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Transcript of 2007 AP Report Nation
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Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
New Developments in AP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Part I:
Three Themes for the Nation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Theme #1: State Initiatives Foster Student Success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Theme #2: Closing Equity Gaps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Theme #3: New Research on AP and College Success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Part II:
AP Subject Areas: Participation, Performance, and Feedback for Educators . . . . . .15
Appendix A:
AP Data at a Glance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83
Appendix B:
AP Exams Taken in U.S. Public Schools by the Class of 2006 During
Their High School Years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84
Appendix C:
Raw Numbers for Table 1: U.S. Public Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88
Appendix D:
Changes in Equity Gaps from 2000 to 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Appendix E:
Exemplary International Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Inside Back Cover
A Word About Comparing States and Schools
AP Exams are valid measures of students content mastery of college-level studies in academic
disciplines but should never be used as a sole measure for gauging educational excellence and
equity.
Advanced PlacementReport to the Nation 2007
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IntroductionAmerican educators are achieving much success in theirefforts to enable a wider and more diverse group o U.S.
students than ever beore to succeed in college-level studies
in high school. Yet we must also gaze clear-eyed at the
inequities that remain and the challenges that accompany
success in expanding access to the Advanced Placement
Program (AP). Tis Reportuses a combination o state,
national, and AP Program data to provide each U.S. state
with context or celebrating its successes, understanding its
unique challenges, and setting meaningul and data-driven
goals to prepare more students or college success.
Part I o the Reportcomprises three powerul themes
that appear once we situate each states AP par ticipation
and perormance data with in the context o its own
racial/ethnic demographics and population size. Because
one o the chie purposes o Part I is to provide state
departments o education with new data to gauge success
and identiy current challenges in providing equitable
educational opportunity (and because current, reliable
racial/ethnic demographic data or nonpublic schools are
not available or all states), the data in Part I represent
public schools only.
Part II o the Reportuses data rom all schools
participating in AP, public and nonpublic, to identiy the
most successul AP classrooms in the nation currently,
and to provide overall participation and perormance
inormation or each o the AP subject areas. o inorm
teaching and learning, this section o the Reportalso
analyzes the results o the AP Examinations to provide
AP teachers, department chairs, college aculty, and other
educators with eedback about the knowledge and skil ls
AP students are particularly demonstratingor ailing to
demonstrate.
In addition to the data presented in this Report, the
Advanced Placement Press Room (at www.collegeboard.com/
appress) contains much additional data and research to
supplement the tables and charts herein.
What is the AdvancedPlacement Program?
Te College Board partners with colleges and universities1
to create assessments o college-level learningthe AP
Examsin 37 subject areas. Te College Board then supports
secondary schools in training teachers and developing a
curriculum o high academic intensity and quality that
will enable students to meet the standards or college-level
learning in these subjects. As a result, most colleges and
universities in the United States, as well as institutions in
more than 30 other countries, use AP Exam results in theadmissions process as a designation o a students ability to
succeed in rigorous curricula, and also award college credit
or placement into higher-level college courses so that college
entrants can move directly into the courses that match their
level o academic preparation or college.
How are the APExams scored?
AP Exams, with the exception o AP Studio Art, which is
a portolio assessment, each consist o dozens o multiple-
choice questions, which are scored by machine, and ree-
response questions (essays, translations, problems), which
are scored at the annual AP Reading by more than 8,000
college aculty and expert AP teachers, using scoring
standards developed by college and university aculty who
teach the corresponding college course.
What is the scale for
the AP Exam grades?
Te composite score or each AP Exam is converted to anAP Exam grade o 5, 4, 3, 2, or 1. AP Exam grades o 5 are
equivalent to the top A-level work in the corresponding
college course. AP Exam grades o 4 are equivalent to a
range o work representing mid-level A to mid-level B
perormance in college. Similarly, AP Exam grades o 3 are
equivalent to a range o work representing mid-level B to
mid-level C perormance in college.
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Why report on how many high
school graduates succeeded
on an AP Exam?
