The College Board Advanced Placement Program College Level Examination Program GA ALC Winter Summit 2013 Pam Kerouac, Senior Director, AP Higher Education Policy Suzanne McGurk, CLEP Senior Assessment Manager

Topics

•  Overview of AP and CLEP

•  Supporting an evidenced-based policy

•  Research findings

•  New info on AP Redesign and Physics B changes

•  AP | Cambridge Capstone Credential Program-new courses

•  AP and CLEP are both College Board programs. •  Both AP and CLEP exams rely on Higher Education

Faculty involvement in development of robust academic content and assessment frameworks.

•  Both programs offer a nationally recognized

assessment of college-level learning aligned to equivalent introductory college coursework.

How similar are the AP and CLEP programs?

At a Crossroads in American Higher Education

•  A national imperative-access to rigorous academic experiences to prepare all students –including first generation students-for college.

•  A workforce demand for degree completers in STEM areas,

collaborative learners, and critical analytical thinkers. •  Intersecting at a time when higher ed. endowments and state

budgets are lean and mean. •  Families and taxpayers are acutely challenged to find affordable

pathways to a college education. •  Demographic shifts comprised of an increasing number of first-

generation and low income students will intensify the need for an affordable, high-quality education.

Opportunities through AP and CLEP

•  AP and CLEP Exams offer a consistent nationally standardized measure of academic achievement that corresponds to college course content.

•  2012 AP’s greatest growth among traditionally underserved populations—

particularly among low-income students who stand to benefit through increased college access and affordable college tuition.

•  CLEP, as a prior learning assessment serves a diverse group of students,

including adults, non-traditional learners, and military service members. •  Students report that opportunity to earn introductory college credit by

examination is a strong factor in college enrollment decisions. •  Students report that credit earned through AP and CLEP offers significant

savings in tuition costs and can shorten time to degree.

Credit-by-Exam Value for Students and Colleges

•  Earn college credit for qualifying AP and CLEP Exam scores-save time and tuition $.

•  Allows academic flexibility to pursue college minor, study abroad, internships….

•  Place appropriately into courses that challenge and engage.

•  Avoid accumulation of excess credits-not relevant to degree requirements.

What Is AP?

v  The College Board’s Advanced Placement Program offers 34 college-level courses and externally assessed exams.

v  Each course culminates in a rigorous exam; providing academically prepared students with opportunity to earn college credit and advanced placement. 

v  Most colleges offer credit, placement and admission benefits.

•  18,000+ secondary schools worldwide are authorized to offer AP courses

•  In 2012, more than 2 million students took

almost 3.6 million exams           •  5,400+ college faculty develop and score the

AP Exams •  About 3,300 colleges receive AP Exam scores

annually

•  AP Exams cost $89.

AP Exams Arts

Art History Music Theory Studio Art: Drawing Portfolio Studio Art: 2-D Design Portfolio Studio Art: 3-D Design Portfolio

EnglishEnglish Language & Composition English Literature & Composition

History & Social ScienceComparative Government & Politics European History Human Geography Macroeconomics Microeconomics Psychology US Government & Politics US History World History

Mathematics & Computer ScienceCalculus AB Calculus BC Computer Science A Statistics

Natural SciencesBiology Chemistry Environmental Science Physics B Physics C: Electricity & Magnetism Physics C: Mechanics

World LanguagesChinese Language & Culture French Language & Culture German Language & Culture Italian Language & Culture Japanese Language & Culture Latin Spanish Language & Culture Spanish Literature

What we know about the AP footprint to ALC?

• 

• • 

• 

• 

Majority of Exam Scores Received by GA ALC

• 

What kind of credit can students earn with qualifying AP and CLEP scores?

•  Course equivalent credit? •  Credit that aligns to

corresponding course content?

•  Credit that aligns with

transfer college courses? •  Credit that allows for

appropriate course placement that challenges new learning?

•  Elective credit? •  An accumulation of

excess credit? •  Credit that requires

students to “repeat” introductory course content previously learned.

 CLEP Overview

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Who Takes CLEP?

