9M)
- College Board Standards for College Success™ Mathematics & Statistics (.pdf/535K)
- College Board Standards for College Success™ Mathematics & Statistics Adapted for Integrated Curricula (.pdf/368K)
- College Board Standards for College Success™ Mathematics & Statistics Three-Year Alternative for Middle School (.pdf/121K)