AP v. College Prep

mathmom
Fri, 15 Nov 2013 14:52:04 +0000

I think students that dont pass assume it is the instructors fault when in reality you should expect to put in some serious study time if you want a good AP grade.

I disagree. Yes, students probably need to put in study time, but my kids really did not study any extra over what was required by the class with tests and papers. Most teachers at our school have over 75% pass rates and some even better than that. A good instructor will make sure the students are ready for the test. And I’m speaking as a New Yorker where APs are scheduled almost two months before the end of the school year, so we have much less time than students from parts of the country that start school in August and don’t take a midwinter break. The only really poor teacher either of my sons had was the AP World teacher who was teaching a bunch of sophomores and who did not get through the curriculum by April. He spent most April weekends trying to cram in everything he had missed. My son ended up with a five on the exam, but he’ll be the first to tell you having played hours of Civilisation 4 and not being freaked out by a totally out of left field DBQ question was a big help. (It was about the Olympics.)