2007 AP Report Nation

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Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

New Developments in AP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Part I:

Three Themes for the Nation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Theme #1: State Initiatives Foster Student Success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Theme #2: Closing Equity Gaps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Theme #3: New Research on AP and College Success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Part II:

AP Subject Areas: Participation, Performance, and Feedback for Educators . . . . . .15

Appendix A:

AP Data at a Glance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83

Appendix B:

AP Exams Taken in U.S. Public Schools by the Class of 2006 During

Their High School Years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84

Appendix C:

Raw Numbers for Table 1: U.S. Public Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88

Appendix D:

Changes in Equity Gaps from 2000 to 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Appendix E:

Exemplary International Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Inside Back Cover

A Word About Comparing States and Schools

AP Exams are valid measures of students content mastery of college-level studies in academic

disciplines but should never be used as a sole measure for gauging educational excellence and

equity.

Advanced PlacementReport to the Nation 2007


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IntroductionAmerican educators are achieving much success in theirefforts to enable a wider and more diverse group o U.S.

students than ever beore to succeed in college-level studies

in high school. Yet we must also gaze clear-eyed at the

inequities that remain and the challenges that accompany

success in expanding access to the Advanced Placement

Program (AP). Tis Reportuses a combination o state,

national, and AP Program data to provide each U.S. state

with context or celebrating its successes, understanding its

unique challenges, and setting meaningul and data-driven

goals to prepare more students or college success.

Part I o the Reportcomprises three powerul themes

that appear once we situate each states AP par ticipation

and perormance data with in the context o its own

racial/ethnic demographics and population size. Because

one o the chie purposes o Part I is to provide state

departments o education with new data to gauge success

and identiy current challenges in providing equitable

educational opportunity (and because current, reliable

racial/ethnic demographic data or nonpublic schools are

not available or all states), the data in Part I represent

public schools only.

Part II o the Reportuses data rom all schools

participating in AP, public and nonpublic, to identiy the

most successul AP classrooms in the nation currently,

and to provide overall participation and perormance

inormation or each o the AP subject areas. o inorm

teaching and learning, this section o the Reportalso

analyzes the results o the AP Examinations to provide

AP teachers, department chairs, college aculty, and other

educators with eedback about the knowledge and skil ls

AP students are particularly demonstratingor ailing to

demonstrate.

In addition to the data presented in this Report, the

Advanced Placement Press Room (at www.collegeboard.com/

appress) contains much additional data and research to

supplement the tables and charts herein.

What is the AdvancedPlacement Program?

Te College Board partners with colleges and universities1

to create assessments o college-level learningthe AP

Examsin 37 subject areas. Te College Board then supports

secondary schools in training teachers and developing a

curriculum o high academic intensity and quality that

will enable students to meet the standards or college-level

learning in these subjects. As a result, most colleges and

universities in the United States, as well as institutions in

more than 30 other countries, use AP Exam results in theadmissions process as a designation o a students ability to

succeed in rigorous curricula, and also award college credit

or placement into higher-level college courses so that college

entrants can move directly into the courses that match their

level o academic preparation or college.

How are the APExams scored?

AP Exams, with the exception o AP Studio Art, which is

a portolio assessment, each consist o dozens o multiple-

choice questions, which are scored by machine, and ree-

response questions (essays, translations, problems), which

are scored at the annual AP Reading by more than 8,000

college aculty and expert AP teachers, using scoring

standards developed by college and university aculty who

teach the corresponding college course.

What is the scale for

the AP Exam grades?

Te composite score or each AP Exam is converted to anAP Exam grade o 5, 4, 3, 2, or 1. AP Exam grades o 5 are

equivalent to the top A-level work in the corresponding

college course. AP Exam grades o 4 are equivalent to a

range o work representing mid-level A to mid-level B

perormance in college. Similarly, AP Exam grades o 3 are

equivalent to a range o work representing mid-level B to

mid-level C perormance in college.


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Why report on how many high

school graduates succeeded

on an AP Exam?

With 75 percent o U.S. high school graduates entering

college,2the nation is steadily democratizing entrance to

college. But high college dropout rates and the act thatabout hal o all college reshmen are taking at least one

remedial course show us that it is not enough simply or

secondary schools to help students gain admission.3I

we are to succeed in democratizing what really counts

successul college degree completionthe gul between high

school graduation standards and reshman college course

requirements must be eliminated.

Recent research rom the University o Caliornia at

Berkeley4and the National Center or Educational

Accountability

5

finds that an AP Exam grade, and a grade o3 or higher in particular, is a strong predictor o a students

ability to persist in college and earn a bachelors degree.

How does thisReportdefine

success on an AP Exam?

Troughout theAdvanced Placement Report to the Nation,

success on an AP Exam is defined as an exam grade o

3 or higher. As noted above, a 3 is the grade that research

consistently and currently finds predictive o college success

and graduation.

Tat said, we should not discount or devalue the experience

o students who take an AP course but do not earn an exam

grade o 3 or higher. In act, while the Tird International

Math and Science Study (IMSS) ound that U.S. advanced

math and physics students were not leading, but lagging

behind other students around the world in mathematics

and physics achievement, AP students, even those

scoring 1s and 2s on the AP Exam, were hailed or having

demonstrated in the study calculus and physics knowledge

comparable to that o the highest achieving calculus andphysics students in the world.6

In calculus:

U.S. students did not are well, ranking 22 out o 23countries.

Te exception: AP Calculus students. Even thosestudents who earned AP Calculus grades o 1 or 2demonstrated the same level o math achievement asstudents rom the top-perorming nation, France.

In physics:

U.S. students ared worse than students o any othernation, ranking 23 out o 23 countries.

Te exception: AP Physics students. Even thosestudents who earned AP Physics grades o 1 or 2 wereonly bested by students rom the top two nations,Norway and Sweden.

But because more research is needed to establish the

conditions under which AP Exam grades lower than 3 relate

to college success, reduction o remediation required, and

other outcomes, this Reportuses an AP Exam grade o 3 or

higher as the definition o success on an AP Exam.

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The AP Course AuditTe AP Course Audit was created at the request o

secondary school and college members o the College Board

who requested that the College Board:

1. Provide teachers and administrators with clear

guidelines on curricular and resource requirements

that must be present in a secondary school course

beore that course can be considered college level

and be labeled AP; and

2. Ensure consistency or college and universityadmissions offices across courses marked AP on

students transcripts.

All schools wishing to label a course AP or the 2007-08

school year and beyond must first receive authorization to

do so by completing the AP audit process, which involves

submitting a copy o the course syllabus or review by

current college aculty representing hundreds o universities

nationwide. Within two months o submitting AP Course

Audit materials, schools will receive authorization or

qualiying courses to use the AP designation on student

transcripts. Each all, beginning November 2007, colleges

and universities will receive a ledger o schools that lists

the courses authorized to use the AP designation at each

school.

Te AP Program unequivocally supports the principle that

each individual school must develop its own curriculum

or courses labeled AP. Rather than mandating any one

curriculum or AP courses, the AP Course Audit instead

provides each AP teacher with a set o expectations that

college and secondary school aculty nationwide have

established or college-level courses. AP teachers areencouraged to develop or maintain their own curriculum

that either includes or exceeds each o the curricular and

resource requirements; such courses will be authorized

to use the AP designation. Credit or the success o AP

courses belongs to the individual schools and teachers that

create powerul, locally designed AP curricula.