The Value of Evidenced-Based Credit-by-Exam Policies

Foundations of an Evidence-Based Credit Policy •  Institutions set AP and CLEP credit and placement policies,

based on faculty recommendations, placement validity data, articulation and enrollment management considerations.

Course alignment review: Because there is some variability in content across introductory courses at a range of institutions, an alignment review should focus on key learning outcomes.

•  Do AP and CLEP Exams align with the college’s expectations for

what students should know and be able to do at the end of the comparable college course?

•  Colleges are encouraged to review AP and CLEP Exam scores and the correlations to college course grades.

CLEP Test Development Committees

• 

• 

• 

§ 

§ 

§ 

• 

CLEP: What Do Committee Members Consider?

• 

• 

• 

• § 

§ 

§ 

§ 

§ 

CLEP: Item Development Process

• • • • • • 

• 

Research Validates AP and CLEP

• 

• 

• 

• 

•  h#p://clep.collegeboard.org/research/sta3s3cs•  h#p://aphighered.collegeboard.org/research-­‐reports

College Faculty Involvement

Curriculum studies Curriculum frameworks Question writing and review

Comparability studies Standard setting studies Pilot draft exam questions

AP teacher training AP and pre-AP strategies workshops for teachers

AP teacher syllabus evaluations

Exam scoring

Exam scoring AP Course Audit

Professional development

Standards alignment

Course & exam content

Curriculum Framework Development

4-year colleges & universities

Academic organizations

Panels of subject-matter experts

Committee of college faculty

& AP teachers

50+ college department

chairs

50+ AP teachers

Curriculum studies, research, and recommendations are

collected

A curriculum framework is drafted

The curriculum framework is reviewed and verified

How Are AP Scores Determined?

§ 

§ 

• • • • • 

Credit & Placement

Not recommended

Possibly Qualified

Qualified Well Qualified Extremely Well Qualified

Equivalent to grades of B-, C in the corresponding college course

Equivalent to grades of A-, B in the corresponding college course

Equivalent to grades of A in the corresponding college course

AP Exam Scores and College Credit/Placement

AP scores are reported on a 5-point scale.

1 2 3 4 5

Credit & Placement

AP RESEARCH Findings

AP Higher Education Website

www.collegeboard.org/aphighered

AP Fosters Persistence and College Success h#p://aphighered.collegeboard.org/research-­‐reports  

AP Students Succeed in Subsequent Courses AP students exempted from the introductory course did as well as, or better than, non-AP students in the sequent course, and earned higher overall GPAs.

AP Students Persist and Complete Degrees Students with AP Exam scores of 3 or higher were more likely to graduate from college, and to graduate within 4 or 5 years, than non-AP students.

AP Contributes to Students’ Disciplinary Focus AP students generally took more courses in the discipline and were more likely to major in a closely related discipline.

AP Students Tend to Major in Disciplines Related to Their AP Exam

0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0%

Social Sciences

Mathematics, Statistics, Engineering, & Physical Sciences

Humanities & Liberal Arts

Foreign Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics

Computer and Information Science

Biological & Biomedical Sciences

Total Group AP Students

The correlation between AP Exam and major is particularly strong for STEM subjects.

Adapted from Mattern, Shaw, & Ewing, 2011

New Developments in the Advanced Placement Program

AP Course & Exam Redesign

§  Begins with courses and exams in world language, history, and science subjects

§  Represents a collaboration among college faculty, AP teachers, and learning and assessment specialists

§  Is designed to meet colleges’ expectations of student outcomes for the comparable college course

As part of our commitment to continually enhance alignment with current practices in college-level learning, the AP Program is evaluating and redesigning courses and exams.

AP Redesign Launch Schedule

Fall 2011 •  French

Language & Culture

•  German Language & Culture

Fall 2012 • Biology • Latin • Spanish

Literature & Culture

Fall 2013 • Chemistry • Spanish

Language & Literature

Fall 2014 • Physics 1:

Algebra-Based

• Physics 2: Algebra-Based

• United States History

Fall 2015 Tentative • Art

History • European

History • Calculus

(update)

Features of Redesign

•  Balance of breadth and depth

•  Alignment to structure and content of introductory college courses

•  Emphasis on emerging 21st century skills-critical thinking and reasoning skills, collaborative communication and project based inquiry.