With 75 percent o U.S. high school graduates entering
college,2the nation is steadily democratizing entrance to
college. But high college dropout rates and the act thatabout hal o all college reshmen are taking at least one
remedial course show us that it is not enough simply or
secondary schools to help students gain admission.3I
we are to succeed in democratizing what really counts
successul college degree completionthe gul between high
school graduation standards and reshman college course
requirements must be eliminated.
Recent research rom the University o Caliornia at
Berkeley4and the National Center or Educational
Accountability
5
finds that an AP Exam grade, and a grade o3 or higher in particular, is a strong predictor o a students
ability to persist in college and earn a bachelors degree.
How does thisReportdefine
success on an AP Exam?
Troughout theAdvanced Placement Report to the Nation,
success on an AP Exam is defined as an exam grade o
3 or higher. As noted above, a 3 is the grade that research
consistently and currently finds predictive o college success
and graduation.
Tat said, we should not discount or devalue the experience
o students who take an AP course but do not earn an exam
grade o 3 or higher. In act, while the Tird International
Math and Science Study (IMSS) ound that U.S. advanced
math and physics students were not leading, but lagging
behind other students around the world in mathematics
and physics achievement, AP students, even those
scoring 1s and 2s on the AP Exam, were hailed or having
demonstrated in the study calculus and physics knowledge
comparable to that o the highest achieving calculus andphysics students in the world.6
In calculus:
U.S. students did not are well, ranking 22 out o 23countries.
Te exception: AP Calculus students. Even thosestudents who earned AP Calculus grades o 1 or 2demonstrated the same level o math achievement asstudents rom the top-perorming nation, France.
In physics:
U.S. students ared worse than students o any othernation, ranking 23 out o 23 countries.
Te exception: AP Physics students. Even thosestudents who earned AP Physics grades o 1 or 2 wereonly bested by students rom the top two nations,Norway and Sweden.
But because more research is needed to establish the
conditions under which AP Exam grades lower than 3 relate
to college success, reduction o remediation required, and
other outcomes, this Reportuses an AP Exam grade o 3 or
higher as the definition o success on an AP Exam.
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The AP Course AuditTe AP Course Audit was created at the request o
secondary school and college members o the College Board
who requested that the College Board:
1. Provide teachers and administrators with clear
guidelines on curricular and resource requirements
that must be present in a secondary school course
beore that course can be considered college level
and be labeled AP; and
2. Ensure consistency or college and universityadmissions offices across courses marked AP on
students transcripts.
All schools wishing to label a course AP or the 2007-08
school year and beyond must first receive authorization to
do so by completing the AP audit process, which involves
submitting a copy o the course syllabus or review by
current college aculty representing hundreds o universities
nationwide. Within two months o submitting AP Course
Audit materials, schools will receive authorization or
qualiying courses to use the AP designation on student
transcripts. Each all, beginning November 2007, colleges
and universities will receive a ledger o schools that lists
the courses authorized to use the AP designation at each
school.
Te AP Program unequivocally supports the principle that
each individual school must develop its own curriculum
or courses labeled AP. Rather than mandating any one
curriculum or AP courses, the AP Course Audit instead
provides each AP teacher with a set o expectations that
college and secondary school aculty nationwide have
established or college-level courses. AP teachers areencouraged to develop or maintain their own curriculum
that either includes or exceeds each o the curricular and
resource requirements; such courses will be authorized
to use the AP designation. Credit or the success o AP
courses belongs to the individual schools and teachers that
create powerul, locally designed AP curricula.
For more inormation about the AP Course Audit, visit
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/courseaudit
Chinese Language andCulture Initiatives
Chinese Language and
Culture Initiatives
In 2004, the College Board conducted a survey that revealed
a surging interest among U.S. secondary schools in offering
courses in Chinese language. Nearly 2,400 high schools
indicated interest in offering an AP Chinese course in the
near uture. However, ew o those schools even offered
first-year Chinese classes at the time. o address the gaps
between desire to offer Chinese and current capabilities in
U.S. schools, the College Board and Chinas Office o Chinese
Language Council International (Hanban) ormed a historic
partnership and developed a five-year plan to support the
growth o Chinese language instruction in U.S. schools and to
build a solid oundation or the AP Chinese program.
