The AP® Program
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> The Program's Role
> AP Program Facts
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History/ Background on the AP Program
A Brief History of the Advanced Placement Program®
From modest beginnings at the mid-point of the twentieth century, the Advanced Placement Program® (AP®) has grown to be the premier program advancing educational excellence in secondary schools across the United States. AP courses offer rigorous, college-level curricula and assessments to students in high school. The program sets the standard for academic achievement in 37 courses and offers extensive teacher professional development. The first of three new World Language and Culture courses, AP Italian Language and Culture, was added in the fall of 2005, and Chinese Language and Culture and Japanese Language and Culture were added in the fall of 2006. During the past academic year, over 16,000 schools participated in the AP Program and 1.4 million students took more than 2.5 million exams worldwide.
A Pilot Program Is Born
In the early part of the twentieth century, the gap between secondary and higher education widened. Following World War II, many Americans realized that this trend had to be reversed. Responding to the need for a better-educated populace, the Ford Foundation created the Fund for the Advancement of Education. In two studies supported by the fund, educators recommended that secondary schools and colleges work together to avoid repetition in course work at the high school and college levels and to allow motivated students to work at the height of their capabilities and advance as quickly as possible.
One study, conducted by educators from three elite prep schools—Andover, Exeter, and Lawrenceville—and three of the country's most prestigious colleges—Harvard, Princeton, and Yale—urged schools and colleges to see themselves as "two halves of a common enterprise." The report recommended that secondary schools recruit imaginative teachers, that they encourage high school seniors to engage in independent study and college-level work, and that achievement exams be used to allow students to enter college with advanced standing.
A second study by the Committee on Admission with Advanced Standing formulated a plan for developing college-level curricula and standards that could be instituted at the high school level. The Committee on Admission then recruited leaders in every discipline from the ranks of higher education to develop high school course descriptions and assessments that colleges would find rigorous enough to use as a basis for granting credit. In 1952, a pilot program was launched introducing advanced courses in 11 initial subjects. By the 1955-56 school year, the program was underway and the College Board was invited to step in and take over administration of the program, named the College Board Advanced Placement Program.
Expanding Efforts
During the 1960s, the College Board began a long-term commitment to teacher training. Secondary school teachers reported that AP courses were revitalizing their careers. During the 1970s and 1980s, increasing numbers of schools added AP to their advanced academic offerings. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the College Board and many schools reached out to include minority and low-income students in AP classes. Over the years, the College Board has expanded access to AP by introducing Pre-AP Vertical Teaming in schools to help students gain important knowledge and skills, beginning in middle school, by coordinating curriculum and instruction from one grade to the next so that students are ready to take on advanced studies in high school.
Additional information about the AP Program can be found at www.collegeboard.com.
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The Program's Role
The AP Program plays a creative role as well as a facilitative one. As an intermediary among participating institutions, the Program does the following:
- Chooses college faculty and AP secondary school teachers who develop college-level Course Descriptions and examinations, and facilitates this development process.
- Administers and scores examinations based on the learning goals described in the Course Descriptions.
- Sends AP Grade Reports to the students, their schools, and their designated colleges.
- Prepares publications, online materials, and other resources to supplement and support the Program's activities.
- Provides conferences, consultants, and curricular materials to help interested schools establish college-level courses.
- Assists schools and teachers in their efforts to prepare students through professional development initiatives such as AP Vertical Teams®.
- Conducts research and strives to develop new services and products that enhance quality education.
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AP Program Facts
- The AP Program offers 37 courses in 22 subject areas.
- More than 60 percent of U.S. high schools participate in the AP Program.
- In 2007, more than 2.4 million AP Exams were administered worldwide.
- More than 60,000 teachers worldwide attended AP workshops and institutes for professional development last year.
- More than 90 percent of the nation's colleges and universities have an AP policy granting incoming students credit, placement, or both, for qualifying AP Exam grades.
Not surprisingly, an increasing number of parents, students, teachers, and schools are turning to the AP Program as a model of educational excellence.
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AP Frequently Asked Questions
| Q. |
Does AP benefit the majority of students in schools that participate in the AP Program? |
| A. |
Yes. School superintendents and principals increasingly recognize the value of AP® as leverage to increase achievement for all students—to serve as the tide that lifts all boats. They have discovered that the more AP teachers there are in a school, the more rigorous and challenging the curriculum becomes in AP and non-AP classes alike. Further, because most AP teachers only teach one or two AP classes, and three to four non-AP classes, many non-AP students benefit from the enhanced training that AP teachers receive.
