AP | Distance Learning Systems (DLSI)

History of the Advance Placement Programs

The Advance Placement Program has become the leading educational excellence in the secondary schools in the United States. The program offers rough curricula and assessment to high school students. The AP result will be the basis for college courses, if you fail the courses you prefer, you will end up taking the course that don’t require a higher grade. This year alone, almost 2 million students have taken the exam, showing how necessary it is for college hopefuls.

The program started in 1955, its original intent was to provide students the opportunity to take college-level coursework and earn college credit while still in high school. Originally, AP was used almost exclusively for purposes of college credit and placement, as different from admissions.

There is a wide gap between secondary and higher education in the early part of the twentieth century. In two studies supported by the Ford Foundation, educators endorsed that secondary schools and colleges should work together to elude repetition in course work at the high school and college levels. The recommendation aims to motivate students to work at the height of their capabilities and to advance their skills as quickly as possible.

In the 1960s, the College Board activated a long-term pledge to teacher development. There was a good result as secondary school teachers had improved through the program. The number of schools that included AP to their advanced academic offerings had increased between 1970 and 1980. Over the years, the access to AP was expanded by the College Board by introducing Pre-AP Initiatives and AP Vertical Teams to aid students, targeting more the students in mid grade. The preparation for the AP at the moment has been advanced and has been in an utmost importance in most schools. Learning the history of the advance placement programs could make you understand its importance.

The Value of Advanced Placement Courses

An AP exam costs $89 these days and when learners take lots of these classes, cost can really load up. Advanced placement course are rich with possibilities. They offer dissatisfied honor students with a more challenging intellectual environment. They allow college candidates to happily litter their transcript and resumes with courses considered extensive by admission authorities. They can even permit learners with great ratings on the AP examinations to earn college credit in high school, saving money and time later.

But with those opportunities comes a price. Not a monetary cost, but a price in terms of time, tolerance, and peace of mind. To succeed in advanced placement courses, learners have to be entirely dedicated to achieving their goals in such a class and be willing to read voraciously, write regularly and study industriously. These objectives result in lost time, eagerness (and even anger) and pressure at different degrees throughout the course. That being said, AP is totally beneficial. Not for their college credit opportunities or their appeal on programs, but for the intellectual stimulation they offer for the future. Advanced placement courses reveal learners to the level of reading, writing, studying and thinking that will ultimately be expected while attending college and the pressure that will go along with the academic work.

Regardless of the school credit that one actually gets, AP programs undoubtedly will assist learners in their pursuit for a degree; they minimize the shock of college expectations. The AP experience can be extended beyond college study. The close evaluation of relevant details in each AP discipline better shows learners of how the world works. For instance, teachers’ labor unions immediately remind you of socialist reforms in response to British industrialism. Education and learning improves one’s life experience and the College Board has provided an outlet for learners to receive an excellent education at an earlier age.

Credit by Examination and CLEP

According to the Department of Education, only 40% of learners graduate in 4 years, with the average closer to 6 years. This can mean a large number of extra dollars of additional college tuition, room and board, and even lost pay. Here is some smart ways to generate college credits, guaranteeing you graduate on time and within your college budget.

AP/IB Programs in High School: Take AP (Advanced Placement) or IB (International Baccalaureate) courses while in High School. These double credit ranking courses can mean that you actually start college with credits already gained. Be sure to check which is approved by your colleges of choice and know that you must successfully pass the final examination with a passing grade to get the credit. Please note that for IB courses, many universities and colleges only give credit for exams at the HL (Higher Level) courses and examinations.

Earn College Credits over the Summer: Spend summer season before you begin college or between semesters by making credits. Whether you are studying to take a test for credit (like a CLEP or DSST test), or making some General Education credits at your local college, a large number of universities agree to a passing test or course score for credits.

Test for Credit: Speaking of credit by examination, did you know that there are over 50 college courses that provide you with credit if you successfully pass a test? Called CLEP (College Level Examination Prep) or DSST (originally created for the military), these courses can reduce your path to a degree and are approved by over 3,000 universities in the United States. Here are some pretty great reasons to consider testing for credit:

Test for credit saved an average of over 6 months toward their degrees.
91% of CLEP test-takers said CLEP made a distinction in helping them finish their degrees.
70% of CLEP test-takers said their CLEP credits made a distinction in their ability to finance college tuition and other costs.
CLEP learners have considerably greater collective GPA than non-CLEP learners when controlling for demographics and prior accomplishment.
Students who receive credit by examination through CLEP for an introductory course are much more likely to get an A or B in succeeding courses than learners who finish the introductory course.