For more inormation about the AP Course Audit, visit

http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/courseaudit

Chinese Language andCulture Initiatives

Chinese Language and

Culture Initiatives

In 2004, the College Board conducted a survey that revealed

a surging interest among U.S. secondary schools in offering

courses in Chinese language. Nearly 2,400 high schools

indicated interest in offering an AP Chinese course in the

near uture. However, ew o those schools even offered

first-year Chinese classes at the time. o address the gaps

between desire to offer Chinese and current capabilities in

U.S. schools, the College Board and Chinas Office o Chinese

Language Council International (Hanban) ormed a historic

partnership and developed a five-year plan to support the

growth o Chinese language instruction in U.S. schools and to

build a solid oundation or the AP Chinese program.

Programs are offered to serve schools, teachers, and

students:

Chinese Guest eacher Program:Qualified language

teachers rom China teach in U.S. K12 schools or up

to three years. Te teachers offer authentic language

and cultural expertise to the students and school

community. wo hundred and fify teachers will be

placed in U.S. schools in 2007-09.

Delegations to China:School and district leaders

travel to China or a one-week educational tour as

guests o Hanban. Participants learn firsthand about

the country, language, and culture. Nearly 400 U.S.

educators participated in 2006; larger delegations areplanned or 2007 and beyond.

eacher Candidate Scholarships:Chinese speakers

in the U.S. are eligible to receive tuition scholarships

that will enable them to enroll in courses o study at

colleges and universities to receive certification to

teach Chinese language in elementary and secondary

schools. Up to 400 scholarships will be distributed

rom 2007 to 2010.

New Developments in AP


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In-Service Professional Development:Current

U.S.-based Chinese teachers attend intensive Summer

Institutes in China to enhance their proessional

and cultural expertise. Sixty teachers received

scholarships to attend in 2006; 500 teachers in total

rom 2006 to 2010 are expected to receive grants

that will enable them to attend these proessional

development Institutes.

Student Programs:Chinese immersion summer

camps will provide American high school students

with an opportunity to improve their language skills

and gain firsthand experience in the culture, helping

them prepare to enroll and succeed in AP Chinese

classes in the uture. Te first camp will be held in

summer 2007 with up to 200 students, many o whom

will receive scholarships. One-year scholarships

to study in China are also offered to high school

graduates and college students.

Chinese Culture Presentations:Guest presentations

on Chinese language and culture are offered in K12

schools to build awareness and oster student interest.

Presentations were held in 60 schools in 10 states in

all 2006, with more scheduled in spring 2007.

More inormation is available at:

www.collegeboard.com/k12chinese.

AP Courses and Exams in

Chinese Language and Culture

and Japanese Language

and Culture

Te 2006-07 school year sees the launch o the first AP

courses in Chinese and Japanese. Te introduction o these

two new AP courses is an important step in a commitment

by the College Board to urther multiculturalism and

multilingualism in secondary school education. When

announcing these new AP courses, College Board President

Gaston Caperton stated, World events make it ever more

obvious that a broad knowledge and understanding o

other languages and cultures is essential or our young

people. Tese new AP courses were designed by task

orces comprised o renowned college aculty and master

secondary school teachers o Chinese and Japanese.

Te AP Chinese and AP Japanese Exams are Internet-based

tests. Each student tests at an individual computer, which

processes everything read, heard, written, or spoken by the

student. All written directions and questions appear onscreen,

and all spoken directions and questions are delivered through

individual headphones. Students written responses are

typed in Chinese or Japanese using the computer keyboard,

and their spoken responses are recorded digitally, through

microphones, in the exams sofware.

AP Chinese Language and Culture

Tis AP course is designed to be comparable to ourth-

semester college courses in Mandarin Chinese. Te

course aims to provide students with ongoing and varied

opportunities to urther develop their proficiencies across

the ull range o language skills within a cultural rame o

reerence reflective o the richness o Chinese language and

culture. Because language and culture are inseparable, anintroductory knowledge o Chinese culture (geography,

population, society, history, arts, philosophy, global

interactions and interconnections) is an integral part o

the AP Chinese course.

AP Japanese Language and Culture

Like the intermediate college course to which AP Japanese

is comparable, this course supports students as they develop

the productive, receptive, and cultural skills necessary

to communicate with native speakers o Japanese. Units

o instruction introduce students to a broad spectrum o

Japanese culture (social, political, educational issues; religion;

gender; arts; history; geography); the ofen demanding

texts containing these rich sources o inormation require

command o a significant number o kanji.

4


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Part I:Three Themes for the Nation

Part I:Three Themes for the Nation



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6

Theme #1: State InitiativesFoster Student Success7

Across all 50 states and the District of

Columbia, educators and policymakershave succeeded in helping a wider

segment of the U.S. student population

than ever before successfully complete

a college-level AP course before

leaving high school.

The Arkansas modelArkansasslandmark legislation, which is being hailed as exemplary by other

states, requires all public schools in the state to make AP courses available or their

students, and to support this requirement, the state has allocated unding that

enables Arkansas teachers to spend part o the summer at intensive AP teacher

proessional development Summer Institutes provided by colleges and universities in

Arkansas and neighboring states. Arkansas is currently tied with New Hampshireor

achieving the greatest one-year expansion o AP grades o 3, 4, and 5 across its student

population. West Virginia has just passed similar legislation.

Sustained successA number o states have achieved significant expansion o AP success year

afer year. What does each o these states have in common? Departments o

education and elected officials who have worked together to implement policies

and initiatives aimed at increasing rigor and quality in secondary schools. Tese

include projects designed to:

Expand AP to rural students (Washington);

Provide incentives or teachers and administrators willing to put in the

extra work needed to help traditionally underserved students succeed on

AP Exams (Florida);

Implement initiatives designed to prepare low-income students or success

in AP (Delaware);

Implement a sequential curriculum across grades 612 culminating in AP

(Maryland); and

Provide virtual learning opportunities or remote students

(North Carolina).

Leading the Nation: States with the

greatest percentage of Graduating

Seniors Having Scored 3+ on an AP

Exam in High School

1. New York (22.7%)

2. Maryland (22.0%)

3. Utah (20.8%)

4. Virginia (20.7%)

5. Caliornia (20.1%)

6. Massachusetts (19.8%)

7. Florida (19.6%)

8. Connecticut (19.4%)

9. North Carolina (18.0%)

10. Colorado (17.9%)

2000 to 2006 Expansion of AP Grades of 3+

1. Maryland

2. Delaware

3. North Carolina

4. Washington

5. Florida

2005 to 2006 Expansion of AP Grades of 3+

1. Arkansas (tie)

1. New Hampshire (tie)

3. Delaware

4. Nebraska (tie)

4. Oklahoma (tie)

4. Virginia (tie)


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Table 1: AP Participation and Performance in Public Schools

