Despite the success of Advanced Placement courses, new data proves taking the classes may not offer more bang for your buck.
A new report by POLITICO found that though the number of students participating in Advanced Placement courses has soared, very few actually pass the end-of-the-year exam earning them college credit. According to data from the College Board — which backs AP courses — the class of 2012 failed more than 1.3 million Advanced Placement exams throughout the course of their college careers, despite the more than $275 million the federal government has spent promoting the courses and subsidizing exam fees for low-income students.
“Well-meaning policy makers encourage Advanced Placement in order to set high expectations,” Kristin Klopfenstein, an education professor who runs the Education Innovation Institute at the University of Northern Colorado, told POLITICO. “But their eagerness for expansion has gotten ahead of the support systems in place for these kids.”
An annual report from the College Board showed the overall pass rate for AP exams fell to 57 percent in 2012, down from 61 percent 10 years ago. And data shows the percentage of students receiving the lowest grade on these exams — a 1 — jumped from 14 percent to 22 percent.
Following the implementation of AP courses, officials in both sides of the aisle have worked to expand participation, from Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan to Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R). And many states offer incentives to both offer AP classes and fill them to capacity. As POLITICO reported, such incentives include awarding bonus points to schools with high AP participation, which boosts the school’s state rating.
But such incentives do little to help students enrolled in the courses. Just 27 percent of African-American students received a passing grade on their AP exams in 2012 compared to 41 percent of Hispanics, for example.
There are Advanced Placement courses available in 34 subjects ranging from human geography to physics and are supposed to be taught at a college level. At the end of each year, students take an exam — costing $89 — on their respective subject then graded by a college professor. Exams are graded on a scale of 1 to 5, and in order for students to receive college credit, they must earn a grade of a 3 or higher. Though the College Board considers a 3 a passing grade, one-third of universities accepting AP credits require a score of a 4 or 5.
But such alarming statistics hasn’t stopped the College Board from reaping the benefits of students taking AP courses. The organization netted $609 million at the end of fiscal year 2012, compared to $491 million since 2010. And revenues from AP exams now exceed expenses by up to $30 million, Trevor Packer, a senior vice president at the College Board, told POLITICO. He said the group spends the extra money on teacher training, scholarships and test redesigns.
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has been a strong proponent of AP courses, and he’s been pushing to expand online AP courses. His Foundation for Excellence in Education even writes model bills in an effort to expand students’ access to these courses. But the college-level classes have been met with staunch criticism, too.
“I worry about what kind of shock they’ll experience their freshman year,” Adrian Hernandez, an AP U.S. History teacher, told POLITICO.
Hernandez said his students weren’t performing at a level anywhere near that of a college freshman, despite the class’s supposed college-level label. Instead, AP courses made students believe they were ready for college-level work when in fact they were not.
But such concerns haven’t deterred states from touting AP courses and pushing students to enroll.
In Louisiana, students taking AP classes earned 1,000 more college credits this year than last year. And the state has decided to train 1,200 AP teachers throughout the past two years, despite the pass rate for tests dropping.
“We have tended to err on the side of less access to AP classes in the past,” White said. “There’s a value to erring on the side of access for more.”
Still, for students enrolling in these courses, little data proves that taking an AP class leads to better grades in college or higher college graduation rates, Packer said.
But much depends on whether the student actually passes the test.
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