Advanced Placement Courses Empowerment

The College Board, a not-for-profit account company dedicated to quality and value in education with a goal to link students to college achievements and opportunity, lately granted 21 Sauk Prairie High School students for showing college-level accomplishment through advanced placement courses and examinations. Sixteen members from the class of 2013 and five members from the class of 2014 qualified for these distinctions.

Recipients of the AP Scholar award, granted to students who get grades of 3 or greater on three or more advanced placement examinations, are Casandra Bradley, Emma Kreitzmann, Abigail Liverseed and Andrew Stangl for the class of 2013, and Rachel Leege for the class of 2014. Recipients of the AP Scholar with Honor award, granted to students who get an average ranking of at least 3.25 on all advanced placement examinations taken and grades of 3 or higher on four or more of these examinations, are Michaela Pfeiffer-Mundt and Brendan Sullivan for the class of 2013, and Sue Albers, Bailey Breunig and Lianna Mack for the class of 2014.

Recipients of the AP Scholar with Distinction award, provided to students who get an average ranking of at least 3.5 on all advanced placement examinations taken and ratings of 3 or greater on five or more of these examinations, include Dallas Breunig, Kassandra Hodges, Chloe Johnson, Tara Loether, Elizabeth Molitor, Angus Mossman, Anthony Renger and Zoey Shultz for the class of 2013, and Tyler Ballweg for the class of 2014.

The receiver of the National AP Scholar award, provided to students in the United States who get an average ranking of at least 4 on all examinations taken and ratings of 4 or greater on eight or more of the advanced placement examinations, is Anthony Renger for the class of 2013. Advanced Placement courses encourage students to get a feel for the rigors of college-level studies, while they are still reinforced in the Sauk Prairie High School environment. When students take AP programs, they illustrate university entrance authorities that they have sought out an academic experience that will prepare them for achievements while attending college and beyond.

Why High Schools Should Focus on Credit by Exam

What is “credit by exam,” such as CLEP, DSST, and AP? It represents a test one can take and earn college credits at participating universities. Some examinations can be taken at any age, while others have some age limitations. Here’s why credit by exam should be the focus on a high school?

Reduce College debt – This is the #1 reason we are concentrating on getting college credit without taking college classes! If we can pay $100 per examination, each being worth either three or six credits, it significantly reduces down the cost of a university education.

Pose a challenge – Since an honor student generally has done quite well in school, she is used to placing in 50% effort. This is a risky habit to pick up and giving her the task of passing a college level examination helps her step up her game.

Reduce the period of time in college – The earlier he or she can get started in “real life,” the more experience he or she can have as he or she gets to her primary adulthood. As a 30 year old, he or she could have ten years experience in a given field rather than six or eight. Decreasing the period of time in college also decreases some of the contact with the insane college lifestyle, in which many teenagers leave their principles for what seems fun and interesting in the moment.

Take a course once – There are many programs that a student would rather not do, such as Literature. Some students dislike literature with a passion and it’s definitely the topic in which they nag the most about things getting done. Now, does the student want to do literature once in high school, or have to do it again in college? If the student passes the examination, then he or she will not have to finish that same course in college. It’s a win-win situation!

Advanced Placement Courses for High School Students

Getting a full load of courses during college means late-night stuffing, regular assessments and lots of content to cover. But it can also mean studying in an advanced, less curriculum-driven atmosphere, while experiencing a break from the extracurricular actions that take over the schedule in high school. Scholars who are lucky enough to not have to work, have time each day to research and slack off, since their complete class time is about 15 hours less each week than that of a higher school student. But a good amount of kids are now using up to 10 advanced placement courses during their junior and senior years, balancing three periods of sports, group service, flute training, driving training and applying to college. School directors say advanced placement courses generally require 30 to 60 minutes of preparation per class per evening. And no high school student’s day begins with an 11 am class.

Why are kids placing themselves through this? And why do parents allow and even require this? There are a lot of explanations for your high school student to take advanced placement courses. Learners can generate college credit and may be able to save money by completing college a term or two early. Learners are also able to take electives previously in college, enabling them to try out new subject matter or even move on to more complex courses in their major more quickly. But not every college allows AP credits. And by the time your child finds out where she is going to college, she is mostly done taking courses.

My buddy who works as a college consultant for high school students says students really need to know themselves before signing up for several AP courses. If you think you can manage work and stress, staying up late and if the subject is an area in which you succeed, go for it. But there are other ways to help you take a stand out: Get into and win an essay competition, for example. But, she says, if a scholar’s objective is to get into an Ivy League university, she motivates him or her to take more APs, especially in a selected area, since the scholar’s “weighted” Grade Point Average will be higher than if he would have taken non-AP classes.

