More than college credit
More than college credit
No more “teaching to the test” as several prominent D.C. schools eliminate a long-lasting staple from their academic curriculum.
More likely to have a higher GPA. More likely to enroll in a four-year college.
More likely to obtain an advanced degree after high school.
Students who take AP courses have been proven to have a high chance of having success after high school according to multiple studies conducted by the Journal of Educational Research since the popularization of AP curriculum in 2000.
Even with all of these apparent advantages, seven Washington D.C. private schools announced over the summer that they will be dropping AP classes from their schedules. The courses will be slowly phased out of the schools’ curricula over the next four years.
The schools made the decision so their teachers could have more flexibility and time to teach topics not on the AP exam.
“[There is] too much minutiae [and] emphasis on test preparation,” Patty Carver, a veteran science instructor at one of the D.C. schools, said in an interview with The Washington Post.
At 10600, teachers feel different about the role of the year-end test in AP classes.
“Teaching to the test should not be the only goal of an AP course,” AP chemistry instructor Kenneth Owens ’89 said. “If you are only teaching to the test, then you are not teaching correctly.”
Even though he uses a lot of time to prepare his students for the exam, Owens still feels he is able to teach additional information.
“There are multiple topics I cover in my AP chemistry class that are not necessarily going to be on the AP test but would be helpful for my students,” Owens said.
Likewise, College Counseling Director Veronica Guzman-Pulido believes the school’s teachers do a good job at bringing outside information into the classroom.
“Our faculty is great at being able to bring in other material to the curriculum, whether in AP classes or not,” Pulido said.
However, one of the disadvantages of dropping AP classes is almost every school in the nation offers a variety of AP classes.
“The AP curriculum currently is standardized across the country and across the world, potentially,” Pulido said. “It is a good indicator for colleges that students are learning in the same particular format.”
This does not mean students have to take AP courses to do well in the college process. In fact, students can still take the AP exam without ever taking the class.
“AP has never been a universal path to college credit or college acceptance,” Owens said. “You don’t have to take APs to be successful in college. And you don’t have to take the exams to show you know what you are talking about.”
By excelling in AP courses and AP tests, students are able to forgo one to two semesters of college and save on tuition.
Each credit a student earns can be worth up to over $600, according to a study done by Student Loan Hero, a college debt management firm.
“I know friends who really did push to get their freshman year [of college] more or less out of the way,” Owens said. “They were not going to get a lot of money from the schools and that was an important consideration for their parents.”
Additionally, the quality of education at any particular high school does not necessarily hinge on whether or not the school offers AP courses.
“If I teach at a school with a good enough reputation,” Owens said, “I should be able to trust in the quality of the education regardless of whether the transcript says AP on it or not.”
Pulido has confidence in the school’s ability to understand when to make changes and when things are working well in terms of the curriculum.
“There are a lot of things that can be done with AP courses,” Pulido said, “and [the school] is very good at understanding where the student is coming from, where the faculty is coming from, and making sure everyone’s goals align with each other.”
Despite the revisions the Washington D.C. schools made, Pulido believes students and teachers alike find a balance between bringing in outside material and utilizing the AP curriculum.
“Our students here are well prepared with the curriculum currently offered, and the faculty is able to still encourage and push students to the next level,” Pulido said. “Although [AP classes] might not be as flexible as other courses, they overall work well in our school.”