Teachers
Advanced Placement Course Audit Update
The following information is being circulated by the College
Board and AP Central to publicize the upcoming need for all
AP teachers and schools to submit materials to substantiate
their claim that a course should be recognized as worthy
of the Advanced Placement designation. Failure to meet the
requirements of this audit will nullify that claim. All questions
regarding this procedure should be directed to the College
Board and the email address designated at the end of this
article or through the website at AP Central.
As scheduled, the AP Course Audit process will officially
open later this January. AP teachers, principals, AP Coordinators,
and district representatives will receive instructions on
how to access the AP Course Audit website and submit materials
during the fourth week in January. Instructions will also
appear on AP Central.
The AP Course Audit provides schools with clear guidelines
on the course content and resources typical of college-level
classes, and helps colleges and universities better interpret
courses marked "AP" on students' transcripts. Schools
have until June 1, 2008 to submit materials as part of the
AP Course Audit. Prior to the opening of the AP Course Audit
website, the College Board encourages AP teachers to review
the course audit information and resources available on AP
Central at http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/courseaudit,
which include:
- ANNOTATED
SYLLABI & SAMPLES OF EVIDENCE
Multiple samples of evidence in each AP subject illustrate the variety of
ways curricular requirements can be met in a syllabus. Annotated syllabi
have been written by AP teachers who teach in the public or private sector
and by college professors who teach the parallel college-level course. Collectively,
these syllabi illustrate a variety of ways a course can meet the AP Course
Audit curricular requirements.
- AP
COURSE AUDIT WEBSITE DEMO
This online demo will help familiarize teachers and administrators with the
website through which teachers will submit their syllabi.
- COURSE
AUDIT MANUAL
This manual provides teachers and school administrators with an overview
of the AP Course Audit and includes the curricular and resource requirements
for each AP course. Schools can also order free copies from http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/freepubs.
As always, schools develop their own curriculum for courses
labeled "AP." The AP Course Audit simply specifies
core elements colleges and universities expect to see within
the curriculum you develop for college-level AP courses.
You will see when reviewing the AP Course Audit requirements
that they do not in any way constitute a mandated curriculum,
and provide schools with tremendous flexibility in development
of curricula for courses labeled "AP." Courses
that meet or exceed these expectations will be authorized
to use the "AP" designation.
The AP Course Audit deliberately does not base its outcomes
on student exam grades, because doing so would put pressure
on teachers to avoid taking risks on students less certain
to succeed in an AP course. Because the AP Course Audit requirements
were established by professors from several hundred of the
nation's top colleges and universities, it is our hope that
even experienced AP teachers with high-performing students
will benefit from the opportunity the AP Course Audit provides
to reflect on their own curriculum and how they are meeting
or, in many cases, exceeding the most recent set of expectations
voiced by college and university faculty.
For more information on the AP Course Audit, please visit http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/courseaudit or
email apaudit@collegeboard.org.
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