Independent Survey on State of AP

Fordham Foundation Surveys Public School AP Teachers

The Fordham Foundation has released a report on the state of AP quality, equity, and teacher satisfaction. The College Board had no involvement with the development of this study, which consists mostly of teacher surveys and focus groups. The results are largely positive; here are some key findings from the executive summary:

The overall quality of the AP Program remains strong, despite its growth. Teachers report that course rigor, exam integrity, and student scores have changed little in the last several years.

• More than three in four (77%) of AP public school teachers rate their own high school's program as good (52%) or excellent (25%).
• Fifty-nine percent say that the level of difficulty and complexity of the material covered in the AP courses they teach has stayed about the same; 27% say it has become more difficult.
• Only 18% report that their students' AP Exam scores have been declining in the past five years.

But there are warning signs that the quality of the AP Program is threatened, mostly because of concerns about inappropriate placement of students in AP courses for which they have not been prepared.

• More than half (56%) of teachers believe that too many students overestimate their abilities and are in over their heads. Sixty percent think that many parents push their children into AP classes when they really don't belong there.
• Teachers are considerably more likely to report a decline in the quality of their AP students' aptitude and capacity to do the work than to say that student quality has improved (39% to 16%); 43% say it has stayed about the same.
• More than six in ten (63%) of AP teachers believe that conducting more screening of students to ensure that they are ready to do AP-level work before they get in those classrooms would improve the program.

AP teachers regard AP Exams as legitimate assessments of learning that safeguard quality—a sharp and intriguing contrast to most K-12 teachers' unenthusiastic attitudes toward standardized tests and assessment-based education quality control in general.

• Nine in ten AP teachers believe that AP Exams effectively maintain the quality of coursework (86%) and are aligned well with curriculum and course objectives (90%).
• Eight in ten believe that the AP Exam helps to motivate and focus students (81%) and that AP Exam scores at least partly reflect how well they teach (78%).
• In contrast, a 2006 Public Agenda study showed that only 18% of public school teachers believe that standardized tests are necessary and valuable. Sixty-two percent called them "a necessary evil" and 19% thought that they do much more harm than good. Another 71% of public school teachers overall believe that students are required to take too many standardized tests. Only 27% said that things are about right.
• AP teachers working in the nation's poorest schools—where more than 75% of students are eligible for free or reduced price lunches—report dismal student performance on the AP Exam. Only 25% of these teachers say that most of their students score 3 or better on the AP Exams, compared with 70% of teachers in low-poverty schools.

The full report is available on the Fordham Foundation's website. The report has been covered by the New York Times, Education Week and others.

This report raises the right questions about AP, and for the most part finds that the current state is healthy, while also urging that better processes be developed and used for identifying students ready for AP.