Retroactive loss of high school credit for "problem" AP course

[TimeCruncher]

I am posting in Parents Forum rather than in High School Life (even though this is a high school-related matter) because I need responses from parents of high school students and high school graduates, as well as from parents (or other adult CC members) who are high school teachers, guidance counselors, administrators, or school board members. I am particularly interested in responses from AP teachers and others who are familiar with the CollegeBoard's AP Program policies. I welcome responses from high school students/graduates, college students/graduates, and college admissions personnel, as well.

I must conceal the identity of my state to avoid possible identification on this forum. CC members who need to know my state in order to address my concerns may PM me.

My daughter attends public high school in a state which requires all public high school students to satisfactorily complete three years of History/Social Science, including one half-year of American Government and Civics, and one half-year of Economics. Students enrolled in my daughter's school district must fulfill this state-mandated graduation requirement during their sophomore, junior, and senior years, because History/Social Science courses are unavailable to freshmen. The district offers Government and Economics courses to seniors only. At my daughter's high school, all Government and Economics courses (except AP U.S. Government) are non-Honors and carry non-weighted grades.

In January 2008, my daughter and about ninety of her fellow high-ranking seniors completed AP U.S. Government, a fall semester course for which they have received their weighted final grade. (Retention of that weighted grade is conditional upon sitting for the AP Exam next month.) These students are now enrolled in a spring semester Economics course taught by their fall semester AP U.S. Government teacher. About ten days ago, the teacher told students that a "problem" recently arose which could result in students retroactively "losing" their AP U.S. Government "credit." The teacher defined neither "losing" nor "credit" (which could mean AP course designation and/or weighted grade and/or high school course credit), and refused to specify the nature of the "problem," other than that it involved himself/herself, the school principal, and the CollegeBoard. The teacher assured students, "You didn't do anything wrong; it's something I did."

According to my daughter, her teacher has not mentioned the AP U.S. Government "problem" again, and potentially affected seniors have not been discussing the matter among themselves. However, my daughter and I are concerned about the possible ramifications of this unspecified "problem." Affected seniors might "lose" an AP-designated course they have already reported on their college applications. They might also "lose" a fall semester weighted grade (used in calculating mid-year GPA and district-final senior class ranking, also already reported to colleges). Worst-case scenario: these seniors might "lose" state-mandated high school course credit, which would prevent them from graduating in June (and require them to take another Government high school course, most likely in summer school), and which might also result in the revocation of their college admissions and/or their merit scholarships.

My daughter has registered for and intends to take the AP U.S. Government Exam, regardless of the nature of the "problem" and regardless of the manner in which it is resolved.

My daughter loathes school-related "turmoil," so she didn't tell me about this matter until two nights ago. Now that I know about it, I need to know more. My daughter and I will start gathering information about this matter from her school. This will be difficult, because the AP Program is a source of controversy among the school's teachers and administrators, some of whom want to maintain and expand AP course offerings, and others who want to weaken and eventually banish the AP Program from the school. It is difficult for students and parents to distinguish between the school's AP Program allies and enemies. (For example, it is possible that the AP U.S. Government teacher intentionally "did something" to create the "problem.") The Harper Valley PTA (of which I am not a member) operates the school's gossip mill--known to be the best source of inside information. I must use outside information.

Please tell me if you or your high school students have ever faced retroactive loss (or threatened retroactive loss) of a course's AP designation and/or a weighted grade and/or high school course credit. I am interested in knowing how that situation arose, how you responded to it, and how it was resolved.

I welcome all information and suggestions for how my daughter and I can respond to this situation.

[Muffy333]

In my kids' hs; a teacher saying "oh, by the way you might lose some required grades and credit and not graduate on time," would have each and every parent at the principal's door within five minutes demanding answers. Could you call some other parents and see if they have more specific info?

[thumper1]

Call the school principal and ask.

[anothermom2]

You should contact the teacher and the principal for actual specifics. As to the AP test, I believe that students can take the tests regardless of whether they took the course (this is according to the AP rules, not those of a particular school.) The public school might not want to pay for the test if you were not "enrolled" in the course.

[patsmom]

I recently saw a list of certain AP courses at certain high schools that were not "accredited" by the CollegeBoard because they didn't meet certain standards. I remember checking my own kids' school and finding that, while the majority of the AP courses were okay, there were 2 or 3 that would not give the student AP credit for whatever reason.

