for SL
As more and more students feel the pressure to enroll in Advanced Placement (AP) classes, whether for college credit or to stand out in college admissions, we need to begin to question the way the College Board has created this system and the consequences that come along with it.
Taking Advanced Placement classes brings some benefits for students. AP classes provide an advanced curriculum that supposedly goes beyond even honors-level high school courses. If a student’s college of choice supports AP transfer, and the student meets the test score requirements, they can receive college credit at universities for the AP course. However, out of the top 102 universities in the country, only 25% actually accept AP credits to bypass certain courses in college. Furthermore, according to the College Board, the AP test costs families $97, and students have to receive a score of 3 or higher to be eligible for any benefit.
The Advanced Placement program’s website provides that its “college level coursework” will help students prepare for a college-level learning environment. The AP program also emphasizes the way that AP classes look to colleges, exemplifying academic achievement on applicants’ transcripts. All of this aside, the College Board may be exaggerating the importance of AP classes in schools and manipulating students with these arguments.
In theory, AP classes can also help students with less resources gain access to more sophisticated learning opportunities. Many have cited the 7AP system with this ability to close the educational gap between students. In reality, the AP program has potentially widened the gap for minority students, especially Black students.
Maya Pottiger, accredited investigative journalist and member of the Black journalist coalition Word in Black, highlights shocking information about demographics of AP classes. In the 2017-18 school year, Black students made up 3.5% of the composition of AP enrollment, and Hispanic students consisted of 5.1%. More recently, Pottinger reported a similar condition, finding that “in 2020, only 9% of Black students were enrolled in at least one AP course.”
Over the last couple of years, Madison West High School has pushed to increase diversity in AP classes. However, many AP classes remain privileged spaces from which many underprivileged students shy away. Creating these less inclusive and more prestigious classes isolates top-performing students from other classroom experiences and minimizes the distinction of honors classes, driving the racial gap between students even deeper. Professor Denise Pope at Stanford University looked into the patterns associated with the AP program. “If the AP program is to be used effectively to help make a difference in underserved schools, it will need to be part of a broader initiative,” Pope explained.
The lack of diversity within AP classes completely disrupts classroom dynamics because students are less able to learn from each other and collaborate with more proficient, better-resourced students. AP classes are more personalized and focused classes. They are also generally smaller with a lower student-teacher ratio, something for which many educators are pushing for all public school classrooms.
The College Board has come to monopolize testing in American secondary education. From AP programs alone, the College Board made nearly $400 million annually in recent years. This organization profits massively from controlling curriculum, standardized testing, and even the way that students are taught to view personal academic achievement on their transcripts.
As more and more students feel the pressure to enroll in Advanced Placement (AP) classes, whether for college credit or to stand out in college admissions, we need to begin to question the way the College Board has created this system and the consequences that come along with it.
Taking Advanced Placement classes brings some benefits for students. AP classes provide an advanced curriculum that supposedly goes beyond even honors-level high school courses. If a student’s college of choice supports AP transfer, and the student meets the test score requirements, they can receive college credit at universities for the AP course. However, out of the top 102 universities in the country, only 25% actually accept AP credits to bypass certain courses in college. Furthermore, according to the College Board, the AP test costs families $97, and students have to receive a score of 3 or higher to be eligible for any benefit.
The Advanced Placement program’s website provides that its “college level coursework” will help students prepare for a college-level learning environment. The AP program also emphasizes the way that AP classes look to colleges, exemplifying academic achievement on applicants’ transcripts. All of this aside, the College Board may be exaggerating the importance of AP classes in schools and manipulating students with these arguments.
In theory, AP classes can also help students with less resources gain access to more sophisticated learning opportunities. Many have cited the 7AP system with this ability to close the educational gap between students. In reality, the AP program has potentially widened the gap for minority students, especially Black students.
Maya Pottiger, accredited investigative journalist and member of the Black journalist coalition Word in Black, highlights shocking information about demographics of AP classes. In the 2017-18 school year, Black students made up 3.5% of the composition of AP enrollment, and Hispanic students consisted of 5.1%. More recently, Pottinger reported a similar condition, finding that “in 2020, only 9% of Black students were enrolled in at least one AP course.”
Over the last couple of years, Madison West High School has pushed to increase diversity in AP classes. However, many AP classes remain privileged spaces from which many underprivileged students shy away. Creating these less inclusive and more prestigious classes isolates top-performing students from other classroom experiences and minimizes the distinction of honors classes, driving the racial gap between students even deeper. Professor Denise Pope at Stanford University looked into the patterns associated with the AP program. “If the AP program is to be used effectively to help make a difference in underserved schools, it will need to be part of a broader initiative,” Pope explained.
The lack of diversity within AP classes completely disrupts classroom dynamics because students are less able to learn from each other and collaborate with more proficient, better-resourced students. AP classes are more personalized and focused classes. They are also generally smaller with a lower student-teacher ratio, something for which many educators are pushing for all public school classrooms.
The College Board has come to monopolize testing in American secondary education. From AP programs alone, the College Board made nearly $400 million annually in recent years. This organization profits massively from controlling curriculum, standardized testing, and even the way that students are taught to view personal academic achievement on their transcripts.