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| Q. |
Do typically underrepresented and low-income students benefit from AP? What about the number of underrepresented and low income students who are doing well on the AP Exams? |
| A. |
Schools that make Advanced Placement accessible to all students usually experience the benefit of higher standards throughout the entire school. Over the past decade, as AP has expanded to many more schools with low-income and traditionally underrepresented minority students, AP participation and success have increased dramatically among such students. Over the past 10 years, the number of minority students participating in AP has risen at a remarkable rate, with the number of low-income students and Latino students almost quadrupling, the number of African American students more than tripling, and the number of Native American students more than doubling.
During the same 10 years, the number of successful AP Exam scores (3 or higher) has increased by 192 percent among African American students, 233 percent among Latino students, and 128 percent among Native American students.
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| Q. |
Does participation in AP help students succeed once they get to college? |
| A. |
Two new research studies from the University of California and the National Center for Educational Accountability each show that AP courses that result in students earning AP Exam grades of 3 or higher are impacting college performance and completion.1 These studies move beyond the simplistic correlation studies of the past, which have always shown strong correlations between taking AP courses and college persistence, and actually now demonstrate that among academically comparable students, an AP experience that culminates in an exam grade of 3 or higher has a significant impact on a student’s likelihood of college success. Simply said, a high-quality AP course in high school does an excellent job of fortifying students for a successful transition into the battery of college courses they’ll experience in their first semester at college. |
Five-Year College Graduation Rates: Comparing AP Students to Students with Comparable Academic Profiles
Student Group |
AP Exam
Grade of 3, 4, 5 |
AP Exam
Grade of 1, 2 |
Took AP Course,
but not Exam |
| African American |
28% higher |
22% higher |
16% higher |
| Hispanic |
28% higher |
12% higher |
10% higher |
| White |
33% higher |
22% higher |
20% higher |
| Low Income |
26% higher |
17% higher |
12% higher |
| Not Low Income |
34% higher |
23% higher |
19% higher |
Source: Chrys Dougherty, Lynn Mellor, and Shuling Jian, The Relationship Between Advanced Placement and College Graduation (National Center for Educational Accountability, 2006)
Geiser, Saul and Veronica Santelices. The Role of Advanced Placement and Honors Courses in College Admissions. University of California, Berkeley, 2004; and Dougherty, Chrys, Lynn Mellor, and Shuling Jian. The Relationship Between Advanced Placement and College Graduation. National Center for Educational Accountability, 2005.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT FAQ (PDF)
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AP Research
I. Performance in upper-level college courses
- Advanced Placement Students in College: An Investigation in Course Grades at 21 Colleges
- An Investigation of the Validity of AP Grades of 3 and a Comparison of AP and Non-AP Student Groups
II. AP Student Course-taking Patterns
- AP Students in College: An Investigation of Their Course-taking Patterns and College Majors
III. College Graduation: The effect of AP course participation
and AP Exam performance on college graduation rates.
IV. College Grades in Math and Science
- The Role of Advanced Placement and Honors Courses in College Admissions
V, International Comparisons
- How Well Do Advanced Placement Students Perform on the TIMSS Advanced Mathematics and Physics Tests?
I. Performance in upper-level college courses: AP students exempted from introductory college courses, including mathematics and science courses, earned higher course grades than students who took the introductory course on the college campus.
Advanced Placement Students in College: An Investigation of Course Grades at 21 Colleges
Rick Morgan and Len Ramist (1998)
Morgan and Ramist evaluated the subsequent course performance of AP students who placed out of the introductory college course. They did this by collecting official college transcript data from 21 colleges and universities. For 25 AP Exams, including AP Exams in mathematics (Calculus AB & Calculus BC) and science (Biology, Chemistry, Physics B, Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism, & Physics C: Mechanics), results showed that AP students who were exempted from the introductory courses in mathematics and science generally earned the same or higher course grades in the second-level courses than students who took the introductory course on the college campus. Students earning higher AP Exam grades tended to do better, on average, in the second-level course than those earning lower AP Exam grades.
Some colleges and universities included in the Morgan and Ramist (1998) study permitted students to enroll in math and science courses beyond the second level depending on their AP Exam grades. When Morgan and Ramist investigated the performance of AP students who placed out of both introductory and second-level courses, they found that AP students also earned, on average, higher grades in all mathematics and science third-level courses compared to students who took the lower-level course with the exception of Physics B (where only students earning a 5 on the exam outperformed the comparison group) and Biology (where only students earning a 4 or 5 on the exam outperformed the comparison group).
