Setting the scene-
- Thousands of Illinois students can’t pass AP Exams, won’t get college credit – Chicago Tribune
- The Advanced Placement Scam– TheFederalist.com
Last Spring, I had a chance to talk with the chancellor of a local university and asked him about pushing students to take numerous high school AP courses. Based upon the university’s observation of these students’ academic performance, he does not see students with many AP courses performing better than other students. To paraphrase- What’s the use? Students still end up in remedial college courses to improve their skills.
This leads me to my second thought. As reported by different high school AP teachers, the push (mandate) to get more students into AP coursework has watered-down its content. The skillset of the average AP student is lowering as more students are “strongly encouraged” to take these courses. “You can’t take too many AP courses.” “Colleges like to see AP on transcripts.” Do many AP classes on a transcript really make a difference to colleges and universities if a student did not take nor pass the AP exam? Mr. Chancellor says “No.”
AP coursework is great for some students, but the use of a broad brush that paint many students into a corner is not good. These students are tired, stressed, and GPA’s are lowering for many of them. The merits of AP must be weighed on a scale that also factor in performance and benefits. If success breeds success, you may want to rethink AP and work other avenues.