Advanced Placement Courses Exams

What is an Advanced Placement Courses?

The Advanced Placement courses are only found in the United States and Canada. This program is created by the College Board to offer a college-level curriculum and examinations for students in high school. The program provides credits to students who have advanced knowledge and skills in certain subjects. If the students finish the program and passed the examination, the colleges and universities supporting the program will grant placement and course credit.

Various subjects included in the program and examination has a specific AP curriculum designed by the College Board. The board is composed of highly competent individuals who work as college educators with specific expertise. Advanced Placement courses are college-level courses that can be taken by students in high school. Usually, the school offers these courses to students who are in their honor’s program, to those who have completed all the high school courses or to anyone who have high scores during the examination. These courses are usually courses in English and mathematics; however they can be any subject.

The courses are more meticulous as compared to high school courses since they are usually offered in college. As long as the students are able to finish the course with good grades, they will receive college credit for taking the courses. However, not all colleges grant students college credit for the courses. Some say that the AP courses only add stress to high school students. But you can’t take away the benefit the student will get once they finish the course. They will get a credit and will likely pay less when they go to college as well as save time. The Advanced Placement Courses are a great program and provides many opportunities and experiences for many high school students.

Advanced Placement Courses in Other States

Possibilities keep increasing for kids to have greater access to college-level advanced placement courses throughout Des Moines, as the school district will be providing new programs at Central Academy while continuing other AP programs available at all five extensive great academic institutions. These changes result from significant registration increases the school district has seen recently in advanced placement courses as both learners and instructors have stepped up to meet the task of this college-level program.

DMPS is pleased to declare, for the first time ever, four new AP programs to be provided to Des Moines learners through Central Academy beginning with the 2014-15 school year: AP Art History, AP Computer Science, AP Microeconomics, and AP Spanish Literature. These new AP promotions are unique, specific programs that will be available only at Central Academy to be able to provide access to all DMPS learners. (Previously, AP Art History and AP Microeconomics were available only to learners at Roosevelt High School.) In order to accomplish the growth of their advanced placement program at Central Academy, DMPS will reduce some replication of AP programs. From 2014-15, AP Environmental Science, AP Statistics, and AP US Government will no longer be provided at Central Academy but will continue to be provided at all five comprehensive high schools.

“Des Moines Public Schools is a leader in Iowa and the country when it comes to providing learners access to high-level academic programs, such as Advanced Placement and our learners are to be recommended for taking on these world-class academic opportunities,” said Superintendent Tom Ahart. “The school district’s effort to make advanced placement courses available to more and more learners throughout Des Moines is showing that our learners and instructors are stepping up to the task. We are providing thousands of learners access to class that will help prepare them for higher education and beyond.”

Increase in Advanced Placement Courses Enrollment

Jefferson County Public Schools is constantly on the pattern up-wards in the number of learners enrolled in Advanced Placement Courses and taking the associated examinations. In JCPS, about half of the AP assessments taken obtained ratings that allow learners to earn higher education and learning credit at many higher education and learning institutions, an advantage of the advanced placement course program, but the passing rate dropped this season after several years of benefits.

JCPS authorities say that is likely because the region has targeted on increasing the advanced placement course contribution of learners and now, it’ll need to focus on issues such as instructor planning that support learning within those programs. “Kids cannot do well on the test unless they take the class,” says Pam Royster, the district’s higher education and learning and career ready professional. The number of learners taking AP examinations improved 4.2% last school year from 4,952 this year to 5,160 in 2013. The number of assessments taken (one college student can be registered in several AP programs and take several AP exams) also improved 3.6% from 7,762 the season before to 8,043. But the passing rate reduced by 1.9 percentage points to 47.8% in 2013.

“We’ve definitely got some work to do to make sure we’re covering the content and we’re going deeply enough for kids to be successful on the test,” Royster says. Last school year, JCPS signed up with the state-wide Advance Kentucky effort that helps provide training and resources to instructors and schools to increase the number of AP contribution. That program has been recognized by the state and region as having had a significant effect on AP enhancement. Last year, Valley, Moore and Waggener high schools started participating in the Advance Kentucky. Fern Creek, Southern and Seneca high schools signed up with them this year. The system, says Royster, is a multi-year effort to develop instructors and supports, so it could take time to see its effect.

Advanced Placement Courses and Setting a Higher Bar

While educational institutions across the nation continue to improve the quality of training and learning offered to learners, one charitable organization that analyzes achievement notices that many learners who graduate are not prepared for college-level programs. In a review released, about three-quarters of the learners who took the ACT assessments did not achieve the ability needed in studying, math, English and science, according to a research of the results by the Associated Press.

“The preparedness of learners leaves a lot to be desired,” Jon Erickson, chief executive of the Iowa-based business’s education and learning department, told the Associated Press. ACT describes preparedness as learners who can start college and learning or business educational institutions without having to take remedial classes. According to the Associated Press, “Of all ACT-tested high school graduates this year, 64 % met the English standard of 18 points.” In both studying and math, 44% of learners met the preparedness limit of 22 points. In science, 36% scored good enough to be considered prepared for a college biology course, or 23 points. Only 26% of learners met the standards for all four segments of the ACT test.”

Schools perform a big part in identifying how prepared learners are when they go off to college or business educational institutions. But learners and parents also perform a big part. Developing strong study habits early in a kid’s school years can serve them well down the road and parents who take an active part in their kid’s education and learning can repeat the importance of learning. Dedication to educational institutions also comes from the community and local government authorities that finance them. Schools that are able to offer more advanced placement courses help more learners prepare for their college years.

The latest ACT review on student accomplishment shows areas where we need to focus additional attention. Schools should not be assembly lines that learners are forced through without getting the training and learning they need to help them be successful in college or a trade school. Plus, as the cost of college increases, those remedial sessions add to the quantity that learners and families will be paying. We need to invest in our educational institutions, provide learners the tools they will need to be successful, offer advanced placement courses and ensure that when they graduate high school, they are prepared for their next step.

“As more learners take extensive Advanced Placement Courses and pass the examinations that can earn them higher education credit, more schools and universities are scaling back those credits” writer Gregory A. Paterson wrote in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune. It’s a proven reality that thousands of kids are taking Advanced Placement Courses this month in colleges and universities around the country. It’s also a proven reality that more of those kids are wondering why. AP exams started as an experiment in secondary education. If you’re unfamiliar with their history, here is a quick explanation. It all started way back in 1952. That’s when Harvard, Yale and Princeton decided to let seniors at several famous preparatory schools take college-level courses while still in high school. Then in 1955, The College Board stepped in and started to manage tests to evaluate what learners had learned in Advanced Placement Courses.

Since then, the program has become an established part of United States school education. Here are few of the reasons why:

Students are getting AP sessions not to generate credit, but to get into better schools. “I’m not involved with getting college credit for my AP sessions,” a bright high school junior from New Jersey informs us. “I am just getting them because all the best learners do, and I want to get into an excellent college.”
Students are getting comprehensive training to keep up in AP programs. Getting into AP programs is one thing, managing the amount of work is another. That is why another training industry has jumped up to instructor learners who cannot keep up with the innovative training.
Colleges are beginning to reduce the credit that they give for AP programs.

So why are an incredible number of United States learners getting Advanced Placement Courses and paying to take assessment exams? If we attempt to put words into their lips, we would say it’s because “Everybody who wants to get into a reasonable college is doing it, so I have to do it too.”