From Slashdot
AP Computer Science is taught in just 10% of our high schools,” lamented The White House last December as President Obama kicked off CSEdWeek. “China teaches all of its students one year of computer science.” And the U.S. Dept. of Education has made the AP CS exam its Poster Child for inequity in education (citing a viral-but-misinterpreted study). But ignored in all the hand-wringing over low AP CS enrollment is one huge barrier to the goal of AP-CS-for-all: College Board materials indicate that the average 11th grader’s combined PSAT/NMSQT score of 96 in reading and math gives him/her only a 20%-30% probability of getting a score of ‘3’ on the AP CS exam (a score ‘4’ or ‘5’ may be required for college credit). The College Board suggests schools tap a pool of students with a “60-100% likelihood of scoring 3 or higher”, so it’s probably no surprise that CS teachers are advised to turn to the College Board’s AP Potential tool to identify students who are likely to succeed (sample Student Detail for an “average” kid) and send their parents recruitment letters — Georgia Tech even offers some gender-specific examples — to help fill class rosters.
Tag: AP
The Rise of the AP
In a recent infographic from Teach.com, more students today are excelling in AP courses than ever before. AP Exam participation is up and scores are up since 2001, yet there’s still room for growth in science, computer science and more. With growing participation and success, I had hoped to take a look at AP courses this year.
As the 2012 school year begins to wind down, many students across the country are diligently preparing for Advanced Placement exams in 34 different subject areas. AP courses are designed to help high school students acquire the skills and study habits essential for success in college. With test dates running from May 7 through May 25, AP students are poised to hit the ground running when beginning their post-secondary careers, should they earn a score high enough to gain them college credit.
In keeping with the testing season, we are very excited to launch an infographic that highlights the progress made within AP curricula over the past decade. Our graphic, “The Rise of the AP,” shares information and statistics from the College Board’s 8th Annual “AP Report to the Nation.”
We encourage you to share the graphic below with teachers, classmates and friends who might be prepping for an AP exam. And if you have any ideas on which direction AP courses should head over the next 10 years, tell us in the comments section!
Via Teach.com and USC Rossier Online