State

Percentage of Students Scoring 3 or Higher on

an AP Exam During High School Years8

Change: 2000 to 2006High School Class of 2000 High School Class of 2006

Alabama 3.9 5.7 1.8

Alaska 10.1 12.6 2.5

Arizona 7.2 9.4 2.2

Arkansas 4.3 9.8 5.5

Caliornia 15.0 20.1 5.1

Colorado 12.2 17.9 5.7

Connecticut 13.6 19.4 5.8

Delaware 7.6 14.5 6.9

District o Columbia 6.6 9.6 3.0

Florida 13.5 19.6 6.1

Georgia 9.7 14.8 5.1

Hawaii 5.8 7.6 1.8

Idaho 6.5 9.7 3.2

Illinois 9.9 15.1 5.2

Indiana 6.0 9.2 3.2

Iowa 4.9 7.8 2.9Kansas 4.4 7.7 3.3

Kentucky 5.5 9.4 3.9

Louisiana 1.9 2.3 0.4

Maine 10.1 14.4 4.3

Maryland 14.1 22.0 7.9

Massachusetts 14.5 19.8 5.3

Michigan 8.8 12.2 3.4

Minnesota 8.1 12.4 4.3

Mississippi 2.3 3.5 1.2

Missouri 3.7 6.3 2.6

Montana 6.8 10.0 3.2

Nebraska 3.2 5.8 2.6

Nevada 9.1 13.3 4.2New Hampshire 9.2 13.6 4.4

New Jersey 12.9 16.6 3.7

New Mexico 6.1 9.0 2.9

New York 17.9 22.7 4.8

North Carolina 11.3 18.0 6.7

North Dakota 4.4 6.8 2.4

Ohio 7.1 10.5 3.4

Oklahoma 5.4 9.6 4.2

Oregon 7.1 10.4 3.3

Pennsylvania 8.3 11.1 2.8

Rhode Island 6.9 8.4 1.5

South Carolina 10.0 12.5 2.5

South Dakota 5.9 9.4 3.5

ennessee 6.2 9.5 3.3

exas 9.9 14.6 4.7

Utah 17.4 20.8 3.4

Vermont 11.5 16.3 4.8

Virginia 15.9 20.7 4.8

Washington 7.6 14.1 6.5

West Virginia 4.6 6.4 1.8

Wisconsin 10.5 15.8 5.3

Wyoming 3.8 6.6 2.8

Nation 10.2 14.8 4.6


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8

Theme #2: Closing Equity Gaps

Despite increased diversification of the AP classroom,

African American and Native American studentsremain significantly underrepresented in AP

classrooms nationwide, and Hispanic students remain

underrepresented in AP classrooms in many states.

Te Advanced Placement Programs official Equity Policy Statement reads:

The College Board encourages the elimination of barriers that restrict

access to AP courses for students from ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic

groups that have been traditionally underrepresented in the AP Program.

Schools should make every effort to ensure that their AP classes reflect

the diversity of their student population.

Arican American, Hispanic, and Native American students have been traditionally underrepresented in AP courses, and no

state with large numbers o Arican American or Native American students has yet succeeded at providing AP opportunities

that allow or equitable representation o these students (see Figure 1).

The Florida achievement

Trough a ar-reaching set o initiatives, Florida has dramatically expanded AP participation and perormance among

Hispanic students, such that the percentage o AP students who are Hispanic exceeds the percentage o non-AP students

who are Hispanic. Florida has used state unding to provide teacher proessional development, uses the PSA/NMSQ

predictive scores to identiy and encourage diamond in the rough students to try the challenge o an AP course, and

osters an atmosphere o inclusion by rewarding schools and teachers or each additional student they help achieve a score o

3 or higher on an AP Exam.

Some words of caution and concern

Despite the strides that have been made by educators to provide traditionally underrepresented students with AP courses,

poor AP Exam results indicate that ofen these teachers and students are not receiving adequate preparation or the rigors o

an AP course. As a result, traditionally underrepresented students currently demonstrate significantly lower perormance on

AP Exams. See Appendix B or mean AP Exam grades, by race/ethnicity, or each AP subject area.

Major initiatives are needed to ensure adequate preparation o students in middle school and ninth and tenth grades, so that

students will then have a air shot at success when provided with an AP opportunity.

Just as important: As the racial/ethnic demographics o Americas classrooms continue to shif, major initiatives must be

enacted to build schools capacities to offer AP courses to the steadily diversiying student population.


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Figure 1. The Class of 2006: Race/Ethnicity of AP Examinees vs.

Graduating Seniors in U.S. Public Schools

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

WhiteAmerican Indian

or Alaska Native

Hispanic

or Latino

Asian,

Asian American,

or Pacific Islander

Black or

African American

Percent

Overall Student Population10

AP Examinee Population9

6.9%

13.7%10.8%

5.5%

14.0% 14.0%

0.6%1.1%

61.8%65.0%


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Theme #3: New Research onAP and College Success

The state of Texas has the second-largest population of AP

students in the nation, and because its population containsa significant proportion of traditionally underserved

minority students, Texas is an excellent site for continued

research on the relationship between AP and college

success. Brand-new studies conducted by University of

Texas researchers confirm the use of AP Exam results

to identify students for college admission and to providestudents with college credit and advanced standing.

The Keng and Dodd Study

Key questions:

How do AP students are when they skip an entry-level college course because their AP grade allows them to place

directly into a higher-level college course?

How do college course-taking patterns o AP students compare to those o non-AP students?

Findings:

AP students earn higher GPAs in the advanced college courses into which their AP credit allowed them to place,

compared to students with the same high school class rank and SA scores who did not earn AP credit and who did

not skip the entry-level college course.

AP students who place directly into a higher-level college course take more college courses in that same subject area,

on average, than students who did not take an AP Exam in that subject area in high school.

Summary:A new study conducted by University o exas researchers Leslie Keng and Barbara Dodd (in press) finds that

students who placed out o introductory college courses as a result o successul AP Exam grades (i.e., the AP Credit group)

earned higher college GPAs (see Figure 2) and took more credit hours in the subject area o their exam (see Figure 3) than

non-AP students. Te study ollowed our cohorts o entering reshmen (19982001) at the University o exas at Austinand accounted or differences in the ability levels o the AP and non-AP students by matching high school rank and college

admission test scores. Figures 2 and 3 present a sample o the results or the most recent cohort (2001); however, findings

indicated that the results were generally consistent across the other cohorts and AP Exams included in the study.


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0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

10909801080860970850

AP Course and Exam

AP Course Only

Standard High School Course

First-YearGPA

SAT Score Category

Figure 4. First-Year College GPA

AP Credit

Matched Non-AP Group

AP

U.S. History

AP

English Literature

AP

Macroeconomics

AP

Calculus AB

AP

Biology

Aftertheentry-levelcourse,ad

ditional

collegecredithourscompletedbystudents

inaparticularsubjectar

ea

0

5

10

15

20

25

Figure 3. After the Entry-Level Course, Additional College Course Work

Completed in a Subject Area

Note: AP Course and Exam means differ significantly rom the Standard High School Course means, p


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Part II:AP Subject Areas: Participation, Performance,and Feedback for Educators



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An Overview of Part II of the

Advanced Placement Report to the Nationotal secondary school enrollments, and particularly enrollments disaggregated by race/ethnicity, are not consistently

available or nonpublic schools. Accordingly, Part I o this Report, designed or state and national policymakers and leaders,

ocused only on public schools in its state-by-state tables.

Part II o this Reportbroadens its ocus to examine AP participation globally, and not just the participation within U.S.

public schools. Accordingly, the data in Part II include the thousands o U.S. nonpublic schools that offer AP, as well as the

hundreds o schools outside the U.S. that provide AP courses or their students.

In Part II, we recognize the schools in each AP discipline that in 2006 achieved the tremendous success o helping a larger

proportion o their total school population succeed on a particular AP Exam than any other school in the nation. See below

or an index to the schools cited in this Report. (Schools outside the United States that lead in each subject area are listed in

Appendix E.)