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 Makeover Part 2

Consider the effort to advertise value through advanced placement courses. For many, reformers tried to use the system as a handle for giving under-served learners an excellent acceptance edge. After all, in the last years of the last millennium, institutions seemed positive on learners with AP programs on their transcripts. But most AP programs were administered at private and suburban academic institutions. Consequently, reformers desired to improve their advanced placement course programs, knowing they could level the playing field by offering equivalent access to an elite product. Yet, the development of the AP Program did not advertise real equality between the academic haves and have-nots. Because once the AP Program achieved critical mass, it lost its performance as a sign of difference. Soon, ratings of institutions (Dartmouth being the latest) improved their guidelines around giving credit for AP training or favoring it in acceptance opinions. And eventually, top level suburban and private academic institutions started to drop the system, saying it’s obsolete, overly-restrictive, and too focused toward multiple choice assessments.

Consider now the recent move by the College Board to recover curricular importance and rigor to the AP product. Taking seriously the charge that advanced placement courses were no longer in line with educating methods in higher education, the College Board has redeveloped the system. The new program will motivate more work in technology laboratories and less parroting back of treatments, more work on traditional thinking and less recall skills of traditional details. That all appears to be very good. But it will do little to improve learning and educating, especially at academic institutions with low-levels of educational and management potential.

To be clear, these are excellent improvements and programs like advanced placement courses should continue to be enhanced and improved. But they will not take care of the further issues that impact academic quality and opportunity in the United States.

Passing the College Level Examination Program

As the economy tightens up everyone’s straps, it becomes more important for you to find a way to get noticed, head and shoulders, above your competitors in the job market. For some individuals, this means putting on a snappy outfit, practicing their smile and handshake, or writing the perfect resume. You know that when it comes to getting the job you really want, it’s about the quality you bring to the company as an employee and an individual. Education is the best, most comprehensive direction to developing the skills for which companies are searching. Getting ready for your academic and working future begins as early as high school, with AP or advanced placement tests offered by schools for college credit.

High School Students can take AP exams to speed up their graduation from high school. The trouble is, they are difficult. What is the solution to this problem? Research and take AP practice tests! There are a lot of sources where you can take AP practice tests for free. If you plan to get a passing grade on your AP test, you absolutely have to take AP practice tests to find where your strong and weak points are, and know what to review.

Speaking of getting college credit quick and simple, there is a little known benefit you can get in college that will save your funds and accelerate your graduation: CLEP exams. Known as the College Level Examination Program, CLEP exams are for particular credits at colleges and universities. By taking specific CLEP exams, you are offered credits to the programs those exams cover. Basically, you are revealing, “I know all these things already. I do not need to take the course, and here is the evidence. Just give me the course credits so I can proceed!”. Unfortunately, CLEPs are quite hard. After all, each one includes an entire term of excessive college-level study. That’s why, as with AP assessments; you should take College Level Examination Program practice exams before you ever take an actual CLEP. Practice test options are offered on the Internet as well as at review facilities, and at local book stores. It’s simple to research for a CLEP examination if you simply keep an eye out.

Advanced Placement Courses Exam Prep

Last year, more than 2 million learners globally took Advanced Placement (AP) examinations, and more learners are now getting ready for the next AP examining period. For learners, moving an AP exam means possibly making class credit ever setting foot on a college campus and standing out to higher education acceptance forums, making it well worth the effort. While advanced placement courses are designed to help learners get ready for testing, making an “A” in college is no assurance that you’ll successfully pass the examination. Devoting time to AP examination preparation is still crucial. And as AP testing becomes a popular way for kids to get ahead of the game, some are choosing to take AP examinations without searching for the corresponding advanced placement course (often due to scheduling issues, the lack of advanced placement courses at their school or they didn’t meet the prerequisites classes).

Regardless if you took an AP course or choose self-study, it’s essential to be prepared for AP examinations to be able to generate a grade of 3 or greater. Here are some techniques and guidelines to help you get ready for exam day:

Go beyond practice questions. Learning practice questions is a fantastic way to obtain a better knowing of the AP exam structure.
Get guidance from other learners. When planning for an AP examination, your colleagues can provide as an excellent resource of details. Find other learners who have already finished the AP class you’re getting and ask them if you can pick their mind about the examination.
Search for extra help. Don’t let your test prep procedure end with class time and projects. To make sure that you generate the best possible grade, it’s essential to go above and beyond in your studying initiatives, and there are a wide range of sources that are available to you.