The link was someplace on the collegeboard.com site but I can't find it now for the life of me. Hopefully another parent will have saved it and can point you to it. I wonder if this is the issue with your daughter's school?

[lefthandofdog]

Off the top of my head - College Board completed an audit last year, requiring all HS to submit syllabus and curriculum info on courses carrying the AP designation. I think the intent was to ensure uniformity across schools and to stop schools using the "AP" designation without College Board sanction. My best guess is that this could be the problem. It might affect how your high school then weights grades and class rank (if they rank). It should not affect any student registered to take the AP exam, since anyone can take any exam - they do not have to have taken an AP course.

I can see how it is helpful to get a crash course on AP from cc parents, but now you need to ask the question of your h.s. principal.

[momtn]

"The Harper Valley PTA (of which I am not a member) operates the school's gossip mill--known to be the best source of inside information. I must use outside information."


At every school my kids have been at EVERY parent is an automatic member of the PTA. But even so, if you want accurate info instead of gossip you need to call the teacher and principal.

[arjgn]

I think I found the link:

https://apcourseaudit.epiconline.org/ledger/

I was curious as well because the French class my D is taking is supposed to be an AP course - but they don't designate it as such even though the teacher tells them it is. Not knowing this, she may have specified on her apps that it was, but I would imagine that the GC would have corrected it?

I typed in the school code and discovered that it isn't on the list, so I guess it isn't. She is still taking the AP exam next month though.

[huguenot]

I strongly suspect the teacher has not been able to get her syllabus to pass the Course Audit. The good news is, that unless she has already submitted three times and had it rejected, she has until April 23rd to get it submitted correctly. College Board sent emails to teachers on 4/8 to this effect.

If she has already submitted 3 times and failed the audit, then no, the course can not be called AP on the transcript. However, the students may still take the exam and receive college credit if it is passed. It is up to the school district how much weighting they will give the class grades in that situation.

[bluebayou]

As others have posted, any student can take an AP test, so completion of a course is not necessary (homeschoolers often self-study). The gpa weighting and class ranking is not a CollegeBoard issue, but a local school board issue, who sets policy and certifies course curriculum (at least for public schools in Calif).

As others have suggested, the first contact should be the teacher, by e-mail and phone. The second contact, at least in our school, would be the AP Coordinator, who is also head counselor. Third, would be Principal (who refuses any meetings until the first two steps are taken). Fourth, would be local School Board member.

If your child attends a private school, a beeline to the Headmaster is in order.

[sherpa]

I like the Harper Valley PTA reference.

Am I officially old now?

[JHS]

Someone should chime in and say the following:

This has all the signs of a molehill, not a mountain.

It looks like the course could lose its "AP" designation.

Perhaps the school will decide to de-weight the fall grade because of that. I would argue against it if I were an administrator there, but there are two sides to the question. My guess, though, would be that if de-weighting happens it will amount to a big, fat nothing, since in all likelihood all of the students competing for high class rank took the same class, so de-weighting the grade will not affect their standing relative to one another.

However, there is NO reasonable possibility that any of the following will happen: loss of credit for a course required for graduation, failure to graduate from high school, recission of college admission, recission of merit scholarships.

[MidwestMom2Kids_]

The high school could call it an Advanced Curriculum course (or something like that) and weight it just like an AP class or otherwise however they wanted to weight it. The college board can prevent them from labelling it AP on official transcripts but the college board doesn't care how HS's weight grades for their classes; that is totally up to the HS administration.

I dont think it is fair to retroactively "unweight" the grades the kids earned.

[SoCalGal09]

In our district, schools may only weight classes w/ curriculum approved by UC/CSU systems. It's possible the class wasn't approved. If that's the case I can't imagine a punitive reaction from colleges if all is explained up front. You do need to find out what's going on. And she should definitely take the AP test, following through on what she signed up for in good faith.

[marite]

You do not say whether your daughter is a junior or senior. I will assume she is a junior.

As far as her transcript is concerned, the course may lose its AP designation but your D would still be described as taking the most challenging curriculum. Am I right? You may want to discuss the weighting issue. IMO, it should not be altered if it is significantly different from an Honors class.

She should take the exam this May; the AP score will be far more important than the AP designation, even when colleges do not require it.