In addition, this section o the Reportincludes eedback on student learning or AP teachers and administrators. Tis

eedback is an excerpt rom a much longer and more substantive exam results commentary available to the public on the AP

Central Web site. We encourage all AP teachers and administrators to avail themselves o the complete commentary and touse it to revise and ocus syllabi as necessary to address weaknesses or deficiencies in the curriculum.

Index of Schools Cited in Part II of theReport:

California:

Canyon Crest Academy, page 78

Diamond Bar High School, page 22

El Rancho High School, page 20

Te Harker School, page 66

Harvard-Westlake School, pages 30, 32, 34, 60Lowell High School, page 56

Mission San Jose High School, pages 40, 72

Monta Vista High School, page 20

Montgomery High School, page 70

Oxord Academy, pages 20, 30

Pacific Collegiate School, page 78

San Francisco University High School, pages 38, 40, 76

roy High School, page 28

Colorado:

Kent Denver School, page 70

District of Columbia:

Saint Anselms Abbey School, page 44

Florida:

Alex W. Dreyoos School o the Arts, page 74

Barbara Goleman High School, page 18

Christopher Columbus High School, pages 46, 56

Coral Ree Senior High School, pages 30, 32, 36, 78

Cypress Bay High School, pages 24, 38, 44, 54, 66

Design and Architecture Senior High School, page 74

Miami Coral Park Senior High School, pages 26, 62, 64

Miami Killian Senior High School, page 48

Miami Palmetto Senior High School, pages 34, 76

New World School o the Arts, page 58

Pine Crest School, page 48

Ransom Everglades School, page 60

School or Advanced Studies South, page 32

Stanton College Preparatory School, page 36

Stranahan High School, page 66

Georgia:

Southwest DeKalb High School, pages 22, 30, 76

Te Westminster School, page 36

Illinois:

Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, page 68

Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, pages 62, 64

Keith Country Day School, page 36

Northside College Preparatory High School, page 72

Saint Ignatius College Preparatory, page 44

University o Chicago Lab High School, page 60


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Indiana:

Park udor School, page 18

Kentucky:

Louisville Collegiate School, page 18

Louisiana:

Jesuit High School, page 52

Massachusetts:

Boston Latin School, page 50

Phillips Academy, pages 58, 62, 64

Roxbury Latin School, page 72

Maryland:

Eleanor Roosevelt High School, pages 26, 60

Georgetown Preparatory School, page 22

Te Key School, page 40

Landon School, page 56

Te German School, page 42

Michigan:

Adams High School, page 42

Renaissance High School, page 32

Minnesota:

Te Blake School, page 32

New Jersey:

Montgomery High School, page 18

Villa Walsh Academy, page 50

New York:

Brooklyn echnical High School, page 20

Convent o the Sacred Heart, pages 38, 74

Edgemont High School, page 28

Great Neck South High School, page 66

Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK High School, page 54

Rye High School, page 54

SAR High School, page 20

Somers High School, page 50

ownsend Harris High School, page 78

rinity School, page 52

North Carolina:

Early College at Guilord, pages 34, 66

Gaston Day School, page 46

North Carolina School o Science and Mathematics,pages, 24, 26

Raleigh Charter High School, page 34

Ohio:

Walnut Hills High School, pages 48, 54, 56

Oklahoma:

Oklahoma School o Science and Mathematics,pages 26, 62, 64

Pennsylvania:

Devon Preparatory School, page 60

South Carolina:Te South Carolina Governors School or the Arts andHumanities, page 58

Te South Carolina Governors School or Science andMathematics, page 30

Tennessee:

Hume-Fogg Academic High School, page 56

Texas:

Greenhill School, page 72

Keystone School, page 76

La Joya High School, page 68

Oratory Athenaeum University Preparatory, pages 68, 70

School or the alented and Gifed Magnet High School,pages 28, 48, 54

Science and Engineering Magnet High School,pages 22, 24, 28

Sunset High School, page 68

Virginia:

Broadwater Academy, page 52

Maggie L. Walker Governors School or Government andInternational Studies, pages 44, 46

Norolk Academy, page 42

Tomas Jefferson High School or Science and echnology,pages 24, 26, 38, 46, 76


20/100


18

AP Art History

Exemplary AP Art History Programs

Tese schools lead the nation in helping the widest segment

o their total school population achieve an exam grade o 3

or higher in AP Art History.

Small-size school (


21/100


White

57.4%

Other

4.9%

Not Stated6.2%

American Indian orAlaska Native

0.4%

AP Art History

Examinees by Race and Ethnicity, 2006

Asian, Asian American,

or Pacific Islander

15.2%

Black or

African American

3.5%

Hispanic or Latino

12.4%

AP Art History

Examinees by Gender, 2006

Female

67%

Male

33%

Number of Schools Offering This Course: 1,364

Te ollowing observations on student learning in this APcourse are excerpted rom the Chie Readers commentaryon student perormance, which is available in its entirety asa ree download rom the AP Central Web site.

Students must be able to take bodies o knowledge

and draw inerences rom thoughtul comparisonsnot just visual, but historical, cultural, and unctionalcomparisons.

Students need to understand the characteristics omajor art historical periods that they study as they arerepresented in the works o various artists and be able towork with them actively. It is not enough or students tomemorize the characteristics o an art historical period.Students also need to know that art history is not a serieso discrete, cleanly separable, static periods but a living,dynamic, fluid enterprise, and that pivotal, transitionalartists can be critical to art history.

It is important that students are aware o the major

architectural thinkers, practitioners, and theorists oart history, and it is crucial that they know somethingabout architecture in the modern age. Studentsneed to be able to understand what buildings looklike rom many angles and how they appear in planand elevation. It is recommended that textbooksbe supplemented by short architecture texts orphotocopies o articles and pictures o buildings.

Te lack o knowledge about the modern period ingeneral is disconcerting in both its range and depth.It appears that students are not learning very much

about the modern period (19th- and 20th-centuryart). Te modern period is an integral part o the APArt History course and will continue to appear on theAP Art History Exam.

Some teachers are clearly covering at least one culture

beyond their own in depth and with great skill. Teseteachers and their students are to be commendedvery highly. Students who had not studied anotherculture in depth had great difficulty in analyzing, sothat their essays on the exam in this subject includeddescription, rather than analysis, and a lack ospecificity in identification. Art beyond the Europeantradition is part o the curriculum or this course. I itis not included, both qualitatively and quantitatively,a students course work is incomplete.

On the AP Art History Exam, students should beencouraged to readthe question, to think, and to plana response beore writing, especially in the longer

essay questions. Tey need to be reminded again andagain to answer the question asked, rather than thequestion they wish they had been asked.

Te AP Art History course requires students to applyart historical skil ls and knowledge rather than merelyreproduce what they have learned. Tus, teachersshould consider students acquisition o knowledge toconstitute only hal o this course. Te skills acquiredin thinking critically, building arguments, and activelywriting about art are absolutely essential to success inart history at the college level.

Feedback for Educators


22/100


20

AP Biology

Exemplary AP Biology Programs



or higher in AP Biology.

