Saltsburg Middle-High School Guidance Office

          AP

           http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc

The Advanced Placement Program® (AP®) is a collaborative effort among motivated students, dedicated teachers, and committed high schools, colleges, and universities. Since its inception in 1955, the Program has allowed millions of students to take college-level courses and exams, and to earn college credit or placement while still in high school.

Sixty percent of U.S. high schools currently participate in the AP Program, and most colleges and universities in the United States and Canada have an AP policy granting incoming students credit, placement, or both for qualifying AP Exam grades.

As an intermediary among participating institutions, the AP Program:

  • Chooses college faculty and secondary school AP teachers to develop college-level course descriptions and exams, and facilitates this development process.
  • Administers and scores exams based on the learning goals described in the AP Course Descriptions.
  • Sends grade reports to students, schools, and designated colleges.
  • Prepares publications, online materials, and other resources to supplement and support AP activities.
  • Provides conferences, consultants, and curricular materials to help interested schools establish college-level courses.
  • Assists schools and teachers in their efforts to prepare students through Pre-AP?? initiatives.
  • Conducts research and strives to develop new services and products that enhance quality education.

AP Courses

Thirty-five AP courses in a wide variety of subject areas are currently available. Developed by a committee of college faculty and AP teachers, each AP course covers the breadth of information, skills, and assignments found in the corresponding college course.

The AP Course Description for each subject outlines course content, describes curricular goals, and provides sample exam questions. The Course Descriptions, free at AP Central, are available to AP teachers each spring of the school year before they will teach the course. While Course Descriptions are a significant source of information about the content on which the AP Exams will be based, AP teachers ultimately have the flexibility to determine how they present this content.

AP Exams

Each AP course has a corresponding exam that participating schools worldwide administer in May. Except for Studio Art, which is a portfolio assessment, AP Exams contain multiple-choice questions and a free-response section (either essay or problem-solving). AP Exams represent the culmination of AP courses and are thus an integral part of the Program. As a result, many schools foster the expectation that students who enroll in an AP course will go on to take the corresponding AP Exam. Because the College Board is committed to providing homeschooled students and students whose schools do not offer AP access to the AP Exams, it does not require students to take an AP course prior to taking an AP Exam.

Most colleges and universities in the U.S., as well as colleges and universities in more than 30 other countries, have an AP policy granting incoming students credit, placement, or both on the basis of their AP Exam grades. Many of these institutions grant up to a full year of college credit (sophomore standing) to students who earn a sufficient number of qualifying AP grades.

Some Benefits of AP

Students

  • Earn credit, advanced placement, or both for college
  • Demonstrate to college and universities an ability to succeed in rigorous academics
  • Take exactly the kind of course they'll face in college

Teachers

  • Gain satisfaction from working with motivated students
  • Have to opportunity to teach higher-level, more difficult subject matter
  • Engage in open dialogue and exchange ideas with faculty, administrators, teachers, and other members of the AP community

Schools and Districts

  • Demonstrate a commitment to academic excellence
  • Strengthen the link between secondary and higher education
  • Experience a diffusion of higher academic standards throughout the entire curriculum