Programs are offered to serve schools, teachers, and
students:
Chinese Guest eacher Program:Qualified language
teachers rom China teach in U.S. K12 schools or up
to three years. Te teachers offer authentic language
and cultural expertise to the students and school
community. wo hundred and fify teachers will be
placed in U.S. schools in 2007-09.
Delegations to China:School and district leaders
travel to China or a one-week educational tour as
guests o Hanban. Participants learn firsthand about
the country, language, and culture. Nearly 400 U.S.
educators participated in 2006; larger delegations areplanned or 2007 and beyond.
eacher Candidate Scholarships:Chinese speakers
in the U.S. are eligible to receive tuition scholarships
that will enable them to enroll in courses o study at
colleges and universities to receive certification to
teach Chinese language in elementary and secondary
schools. Up to 400 scholarships will be distributed
rom 2007 to 2010.
New Developments in AP
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In-Service Professional Development:Current
U.S.-based Chinese teachers attend intensive Summer
Institutes in China to enhance their proessional
and cultural expertise. Sixty teachers received
scholarships to attend in 2006; 500 teachers in total
rom 2006 to 2010 are expected to receive grants
that will enable them to attend these proessional
development Institutes.
Student Programs:Chinese immersion summer
camps will provide American high school students
with an opportunity to improve their language skills
and gain firsthand experience in the culture, helping
them prepare to enroll and succeed in AP Chinese
classes in the uture. Te first camp will be held in
summer 2007 with up to 200 students, many o whom
will receive scholarships. One-year scholarships
to study in China are also offered to high school
graduates and college students.
Chinese Culture Presentations:Guest presentations
on Chinese language and culture are offered in K12
schools to build awareness and oster student interest.
Presentations were held in 60 schools in 10 states in
all 2006, with more scheduled in spring 2007.
More inormation is available at:
www.collegeboard.com/k12chinese.
AP Courses and Exams in
Chinese Language and Culture
and Japanese Language
and Culture
Te 2006-07 school year sees the launch o the first AP
courses in Chinese and Japanese. Te introduction o these
two new AP courses is an important step in a commitment
by the College Board to urther multiculturalism and
multilingualism in secondary school education. When
announcing these new AP courses, College Board President
Gaston Caperton stated, World events make it ever more
obvious that a broad knowledge and understanding o
other languages and cultures is essential or our young
people. Tese new AP courses were designed by task
orces comprised o renowned college aculty and master
secondary school teachers o Chinese and Japanese.
Te AP Chinese and AP Japanese Exams are Internet-based
tests. Each student tests at an individual computer, which
processes everything read, heard, written, or spoken by the
student. All written directions and questions appear onscreen,
and all spoken directions and questions are delivered through
individual headphones. Students written responses are
typed in Chinese or Japanese using the computer keyboard,
and their spoken responses are recorded digitally, through
microphones, in the exams sofware.
AP Chinese Language and Culture
Tis AP course is designed to be comparable to ourth-
semester college courses in Mandarin Chinese. Te
course aims to provide students with ongoing and varied
opportunities to urther develop their proficiencies across
the ull range o language skills within a cultural rame o
reerence reflective o the richness o Chinese language and
culture. Because language and culture are inseparable, anintroductory knowledge o Chinese culture (geography,
population, society, history, arts, philosophy, global
interactions and interconnections) is an integral part o
the AP Chinese course.
AP Japanese Language and Culture
Like the intermediate college course to which AP Japanese
is comparable, this course supports students as they develop
the productive, receptive, and cultural skills necessary
to communicate with native speakers o Japanese. Units
o instruction introduce students to a broad spectrum o
Japanese culture (social, political, educational issues; religion;
gender; arts; history; geography); the ofen demanding
texts containing these rich sources o inormation require
command o a significant number o kanji.
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Part I:Three Themes for the Nation
Part I:Three Themes for the Nation
Advanced PlacementReport to the Nation 2007
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6
Theme #1: State InitiativesFoster Student Success7
Across all 50 states and the District of
Columbia, educators and policymakershave succeeded in helping a wider
segment of the U.S. student population
than ever before successfully complete
a college-level AP course before
leaving high school.