Small-size school (


23/100


White

59.4%

Other

4.0%

Not Stated

4.6%

American Indian or

Alaska Native

0.4%

AP Biology



or Pacific Islander

18.5%

Black or

African American

5.4%

Hispanic or Latino

7.7%



AP Biology


Female

58%

Male

42%

Te ollowing observations on student learning in this APcourse are excerpted rom the Chie Readers commentary

on student perormance, which is available in its entirety asa ree download rom the AP Central Web site.

When questions ask or differences, studentsshould make explicit reerences to both items beingcontrasted. For example, i comparing the structureo eukaryotic and prokaryotic DNA, they should statethat prokaryotic DNA is circular, buteukaryotic DNAis linear. It is not sufficient to say that prokaryoticDNA is circular. When students use metaphors (e.g.mitochondria are the powerhouses o the cell), theyshould realize that no points will be earned withoutan explanation o what this metaphor means.

Emphasize to students the long time periods requiredor evolutionary change at the population level ocomplex organisms and that it extends ar beyond ahuman lie span.

Emphasis on overarching themes in ecology wouldprovide an explanatory context or students that wouldallow a deeper understanding o species interactions.

Require students to use concise definitions o termswithin the context o the question to convey theirunderstandings to the Reader. Saying that thedead cells o the xylem unction as small tubes, orinstance, is ar superior to simply mentioning xylem.

eachers should emphasize the distinction betweenCAM and C4, perhaps teaching CAM first, ollowed

by C4. In the transpiration lab, students should be given

the opportunity to relate the results to how plantsunction within natural environments.

Be cautious with students about making analogiesbetween plants and animals (e.g., stomata are likethe loops o Henle, transpiration is like sweat, orxylem tubes are like arteries), because students tendto accept these too literally.

Direct students not to repeat the question whenresponding. Urge them to use the reading periodto read careully or content and to identiy keypoints o the question, and not to include extraneousinormation. Salient points should be describedseparately, rather than lumped together.

Emphasize to students the interaction o structureand unction.


24/100


22

AP Calculus AB

Exemplary AP Calculus AB Programs



or higher in AP Calculus AB.

Small-size school (


25/100




AP Calculus AB


Female48%

Male

52%

White

64.0%

Other

3.1%

Not Stated

4.2%

American Indian or

Alaska Native

0.4%

AP Calculus AB



or Pacific Islander

16.1%

Black or

African American

4.3%

Hispanic or Latino

7.8%


Continue to encourage students to practice findingthe volume o solids ormed by rotating a regionabout a line other than a coordinate axis.

Remind students to show their work and to usecorrect mathematical language. Specifically, studentsmust remember to present all inormation as theyset up integrals in the calculator-active problems.For example, neglecting to include the limits ointegration can be quite costly.

eachers need to present students with morenontraditional problems that involve criticalthinking.

Students need to learn to justiy their results based onthe inormation given in the problem.

Students need to improve their ability to interpretgraphical data.

Emphasize the connection between finding thesolution to a differential equation with a givencondition and the domain o the solution.


26/100


24

AP Calculus BC

Exemplary AP

Calculus BC Programs



or higher in AP Calculus BC.

Small-size school (


27/100




AP Calculus BC


Female

40%Male

60%

White

58.6%

Other

3.2%

Not Stated

4.5%

American Indian or

Alaska Native

0.3%

AP Calculus BC



or Pacific Islander

26.8%

Black or

African American

2.1%

Hispanic or Latino

4.6%

Te ollowing observations on student learning in this AP

course are excerpted rom the Chie Readers commentaryon student perormance, which is available in its entirety asa ree download rom the AP Central Web site.

eachers should emphasize the connections betweentopics learned in the course. Tis will help studentsunderstand the relationships among accumulationunctions, the Fundamental Teorem o Calculus,improper integrals, limits, and horizontal asymptotes.Te synthesis o all o these ideas may be necessaryin order or a student to successully complete a givenproblem.

Students need to develop both specific methodsand the conceptual understanding o topics in the

AP course. I students are encouraged simply tomemorize a ormula or a aylor polynomial or achart set up or Eulers method without having theconceptual understanding o these approximationmethods, the students are not well prepared toexplain their work on the AP Exam.

Mathematical communication is very important.

Students must communicate their understanding othe problem and their solution in a clear and correctmanner.

Students must understand that infinite series involvean infinite expression and should never truncate aninfinite series. Students should be amiliar with theellipsis notation (i.e., ) when solving problems thatinvolve infinite series.


28/100


26

AP Chemistry

Exemplary AP Chemistry Programs



or higher in AP Chemistry.

Small-size school (


29/100




AP Chemistry


Female

47% Male

53%

White

58.9%

Other

3.8%

Not Stated

4.3%

American Indian or

Alaska Native

0.4%

AP Chemistry



or Pacific Islander

21.8%

Black or

African American

4.3%

Hispanic or Latino

6.5%


course are derived rom the Chie Readers commentary onstudent perormance, which is available in its entirety as aree download rom the AP Central Web site.

Require students to show all their work in all partso a problem in a neat and organized ashion. It ishelpul i the work ollows a logical progression sothat it is clear to the Reader where a number comesrom. Many students earn zeros due to lack owork. Correct answers miraculously appearing on apaper with incorrect work received no credit. On acalculation problem, showing work does NO meanwriting a paragraph explaining the steps done in thecalculation.

Remind students not to round internally in ananswer. Significant errors can be introduced byrounding at inappropriate times in the calculation.Tese errors are compounded in subsequentcalculations requiring use o that answer.

Caution students to be careul and double-checkor reasonable answers. For example, i a studentsubtracts and gets a negative mass or calculates amolar mass less than the empirical mass, the studentshould recheck the work.

Have students practice with a variety o problems

rom various types o data. For example, when givenlab data to 0.001 g, students should use atomic molarmasses with significant figures to match or exceedthose in the given data. In solving this problem,students need to use one- or two-decimal digits givenon the periodic table provided or the exam to findthe number o molesnot molar masses o 12, 16, etc.It would be helpul i students were amiliar with thistable and used it all year.

Remind students to careully check their work.Many simple mathematical errors were made,including transposing digits or just dropping digits.For instance, a student would use 2.24 grams o

CO2when 2.241 grams was given. Several studentsincorrectly rearranged the equation PV= nRtwhentrying to find the molar mass.

Make sure students clearly understand the differencebetween an empirical mass and molar mass.

Practice time management skills and give timedpractice tests so students are amiliar with the pace atwhich they must work to complete this section. It was

very apparent that many students ran out o time withtheir calculators and could not finish the problem.


30/100


28

AP Computer Science A and AB11

Exemplary AP Computer Science

A and AB Programs



or higher in AP Computer Science A and AB.

Small-size school (


31/100



AP Computer Science A and AB


Female

16%

Male

84%

White

57.8%

Other

4.0%

Not Stated5.0%

American Indian orAlaska Native

0.4%

AP Computer Science A and AB



or Pacific Islander

22.4%

Black or

African American

3.8%

Hispanic or Latino

6.6%


Computer Science A:

Te ollowing observations on student learning in this APcourse are excerpted rom the Chie Readers commentaryon student perormance, which is available in its entiretyas a ree download rom the AP Central Web site.

Students must be comortable with interacting

classes, including examples where a simple class isprovided and another class stores and manipulatesobjects o that class.

Students need to be careul in distinguishing betweenArrayLists and arrays, and they need to recognizethat removing an element rom an ArrayList shifssubsequent elements down and thus may requirespecial care during a traversal.

eachers who are not covering the case study or whoare relegating it to the very end o the year need torecognize its importance.

