Personal Reflection: The Case Against AP Testing (Class of '20 Opinion)

[Boxcar101]

[quote=“digiflip, post:8, topic:2095621”]

@bz1119;d-2187651

Isn’t that kind of why they’re being used so widely in the first place, and why you’re able to get credit for doing AP Calculus BC, but you probably won’t for the Calculus 2 taught at your high school, with a curriculum tailored to the specific school? Because there’s a clearly stated curriculum that schools across the country have to follow in order to get credit, getting a 5 on the exam has value, for credit, and for the purpose of admissions (This is more about courses like Calculus and foreign language, not the “fluff” ones like Psychology or human geography).

I’m not sure this is quite right. I think “AP” is more in the exam and not the course. Schools are free to teach more or less or different from what is on the exam. Students can take the exam without having taken the underlying class.

But in most cases I suspect you’re correct. AP courses are the ultimate example of “teaching to the test” and “high stakes testing,” which a lot of people claim to hate but don’t seem to mind with the AP courses.