The Arkansas modelArkansasslandmark legislation, which is being hailed as exemplary by other
states, requires all public schools in the state to make AP courses available or their
students, and to support this requirement, the state has allocated unding that
enables Arkansas teachers to spend part o the summer at intensive AP teacher
proessional development Summer Institutes provided by colleges and universities in
Arkansas and neighboring states. Arkansas is currently tied with New Hampshireor
achieving the greatest one-year expansion o AP grades o 3, 4, and 5 across its student
population. West Virginia has just passed similar legislation.
Sustained successA number o states have achieved significant expansion o AP success year
afer year. What does each o these states have in common? Departments o
education and elected officials who have worked together to implement policies
and initiatives aimed at increasing rigor and quality in secondary schools. Tese
include projects designed to:
Expand AP to rural students (Washington);
Provide incentives or teachers and administrators willing to put in the
extra work needed to help traditionally underserved students succeed on
AP Exams (Florida);
Implement initiatives designed to prepare low-income students or success
in AP (Delaware);
Implement a sequential curriculum across grades 612 culminating in AP
(Maryland); and
Provide virtual learning opportunities or remote students
(North Carolina).
Leading the Nation: States with the
greatest percentage of Graduating
Seniors Having Scored 3+ on an AP
Exam in High School
1. New York (22.7%)
2. Maryland (22.0%)
3. Utah (20.8%)
4. Virginia (20.7%)
5. Caliornia (20.1%)
6. Massachusetts (19.8%)
7. Florida (19.6%)
8. Connecticut (19.4%)
9. North Carolina (18.0%)
10. Colorado (17.9%)
2000 to 2006 Expansion of AP Grades of 3+
1. Maryland
2. Delaware
3. North Carolina
4. Washington
5. Florida
2005 to 2006 Expansion of AP Grades of 3+
1. Arkansas (tie)
1. New Hampshire (tie)
3. Delaware
4. Nebraska (tie)
4. Oklahoma (tie)
4. Virginia (tie)
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Table 1: AP Participation and Performance in Public Schools
State
Percentage of Students Scoring 3 or Higher on
an AP Exam During High School Years8
Change: 2000 to 2006High School Class of 2000 High School Class of 2006
Alabama 3.9 5.7 1.8
Alaska 10.1 12.6 2.5
Arizona 7.2 9.4 2.2
Arkansas 4.3 9.8 5.5
Caliornia 15.0 20.1 5.1
Colorado 12.2 17.9 5.7
Connecticut 13.6 19.4 5.8
Delaware 7.6 14.5 6.9
District o Columbia 6.6 9.6 3.0
Florida 13.5 19.6 6.1
Georgia 9.7 14.8 5.1
Hawaii 5.8 7.6 1.8
Idaho 6.5 9.7 3.2
Illinois 9.9 15.1 5.2
Indiana 6.0 9.2 3.2
Iowa 4.9 7.8 2.9Kansas 4.4 7.7 3.3
Kentucky 5.5 9.4 3.9
Louisiana 1.9 2.3 0.4
Maine 10.1 14.4 4.3
Maryland 14.1 22.0 7.9
Massachusetts 14.5 19.8 5.3
Michigan 8.8 12.2 3.4
Minnesota 8.1 12.4 4.3
Mississippi 2.3 3.5 1.2
Missouri 3.7 6.3 2.6
Montana 6.8 10.0 3.2
Nebraska 3.2 5.8 2.6
Nevada 9.1 13.3 4.2New Hampshire 9.2 13.6 4.4
New Jersey 12.9 16.6 3.7
New Mexico 6.1 9.0 2.9
New York 17.9 22.7 4.8
North Carolina 11.3 18.0 6.7
North Dakota 4.4 6.8 2.4
Ohio 7.1 10.5 3.4
Oklahoma 5.4 9.6 4.2
Oregon 7.1 10.4 3.3
Pennsylvania 8.3 11.1 2.8
Rhode Island 6.9 8.4 1.5
South Carolina 10.0 12.5 2.5
South Dakota 5.9 9.4 3.5
ennessee 6.2 9.5 3.3
exas 9.9 14.6 4.7
Utah 17.4 20.8 3.4
Vermont 11.5 16.3 4.8
Virginia 15.9 20.7 4.8
Washington 7.6 14.1 6.5
West Virginia 4.6 6.4 1.8
Wisconsin 10.5 15.8 5.3
Wyoming 3.8 6.6 2.8
Nation 10.2 14.8 4.6
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8
Theme #2: Closing Equity Gaps
Despite increased diversification of the AP classroom,
African American and Native American studentsremain significantly underrepresented in AP
classrooms nationwide, and Hispanic students remain
underrepresented in AP classrooms in many states.