In general, students need to be more comortablewith inheritance and polymorphism. Tey need tosee examples o inheritance hierarchies and be able torecognize when fields and methods can be inheritedand when they need to be overridden.

Students should be comortable reading detailedalgorithm descriptions and making the low-leveldesign necessary to implement algorithms.

Computer Science AB:

he ollowing observations on student learning inthis AP course are excerpted rom the Chie Readerscommentary on student perormance, which is available

in its entirety as a ree download rom the AP CentralWeb site.

Continue to emphasize the Java Collection classes.Students need to know how to construct collectionsand use methods to access and update the collections.

Te difference between interaces (e.g., Set and List)

and classes (e.g., HashSet and LinkedList) needs to bebetter understood by students.

eachers who are not covering the case study or whoare relegating it to the very end o the year need torecognize its importance.

Students should be aware that design may becombined with more complicated algorithms andperormance analysis.

Te role o polymorphism in design, particularly increating general-purpose collections rom a classhierarchy, should be understood and appreciated bystudents.

Students need to realize that instances o a class can

access private fields and methods o other instanceso the class. Tis is not a bug or a unique eature oJavamany methods (e.g., Compareo, equals) wouldbe impossible to write without this eature.

Recursion continues to be a difficult topic or manystudents, especially when used in a nonstandardway. Recursion needs to be seen as more than just away o traversing a tree or implementing quick sort.In general, students should be prepared or examquestions where a complex algorithm is described andthey are asked to implement it.


32/100


30

AP English Language and Composition

Exemplary AP English Language

and Composition Programs

Tese schools lead the nation in helping the widest segmento their total school population achieve an exam grade o 3or higher in AP English Language and Composition.

Small-size school (


33/100






Female

63%

Male

37%

White

61.7%

Other

3.7%

Not Stated

4.7%

American Indian or

Alaska Native

0.6%




or Pacific Islander

10.7%

Black or

African American

6.9%

Hispanic or

Latino

11.8%


each students to read complex analytic andargumentative prose, such as that published incontemporary magazines and journals.

Help students achieve a deeper understanding o howthe organization, structure, diction, and syntax ocontemporary American nonfiction prose maniests atexts meaning and purpose.

Students need to comprehend archaic (pre-20th-century)prose by identiying the meanings o terms in context,

as such prose is requently encountered in collegecourses.

each students about rhetorical theory and analysis,so that they understand concepts such as audience,purpose, occasion, tone, establishment o generalcontention, appeals to the authors characterand credibility, appeals to audiences emotions,organization and structure, diction, syntax, imagery,and figurative language.

each students to analyze the unity o argumentativetexts: the way orm ollows unction and the ways thatorganization, structure, orm, and style relate to andsupport the establishment o meaning, purpose, andeffect.

Encourage students to read and write authoritativelyabout a range o current topics that engage theattention o well-educated people.

Help write essays that thoughtully interact with theaudience, acknowledge that readers might not sharethe writers values and belies, accommodate differingbelies with appropriate explanation and evidence, andmake the arguments logic transparent.

Students must be able to find appropriate evidenceor public discussions o current events and issues,recognizing that the literary works one reads or acourse might not always provide the best evidence tosupport claims about such issues.


34/100


32

AP English Literature and Composition

Exemplary AP English Literature

and Composition Programs

Tese schools lead the nation in helping the widest segmento their total school population achieve an exam grade o 3

or higher in AP English Literature and Composition.

Small-size school (


35/100






Female

64%

Male

36%

White

64.6%

Other

3.5%

Not Stated

4.8%

American Indian

or Alaska Native

0.5%




or Pacific Islander

10.2%

Black or

African American

6.8%

Hispanic

or Latino

9.6%


Provide requent opportunities or students to engagein close reading and explication o text.

Provide requent opportunities or reading,discussing, and analyzing poetry so that studentscan better understand poetic mechanics and connectlanguage to meaning.

Have students write requently, and help them scorethe essays anonymously using the AP Exam scoring

guidelines. each students to both recognize literary techniques

and explain how those techniques contribute tomeaning.

Use texts rom a variety o literary periods anddemonstrate that, although conventions may differ,certain literary techniques and genres are commonlyemployed.

each students to integrate and embed textualevidence into sentences and paragraphs and to avoidsimplistic and bald assertions.

Emphasize that mature thinking and writingrecognize and explore the ambiguities and ironies ohuman existence.

Utilize drama as a means o encouraging students tobecome active learners and readers; use drama as atool or teaching what if?

Students must recognize the difference betweenparaphrase or summary and analysis, and how toturn observations into an argument.

each students to read exam prompts careully,without preconceptions.

Encourage students to use specific examples rom

texts, embedding that evidence in their writing. Provide students with opportunities to practice

writing assignments that connect artistic strategiesto societal problems, complex meanings, and valuesimplied by orm and language.

I film versions o texts are used in classroominstruction, help students identiy ways in which thefilm adapts, misuses, or distorts the primary text.

each students that generalizations without detailedsupport, and paraphrasing without analysis, areserious flaws in an essay.


36/100


34

AP Environmental Science

Exemplary AP

Environmental Science Programs



or higher in AP Environmental Science.

Small-size school (


37/100




course are excerpted rom the Chie Readers commentaryon student perormance, which is available in its entirety asa ree download rom the AP Central Web site.

Be sure that students engage in critical readingactivities on a regular basis, utilizing case studiesand news articles. Students should look at issuesrom a variety o perspectives and be able to supportdifferent positions. Simply extracting the relevantinormation given in a document and applying it tothe appropriate section o a question can earn points.

Make sure that students are amiliar with the issuessurrounding the use o solar energy, including at leasta rudimentary understanding o the different types

o solar energy systems, their respective benefits andcosts, and their use and design.

Work with students on graph interpretation andcritical thinking related to graphs, including careulconsideration o axes and units. Tey also needpractice in dimensional analysis, scientific notation,simple mathematical operations without using acalculator, and the application o quantitative analysisto environmental problems. Remind them to showtheir work.

Emphasize current climate change predictions so that

students are better able to determine whether theircalculation results are the correct order o magnitude.

Encourage students to complete their thoughts andto be as actual and specific as possible. Tey shouldreread their answers and make sure that they are notrestating the questions.

Make it clear that i a question asks or two examples,students only list two; additional examples will notreceive credit.

Review the difference between environmental andeconomic benefits or effects.

Include discussions o regulations and laws withinthe context o particular environmental issues or

problems. Students should study environmentalconcerns, not just cause-and-effect issuestheyshould learn methods o problem solving, with anaim toward finding specific solutions and appropriateways to manage conflicts.




Female

56%

Male

44%

White

63.1%

Other

3.6%

Not Stated

4.9%

American Indian

or Alaska Native

0.5%




or Pacific Islander

12.0%

Black or

African American

5.8%

Hispanic

or Latino

10.1%


38/100


36

AP European History

Exemplary AP

European History Programs



or higher in AP European History.

Small-size school (


39/100




Chronologythat is, knowing where to place an ideaor a movement or an important historical figureis achallenge or students. As much as possible, teachersshould show students how to organize their learningabout European history into time periods and helpthem to get a sense o the order in which culturalchanges happened.

