Preparing for the Rigors of College Work: What Advanced Placement Courses Can Do for Your Child

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Preparing for the Rigors of College Work What
Advanced Placement Courses Can Do for Your Child

• Antioch High School College Night
• October 15, 2007, 700 p.m.
• Presented by Dr. David Moyer
• Assistant Superintendent
• Community High School District 117

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What Is Advanced Placement?

• Advanced Placement is a program through the
  College Board in which students can earn college
  credit by enrolling in challenging college-level
  courses while in high school.
•  

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Advantages of Participation

• Students who take AP courses can
• Earn college credit
• Increase their options for acceptance at a
  college
• Be prepared for the rigors of college level
  courses
• Save money on college tuition by earning college
  credit, graduating in less time, and avoiding
  remedial courses
•  

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How Do I Enroll?

• Students register for AP Courses as part of the
  normal registration process at the schools.

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My Child Can Earn College Credit?

• In January students typically talk with their
  teachers and the AP coordinator in their schools
  to register for exams, which take place the first
  and second week of May.
• The Cost of taking an AP Exam is 84.
• In addition to multiple choice questions, all
  exams require a written essay response to a
  prompt.
• Students who earn a score three or higher out of
  five on an AP exam may earn college credit for
  that course depending on the school in which they
  enroll.

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Potential College Cost Savings

• The coinciding chart shows the potential college
  cost savings for selected state universities for
  earning college credit by passing either one or
  two AP Exams. Source http//collegezone.org

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Additional College Savings/Benefits

• Students who take AP courses in high school have
  a better chance of being accepted to the college
  of their choice, lessen the need to take remedial
  college coursework, and increase their ability to
  be successful in their courses. All of the above
  increase a students likelihood of graduating in
  four years, translating into additional cost
  savings.

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College Readiness

• The chart shows the number of students from
  District 117 enrolling in post-secondary schools
  has increased approximately 25. Though over 80
  of our students enroll in post-secondary schools,
  national data from ACT indicates that only 34 of
  students who take the ACT meet College Readiness
  Standards (Alliance for Excellence in Educations,
  2007).
• In District 117, the number is 21.

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University of Texas Study

• Hargrave and Dodds (2007) found that graduates of
  Texas public high schools fared much better in
  college if they participated in AP courses in
  high school. The top chart shows the percent of
  students who took AP Language and Composition and
  graduated from college in four years. The
  bottom chart shows the four-year college GPAs of
  students who took AP Calculus AB in high school

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Benefits of a College Degree ()

• According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2000), the
  average annual earnings of college graduates far
  exceed that of high school graduates, with each
  advanced degree increasing the likelihood of
  greater earnings. At District 117, our goal is
  not merely to help your child to get accepted to
  college, but to put them in a position to
  graduate from college and be a contributing,
  successful member of society.

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Increasing the Rigor

• When I was growing up, my parents used to say to
  me, ''Tom, finish your dinner -- people in China
  are starving.'' But after sailing to the edges of
  the flat world for a year, I am now telling my
  own daughters, ''Girls, finish your homework --
  people in China and India are starving for your
  jobs.
• --Thomas Friedman, author of The World Is Flat

• The National Assessment of Educational Progress
  (www.thenationsreportcard.com, retrieved
  September 26, 2007) reports that in 2005, only
  35 of high school seniors were proficient in
  reading as compared with 40 in 1992. A mere 23
  were proficient in math.
•  According to On Wisconsin (Fall 2007), nine of
  10 students who enrolled as freshmen at the
  University of Wisconsin in 2007 took AP classes
  in high school. Admissions counselors at
  Wisconsin barely look at students who do not have
  ambitious transcripts. Kelly Olson, Assistant
  Director of Freshman Recruitment stated, We want
  (students) to take (difficult) classes so that
  theyre better prepared for what theyll face
  when they come here.
•  

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District 117 AP Course Offerings

• Biology
• C Programming
• Calculus AB
• Calculus BC
• Chemistry
• European History
• English Literature and Composition

• Government
• Music Theory
• Physics B
• Psychology
• Spanish
• Statistics
• US History

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The State of the District

• All AP teachers in the district have attended AP
  Training.
• All AP courses in District 117 passed the recent
  AP Audit.
• District 117 is behind its local counterparts in
  participation, tests taken, and number of
  three-plus tests/100 students.
• The district has convened an AP Committee
  comprised of parents, students, teachers, and
  administrators to develop strategies for program
  improvement.
• The district has developed a three-year plan with
  the goal of bringing the district numbers into
  the 50th percentile of suburban high schools.

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For More Information

• Additional information about the Advanced
  Placement program can be found on
  www.collegeboard.com or check out the Advanced
  Placement link on the district web page at
  www.d117.org or the school web site by clicking
  on schools, Antioch, test preparation, and
  District 117 Advanced Placement.