An Investigation of the Validity of AP Grades of 3 and a Comparison of AP and Non-AP Student Groups
Barbara G. Dodd, Steven J. Fitzpatrick, R. J. De Ayala, Judith A. Jennings (2002)
This study, conducted using data from the University of Texas at Austin, addressed the same research question as Morgan and Ramist and found results that corroborate the earlier research. Results showed that AP students who were exempted from the introductory course in calculus, biology, and English earned the same or higher grades in the subsequent course, took as many or more class hours in the subject area, and had the same or higher grades in additional courses in the subject area compared to the group of non-AP students of similar academic ability. The fact that the researchers compared the AP group to non-AP students of similar academic ability is a notable strength of this study.
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II. AP Student Course-taking Patterns: Students who took AP Exams were more likely to take at least one course in the discipline of their exam while in college, compared to their peers who did not take AP Exams in those disciplines.
AP Students in College: An Investigation of Their Course-taking Patterns and College Majors
Rick Morgan and Behroz Maneckshana (2000)
Morgan and Maneckshana investigated the college course-taking patterns of students who have taken AP Exams. With respect to mathematics and science, results showed that students who took AP Exams in these areas were more likely to take at least one course in the discipline of their exam while in college compared to students who did not take any AP Exams in the same areas. In addition, many AP students who took AP Exams in biology, physics, and calculus subsequently majored or minored in the subject area of their exams or a closely related field.
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III. College Graduation: Students who earned a 3 or higher on one or more AP Exams in the areas of English, mathematics, science, or social studies were more likely to graduate from college in five years or less compared to non-AP students
Chrys Dougherty, Lynn Mellor, and Shuling Jian, National Center for Educational Accountability (2005)
Dougherty, Mellor, and Jian explored the effect of AP course participation and AP Exam performance on college graduation rates. They found that students who earned a 3 or better on one or more AP Exams in the areas of English, mathematics, science, or social studies were more likely to graduate from college in five years or less compared to non-AP students, even after controlling for prior academic achievement and other student-level (e.g., free and reduced price lunch status) and school-level demographic characteristics (e.g., percentage of low-income students, district dropout rate). The same was true for AP students who earned a 1 or 2 on AP Exams and for students who took an AP course but not the exam, although the size of the effect was smaller. The positive effect for AP was consistent across minority and low-income students.
When Dougherty et al. framed the question in terms of a school-level analysis, they found that the best AP-related indicator for predicting the percentage of students who would graduate from college from a particular high school was the percent of students taking and performing well (3 or better) on AP Exams.
This paper can be requested by emailing chrys@mail.utexas.edu.
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IV. College Grades in Math and Science: AP Exam grades were a strong predictor of second-year undergraduate GPA in biological sciences, mathematics, and physical sciences, second in strength only to high school grade point average.
The Role of Advanced Placement and Honors Courses in College Admissions
Saul Geiser and Veronica Santelices (2004)
Geiser and Santelices found that AP Exam grades were a strong predictor of second-year undergraduate GPA in biological sciences, mathematics, and physical sciences, second in strength only to high school grade point average. They further state: "The subject-specific, curriculum-intensive AP Exams are the epitome of 'achievement tests,' in this sense, and their validity in predicting college performance should not be surprising from that standpoint" (see p. 18 of their report).
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V. International Comparisons: Students enrolled in AP Calculus and AP Physics courses outperform students in most other countries.
How Well Do Advanced Placement Students Perform on the TIMSS Advanced Mathematics and Physics Tests?
Eugenio J. Gonzalez, Kathleen M. O'Connor, & Julie A. Miles (2001)
Gonzalez et al showed that students enrolled in AP Calculus courses earned the highest average scores on the TIMSS Advanced Mathematics tests, significantly outperforming students in all other countries except France, including U.S. students who did not take AP Calculus.
Students enrolled in AP Physics also performed well, scoring significantly above the international average on the TIMSS Physics test; whereas U.S. students not taking AP scored significantly below the international average.
It's also important to note that AP students who earned AP Exam grades of 3 or better on the AP Calculus Exams or the AP Physics Exams earned even higher scores on the TIMSS assessments compared to students who took the AP course but not necessarily the exam.
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