Students will benefit rom constant emphasis on bothcritical thinking and essay writing. In essay writing,students need to be taught how to address the questiondirectly, how to develop a clear and strong thesis,and how to avoid generalized discussion. Also oparticular importance in writing is learning how toanalyze, rather than merely describe. Students need tounderstand that analysis means more than listing acts.

On the AP Exam, students would benefit rom beingreminded to answer the question asked and to answer

the wholequestion, not just a portion o it. Studentsshould understand how important it is to spend sometime planning their essays. By doing some prewritingor outlining, they will be better able to begin theirresponses with a specific thesis statement.

Students need ongoing instruction in constructingeffective point-o-view analysis; or example, they mustbe able to explain whya particular source expressesa particular point o view or bias, or howa sourcemight have been intended or use. Using terms suchas biasor reliablewithout sufficient explanation does

not demonstrate analytical skill; similarly, simpleattribution by itsel provides no analysis. Grouping related primary source documents together

is another issue that is sometimes problematic orstudents. On the AP Exam DBQ (document-basedquestion) question, they must develop at least threeexplicit groupings (containing at least two documentseach) that demonstrate analysis and advance anargument in the essay; arbitrary grouping ofenundermines the essay.


AP European History


Female

54%

Male

46%

White

67.9%

Other

4.0%

Not Stated

4.2%

American Indian

or Alaska Native

0.4%

AP European History



or Pacific Islander

12.4%

Black or

African American

3.5%

Hispanic

or Latino7.5%


40/100


38

AP French Language

Exemplary AP

French Language Programs



or higher in AP French Language.

Small-size school (


41/100




In order to maximize students success on theunction words section, teachers should always stressthe importance o accents as part o spelling, andmake sure that students read a lot o texts in standardFrench. In written passages and listening exercises,comment regularly on verbs and unction words.

eachers should stress that the essay does not merelyrequire an answer; it requires a responsethat is, areaction to the question that enables the student todemonstrate his or her capacity to write in depth andat length on a given topic.

Attention to common spelling errors, clearlyorganizing the essay, making use o effectiveexamples, and using appropriate connecting wordsare al l areas that students should practice thoroughlyin order to improve essay writing.

Students speaking skil ls can be improved by avoidingmere lists o vocabulary as responses. Tey shouldpractice answers to more abstract questions and useappropriate transition words. Students should havea strong command o synonyms and antonyms,

conditional clauses, and comparative and superlativestructures.


AP French Language


Female

71%

Male

29%

White

62.8%

Other

5.6%

Not Stated

5.6%

American Indian or

Alaska Native

0.2%

AP French Language



or Pacific Islander

11.6%

Black or

African American

5.7%

Hispanic

or Latino

8.4%


42/100


40

AP French Literature

Exemplary AP

French Literature Programs



or higher in AP French Literature.

Small-size school (


43/100


Number of Schools Offering This Course: 478


Ensure that all texts have been studied in ull. Illustrate the difference between assertion and

analysis/explanation/demonstration. rain students on the effective use o literary and

analytical terms. Help students craf a cohesive essay and choose

pertinent supporting examples. Students should avoidrehashing the question itsel.

Students must avoid vagueness by learning to expresscause and effect that will bring out the meaning otheir observations.

Provide ample essay-writing practice, both timed anduntimed.

Use the Internet to study essays o rancophonestudents and their use o terms, expressions, andwriting strategies in their literature essays.




Female

72%

Male

28%

White

63.4%

Other

6.9%

Not Stated

6.3%

American Indian

or Alaska Native

0.3%




or Pacific Islander

10.5%

Black or

African American

6.9%

Hispanic

or Latino

5.7%


44/100


42

AP German Language

Exemplary AP

German Language Programs



or higher in AP German Language.

Small-size school (


45/100




For the fill-in section, rather than devise clozepassages that ocus on particular points o grammarand vocabulary, teachers should select a text andsimply remove every eighth or ninth word, regardlesso its orm. Have students fill in the missing words.

Te most productive classroom strategy in

preparation or the composition is to conductrequent, timed, in-class writing sessions, evaluatedaccording to the AP Reading standards. Especiallygood practice is derived rom prompts that ask orarguments and counterarguments as well as thosethat require a coherent narrative.

eachers can expect the highest perormance romtheir students on the speaking section o the exam ithey have helped them to achieve mechanical masteryo the actual equipment that will be used during theexam.

Frequency o speaking practice and amiliarity withthe scoring guidelines is very beneficial. Additionally,teachers are advised to give specific attention tolexical items and grammatical markers that lendcohesion to narratives.


AP German Language


Female

49%

Male

51%

White

77.7%

Other

4.4%

Not Stated

5.6%

American Indian

or Alaska Native

0.4%

AP German Language



or Pacific Islander

6.3%

Black or

African American

2.0%

Hispanic or

Latino

3.7%


46/100


44

AP Government and Politics: Comparative

Exemplary AP Government and

Politics: Comparative Programs



or higher in AP Government and Politics: Comparative.

Small-size school (


47/100



AP Government and Politics:

Comparative


Female

47%

Male

53%

White

64.2%

Other

4.3%

Not Stated5.6%

American Indianor Alaska Native

0.5%


Comparative



or Pacific Islander

12.3%

Black or

African American

5.0%

Hispanic

or Latino

8.1%

Te ollowing observations on student learning in these APcourses are excerpted rom the Chie Readers commentaryon student perormance, which is available in its entirety asa ree download rom the AP Central Web site.

eachers should review their syllabi and teachingmethods to make sure that students are providedwith opportunities to learn important theoreticaland methodological concepts in the study ocomparative politics and are able to apply them inspecific contexts. Using the topics provided in theAP Government and Politics Course Description willhelp teachers introduce the core concepts that arelikely to be assessed.

Most students could not identiy two definingcharacteristics o a corporatist system. A commonerror was incorrectly defining corporatist systemsas systems o governance in which business interests

alone played the dominant role. Although students demonstrated extensive

knowledge o the Russian government, in generalthey did not have a undamental grasp o the essentialeatures o presidential and parliamentary systems.Many students mistook single-member districts andproportional representation as necessary eatureso a parliamentary system. Another common errorwas offering the bicameral structure o the Russianlegislative assembly as a characteristic eature oRussias mixed presidential/parliamentary system.

eachers should go beyond defining terms likeprivatization and supranational organizations. Helpstudents to careully consider the intertwining oeconomic and political actors, particularly as they

are affected by globalization. Use Britain and Chinaas examples o countries that have operated oryears within a world divided into nation-states andthat have ofen made economic decisions relativelyindependently rom other nations. A study o theEuropean Union should be an important part o acomparative government course, particularly Britainsrelationship to it.

Likewise, teachers need to ensure that studentskeep up with the rapidly changing current trends oprivatization o industry in China.

Conceptual analysis is an important higher-levelcritical-thinking and analytical skill that students

should begin to acquire in introductory university-level political science courses. eachers should stressthe application o concepts in their syllabi and intheir teaching. eachers should give some attentionto basic concepts in comparative government andhave students work to relate and apply those conceptsto concrete political structures, political events, and

varieties o political contexts.



48/100


46

AP Government and Politics: United States

Exemplary AP Government and

Politics: United States Programs



or higher in AP Government and Politics: United States.

