'Tis it legal for Loudoun County Public Schools to charge students taking AP courses for additional GPA weight might be the least of our concerns. The spotlight Attorney General Cuccinelli has put on AP Exams should also cause us to question whether the $900,000 spent on them each year by Loudoun students are worth it.
LCPS puts much effort into marketing AP courses to our high school students of all grades ("[T]he goal to have virtually every Loudoun student leave high school with at least one AP class on his/her transcript is achievable in Loudoun." –Sharon Ackerman, Assistant Superintendent for Instruction), touting advantages such as increased rigor and college preparation, and college tuition savings and early degree completion, in addition to the significant bump given to the GPA thanks to the policy of adding weight to the course grade. LCPS's belief in the benefits of AP courses was behind its practice of paying for every student's AP Exam fee at taxpayers' expense, a practice discontinued two years ago due to budget issues. Now that students and families are picking up the tab again, they should pause to examine whether taking an AP course actually delivers on those promises, and if it's worth the money and time spent.
The exams' administrator, the College Board, and LCPS would have us believe that most colleges will exempt students from introductory courses (and possibly grant credit) if they achieve scores of 3 or better on the exams. Reading the fine print, however, should cause us to investigate both the colleges and the courses a student is considering. A great number of colleges require at least a 4, if not a 5, as the minimum exam score; some don't accept AP courses at all. Consider the Meccas for many Loudoun students, UVa, JMU, and Virginia Tech: UVa's College of Arts and Sciences grants exemptions for only two courses out of its list of 44 for a score of 3 (and none for four of them); the rest require a minimum score of 4, and over a quarter of them require a perfect score of 5; Tech's policies are similar, as are JMU's. (In anticipation of the question, George Mason is no different.) Given that, we should ask just how many Loudoun students achieve those necessary scores of 4 and 5?
In 2007, only 10 LCPS high school students scored at least a 4 on all of their AP exams. And not all of them necessarily were seniors. Out of thousands of Loudoun students taking the courses.
That universities are not accepting the "passing grade" of 3 as proof of mastery and college preparation is troublesome, and an indication that they lack full confidence in the actual rigor of the classes and courses. Also, there is significant research showing "that about half of the advantage attributed to AP experience can be accounted for by variables representing the academic abilities and experiences possessed by AP students prior to, or independent of, their AP course experiences." Factor in that most of the colleges targeted by our students make most of our AP students retake the introductory courses, we must at least question whether the promotion and proliferation of AP courses in Loudoun schools is founded in sound research.
At the very least, LCPS Guidance Services should provide clear and easily accessible analysis of the practices of AP acceptance at the colleges most popular with our students, as well as a report on how many students end up retaking the introductory courses once in college. This is another area in which school programs should be grounded in science and measured against actual results rather than good intentions. In fact, perhaps each high school should provide teacher-by-teacher reports on student AP Exam performance, since it is hard not to argue that testing to the teaching is exactly the point here.
My child graduated from LCPS with 6 AP classes. The college she attends is a private out of state school which is very highly ranked.They accept only scores of 4 or 5 on the AP exams.She received enough credits from her college to put her a semester ahead. This has had a number of advantages in addition to the obvious money savings. So obviously this worked well for us.
ReplyDeleteI would not be in favor of eliminating AP classes and I absolutely think that the student should have to take the AP exam in order for the class to be considered an AP class. However, no child should be denied this on the basis of not being able to pay. I will happily pay my tax money for AP test fees for a student who cannot afford the tests.
LCPS SHOULD pay for the testing in these AP courses. IF they offer the course and you need the test to gain the credits then they should pay the fee. Otherwise why take the class?? These classes have offered an advantage to my child simply because of the challenging nature of them. She chose not to attend a program such as Dominion or TJ but does need the challenge of this type of curriculum..the other classes are simply too easy for her. Now my other child is not the type of kid who can take AP classes and that is fine too. My oldest took them and did not do well on the test but it did help her learn some study skills which have helped in college. The AP classes have a place in the school but yes, parents do need to evaluate whether it is the proper placement for their child and his or her needs. And since most kids have no idea where they are planning on going to school they need to look at all the options out there to make a determination on what is best for them.
ReplyDeleteI'm fine with the paying of exams, but what I'd like an explanation for is why students do not receive the weight for doing the work ALL year if they do not take (no mention of pass) the AP Exam. This seems like students are paying for their weight...not being rewarded with the weight for completing the work all year. Yes, I agree that the weight will encourage students to take the test, which the should in hopes of receiving college credit, but I don't see how the student is not rewarded (or awarded) the weight for completing the work all year.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with awarding the weight to students not taking the exam. The AP exam goes with taking the course and that expectation is clear up front. As for LCPS students not doing well on the tests, this is another example of grade inflation. I know many students who received A's in the classes, but couldn't pass the exams. The classes are obviously not preparing the students for the exams. One solution is to make the classes themselves more challenging. Fewer students might opt to take the AP classes, but the pass rates would most likely go up.
ReplyDeleteIf I may jump in, Virginia education law requires that if a course is to have an extra grade weight it must have a few distinctive elements. One of these is a "defined assessment." The appropriate defined assessment for an AP course is the AP exam, so according to law LCPS could not award an extra grade weight to a student who did not take the AP exam.
ReplyDeleteThat's not an answer, it's just a pertinent piece of information.
As long as Jay Mathews ranks schools based on how many kids take AP exams LCPS will continue to funnel students into AP classes regardless of how well they may do on the actual AP exam. I really wish less students were encouraged to take AP classes as they are more watered down now to accomodate all the average students who are now enrolling in them.
ReplyDeleteProfe
I understand your response, John, and appreciate your chiming in. At our school (in the East), we have to give students a released AP Exam while the other students are taking the AP Exam if they do not pay for the AP Exam. It seems to me, then, that this is just like what the honors classes have to do now--take a cumulative test at the end of the year to earn the .5 weight. With a rule like that, I feel like the kids who don't pay for the AP Test (and therefore aren't "counting" for Mathews' rank) are being treating unfairly for their not taking the test. They have to take a "released test" and don't receive any benefit to the weight. Strange.
ReplyDeleteYou ascribe too noble a motive to colleges for not awarding credit to incoming students with passing grades on A.P. exams, saying that they apparently don't trust the test scores. The reality is the test scores are a good measure of college readiness, and the colleges know it.
ReplyDeleteThe real reason is they want to charge as much tuition as possible to their students, and would prefer that students take as many college courses as possible. Some students with 8, 9, or 10 A.P. courses in high school could skip their freshman years altogether, but colleges are going to limit that as much as possible by requiring 4's and 5's on the A.P. exams. After all, four year matriculation rates are rarer and rarer things, with 5 years becoming the "new normal." No way do colleges want kids to be able to do it in three!