DRAFT
The following information comes from the AP website and from the Colorado Department of Education website.
Advanced Placement (AP)
The AP, or Advanced Placement, Program currently offers 34 courses across multiple subject areas. Each course is developed by a committee composed of college faculty and AP teachers, and covers the breadth of information, skills, and assignments found in the corresponding college course. AP courses are taught by highly qualified high school teachers.
The AP Examinations are administered each year in May and represent the culmination of college-level work in a given discipline in a secondary school setting. Rigorously developed by committees of college and AP high school faculty, the AP Exams test students' ability to perform at a college level. Students have the choice of taking the AP Exam or opting out. Most four-year colleges in the United States and colleges in more than 60 other countries give students credit, advanced placement in college courses, or both on the basis of AP Exam scores.
Colorado districts choose which AP exams will fulfill the graduation guidelines option.
AP currently offers courses in multiple subject areas that include English, mathematics, biology, chemistry, physics, economics, psychology, U.S. and world history, government and politics, world languages, studio art, and music.
Why This Option
In Colorado more than 76,000 students in 79 districts took AP exams in May 2014. The program is accessible to many students, and the number of students taking AP exams is growing.
Implementation Strategies
If your district or high school does not offer AP classes, consider:
- Sending a teacher to the summer institute at College Board so that he/she could become an AP teacher. There are scholarships.
- Contacting the Colorado Education Initiative to learn more about Colorado Legacy Schools
- Leaning about the AP Incentives Program at the Colorado Department of Education
If your high school does offer AP programs, consider researching best practices and resources:
- On the College Board website - for AP coordinators, teachers, counselors, administrators, students, and parents
- On the Colorado Education Initiative website - How to Build AP Programs that Excel
Cost
The cost of each AP exam is $91 and is collected by the school. Many schools are eligible for deductions (up to $53/exam) and fee waivers through the ESCAPE program (Eliminating Student Cost for Advanced Placement Exams) which is funded by the US Department of Education.
More Information
- Information for students and families
- Preparing for exams
- Course and exam descriptions, sample free-response questions and scoring guidelines, study skills, and test-taking tips.