Small-size school (


49/100





United StatesExaminees by Gender, 2006

Female

53%

Male

47%

White

62.4

Other

3.6%

Not Stated

5.1%

American Indian

or Alaska Native

0.5%


United StatesExaminees by Race and Ethnicity, 2006


or Pacific Islander

12.2%

Black or

African American

5.6%

Hispanic or Latino

10.7%

Te ollowing observations on student learning in these APcourses are excerpted rom the Chie Readers commentary


eachers should instruct their students to be sure torespond to the specific questions that are asked. Forexample, when asked to identiy the undamentalgoal o political parties and interest groups, studentsshould rerain rom listing multiple goals, whichimplies that they are unsure o the undamental goal.

eachers should continue to stress the importanceo assimilating and being able to apply critical socialscience concepts like demographic trends. Anotherway that teachers can help students improve theirperormance is by encouraging precision in thedefinition o key terms and concepts.

Being able to connect and relate inormation andknowledge about discrete subjects is a centralanalytical and critical thinking skill or studentso government and politics. eachers should makelearning such linkages integral to their lecturesand course assignments. Tey should also conveyto students the importance o integrating theirknowledge o different relevant topics in United Statesgovernment and politics when responding to ree-response questions.

A common error was students inability to provide arationale or justification or bicameralism other than

the Connecticut Compromise. Many were unable toidentiy more than one specific and unique poweror each o the chambers. Another weakness in theresponses was the tendency or students to discussgeneral congressional powers rather than specificpowers connected to a particular chamber. Quite aew students had difficulty explaining why the powersthey identified were expressly given to the House orthe Senate.

Te theoretical bases o political institutions are asignificant aspect o United States government andpolitics. eachers should address this topic whencovering the United States Constitution and revisitthe theoretical oundations o political institutionswhen each specific institution is covered in class.


50/100


48

AP Human Geography

Exemplary AP

Human Geography Programs



or higher in AP Human Geography.

Small-size school (


51/100




AP Human Geography


Female

55%

Male

45%

White

61.1%

Other

3.8%

Not Stated

4.0%

American Indian

or Alaska Native

0.5%

AP Human Geography



or Pacific Islander

10.4%

Black or

African American

7.2%

Hispanic

or Latino

13.0%

Te ollowing observations on student learning in these APcourses are excerpted rom the Chie Readers commentaryon student perormance, which is available in its entirety asa ree download rom the AP Central Web site.

Focus on the AP Human Geography CourseDescription, and consult a wide variety o relatedmaterials when preparing or class to ensurecomprehensive coverage. Integrate current events intocourse material and class discussions o geographicconcepts.

Although AP Human Geography is not a map-reading or world geography course, students need tohave a basic level o geographic literacy.

Stress interconnections across different sections othe topic outline. Encourage students to integrateconcepts rom different areas o the course.

each students to become amiliar with applyingconcepts and with analyzing spatial processes andlinkages across multiple geographic contexts and on a

variety o scales.

Ensure that students are amiliar with relevantvocabulary. Encourage them to define terms in theirown words to help them understand key geographicconcepts and to apply these concepts to a variety oreal-world contexts.

each students to be explicit and precise in theirresponses to exam questions, and to not restate thequestion or write introductions and conclusions.

Encourage students to take five minutes per questionto careully read the question, taking the t ime to

interpret correctly any stimulus material, and tooutline their responses in a manner consistent withthe structure o the question. Make sure studentsunderstand what is expected when words like explain,define, identify, and discussare used in a question.


52/100


53/100



AP Italian Language and Culture


Female

64%

Male

36%

White

70.3%

Other

3.9%

Not Stated5.1%

American Indian

or Alaska Native0.1%

AP Italian Language and Culture



or Pacific Islander

4.3%

Black or

African American

1.4%

Hispanic

or Latino

15.0%

Te ollowing observations on student learning in these APcourses are excerpted rom the Chie Readers commentary


Students need periodic in-class practice in writing acomposition that reflects the actual exam conditions(30 minutes, on a specific topic, ollowing AP Examinstructions). Tey also need to develop a senseo how much time it will take to write a 150-wordcomposition.

It is important to remind students that the culturecomposition will be scored twiceonce or contentand a second time or languageby two differentReaders.

It is important to amiliarize students with the

scoring guidelines (available on AP Central) so thatthey know how their responses will be evaluated; itwould be useul to post the guidelines prominently inthe classroom so that students may consult them.

Students should develop the habit o giving theircompositions a final prooreading or commonerrors in subjectverb agreement, nounadjectiveagreement, use o the subjunctive, placement oaccents, spelling, use o transitional elements,appropriate use o paragraphs, and so orth, as well asto ensure that the composition has stayed on topic.

Students should learn to cite cultural reerences intheir practice compositions on cultural subjects. Tis

would include film, literary sources, newspapers,and the like. Being able to do this presupposes thatthey spend timelikely both in and out o classidentiying, discussing, and interpreting what theinormation in such cultural products implicitly andexplicitly reveals about the culture o Italy.

In the picture sequence, students tend to describe thepictures instead o narrating a story with a beginning,middle, and end. Beore beginning to speak, eachstudent has two minutes to make notes and preparethe narration. Tis is a very important preparatorystep or providing a complete oral narrative, and itshould be incorporated in all practice sessions.

Students need to hear a wide variety o male andemale voices to be prepared or the conversation parto the exam. Appropriate clips rom various media(film, songs, opera, television, radio) would be useulin and out o the classroom. Such materials may belocated on the Internet, at movie rental stores, ontelevision, or at public or university libraries.



54/100


52

AP Latin12

Exemplary AP Latin Programs



or higher in AP Latin.

Small-size school (


55/100




AP Latin


Female

49%

Male

51%

White

73.7%

Other

3.7%

Not Stated5.5%

American Indian

or Alaska Native0.4%

AP Latin



or Pacific Islander

10.9%

Black or

African American

3.0%

Hispanic

or Latino

2.8%

Te ollowing observations on student learning in these AP

courses are excerpted rom the Chie Readers commentaryon student perormance, which is available in its entirety asa ree download rom the AP Central Web site.

Vergil: Emphasize to students that, when translating literally,

they should be precise in noun and adjective agreement,verb tenses, and rendering participle phrases.

Provide students with opportunities to divide readingpassages into translation segments and score theirown translations using AP scoring guidelines.

Encourage students to read Latin in sense unitsrather than translating word by word.

Help students develop strategies or recognizing two-part questions.

Review in context grammatical eatures such assubjunctive, vocative, and interrogative adjectives,and stress their significance.

each students to use poetic devices as support orunderstanding textual content.

Latin Literature:

Emphasize recognition and translation osubjunctives in context.

each students to attend to conjunctions, with respectto both meaning and to what they connect.

Spend time reviewing biographical inormation aboutfigures who appear in the poetry.

Provide many opportunities or students to conductpoetic analyses, particularly with practice essays.

Provide requent opportunities or students topractice analyzing and translating long clauses.

Provide requent opportunities or students topractice parsing and translating complex sentences.

eachers o Cicero should emphasize the rhetorical/

literary devices ound in prose, just as they do orthose devices ound in poetry.

Emphasize vocabulary instruction in order toimprove students abilities to recognize key words.

Careully explain all semantic connections insentences.


56/100


57/100




AP Macroeconomics


Female

45%

Male

55%

White

55.4%

Other

3.5%

Not Stated

6.0%

American Indian

or Alaska Native

0.4%

AP Macroeconomics



2007 AP Report Nation

Documents

Transcript of 2007 AP Report Nation