Why Redesign Physics B?

• 

• 

• • 

http://advancesinap.collegeboard.org/science/physics

Current Course Redesigned Courses Current course includes a wide breadth of topics to be covered in a single year.

New courses decrease breadth of content each year to allow time to promote conceptual reasoning and understanding.

•  kinematics; •  Newton’s laws of motion; •  torque; •  gravitation and circular motion; work,

energy, and power; •  linear momentum; •  oscillations, •  mechanical waves and sound; •  fluid statics and dynamics; •  thermodynamics with kinetic theory, PV

diagrams; •  electrostatics; •  electrical circuits; •  magnetic fields; •  electromagnetism; •  physical and geometric optics; •  topics in modern physics

AP Physics 1: •  kinematics •  Newton’s laws of motion; •  torque; •  rotational motion and angular momentum; •  gravitation and circular motion; •  work, energy, and power; •  linear momentum; •  oscillations, mechanical waves and sound; •  introduction to electric circuits AP Physics 2: •  fluid statics and dynamics; •  thermodynamics with kinetic theory, PV

diagrams and probability; •  electrostatics; •  electrical circuits; •  magnetic fields; •  electromagnetism; •  physical and geometric optics; •  topics in modern physics

AP | Cambridge Capstone Pilot Introduction

Curriculum Structure and Credential Requirements

10th -12th

Grade

Year Two

Year One

Research Project

Seminar Course

To qualify for the AP | Cambridge Capstone Credential, students must:

1.  Earn qualifying scores on the Seminar Course and Research Project Assessments

2.  Earn scores of 3 or higher on three or more AP Exams

Any Year of HS

Year Two

Year One

Research Project

Seminar Course

Essay (4500-5000 words)

Team Project

Individual Presentation

Written Exam

Development of Research and Inquiry Skills Is Central to both Courses

Reflection Assess the impact of research on personal

perspectives.

Deconstruction Detailed analysis of

a point of view.

Reconstruction Identification & evaluation of

evidence for and against competing

points of view.

Communication Communicate views, information and research effectively and convincingly.

Students engage in multiple iterations of the Critical Path, a teaching and learning process.

Assessed Components of the Academic Paper

1. 2.  

3.  4.  

5.  

6. 

Research papers must include:

Research Project

Status of the AP | Cambridge Capstone Pilot Fifteen schools in the United States and abroad will pilot the program in two cohorts, beginning in fall 2012

Fall 2012 August 2013 Fall 2013 August 2014

Cohort 1: Score reports for the Seminar Course are sent to designated colleges.

Cohort 1: Students begin the Research Project. Transcripts that include Capstone information are included with student applications.

Cohort 2: Students begin the Seminar Course.

Cohort 1: The first AP | Cambridge Credentials are issued to colleges, along with score reports for the Research Project.

Cohort 2: Score reports for the Seminar Course are sent to designated colleges.

Cohort 1: Students begin the Seminar Course.

Capstone Pilot Schools Miami-Dade County Public Schools, FL

Miami Palmetto Senior High School

Barbara Goleman Senior High School

Miami Southridge Senior High School

North Miami Beach Senior High School

New York City, NY

Brooklyn Technical High School

Spring Independent School District, TX

Carl Wunsche Senior High School

Spokane School District, WA

North Central High School

Prince George’s County Public Schools, MD

Bowie High School

Eleanor Roosevelt High School

McCracken County Public Schools, KY

Lone Oak High School

Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools, TN

Hume Fogg Academic High Schools

Independent Schools

Chadwick School, Los Angeles, CA

Deerfield Academy, MA

Non-US Schools

Hong Kong International School

Strathcona High School, Edmonton, Alberta

Questions?

smcgurk@collegeboard.org

pkerouac@collegeboard.org