Te Advanced Placement Programs official Equity Policy Statement reads:
The College Board encourages the elimination of barriers that restrict
access to AP courses for students from ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic
groups that have been traditionally underrepresented in the AP Program.
Schools should make every effort to ensure that their AP classes reflect
the diversity of their student population.
Arican American, Hispanic, and Native American students have been traditionally underrepresented in AP courses, and no
state with large numbers o Arican American or Native American students has yet succeeded at providing AP opportunities
that allow or equitable representation o these students (see Figure 1).
The Florida achievement
Trough a ar-reaching set o initiatives, Florida has dramatically expanded AP participation and perormance among
Hispanic students, such that the percentage o AP students who are Hispanic exceeds the percentage o non-AP students
who are Hispanic. Florida has used state unding to provide teacher proessional development, uses the PSA/NMSQ
predictive scores to identiy and encourage diamond in the rough students to try the challenge o an AP course, and
osters an atmosphere o inclusion by rewarding schools and teachers or each additional student they help achieve a score o
3 or higher on an AP Exam.
Some words of caution and concern
Despite the strides that have been made by educators to provide traditionally underrepresented students with AP courses,
poor AP Exam results indicate that ofen these teachers and students are not receiving adequate preparation or the rigors o
an AP course. As a result, traditionally underrepresented students currently demonstrate significantly lower perormance on
AP Exams. See Appendix B or mean AP Exam grades, by race/ethnicity, or each AP subject area.
Major initiatives are needed to ensure adequate preparation o students in middle school and ninth and tenth grades, so that
students will then have a air shot at success when provided with an AP opportunity.
Just as important: As the racial/ethnic demographics o Americas classrooms continue to shif, major initiatives must be
enacted to build schools capacities to offer AP courses to the steadily diversiying student population.
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Figure 1. The Class of 2006: Race/Ethnicity of AP Examinees vs.
Graduating Seniors in U.S. Public Schools
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
WhiteAmerican Indian
or Alaska Native
Hispanic
or Latino
Asian,
Asian American,
or Pacific Islander
Black or
African American
Percent
Overall Student Population10
AP Examinee Population9
6.9%
13.7%10.8%
5.5%
14.0% 14.0%
0.6%1.1%
61.8%65.0%
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Theme #3: New Research onAP and College Success
The state of Texas has the second-largest population of AP
students in the nation, and because its population containsa significant proportion of traditionally underserved
minority students, Texas is an excellent site for continued
research on the relationship between AP and college
success. Brand-new studies conducted by University of
Texas researchers confirm the use of AP Exam results
to identify students for college admission and to providestudents with college credit and advanced standing.
The Keng and Dodd Study
Key questions:
How do AP students are when they skip an entry-level college course because their AP grade allows them to place
directly into a higher-level college course?
How do college course-taking patterns o AP students compare to those o non-AP students?
Findings:
AP students earn higher GPAs in the advanced college courses into which their AP credit allowed them to place,
compared to students with the same high school class rank and SA scores who did not earn AP credit and who did
not skip the entry-level college course.
AP students who place directly into a higher-level college course take more college courses in that same subject area,
on average, than students who did not take an AP Exam in that subject area in high school.
Summary:A new study conducted by University o exas researchers Leslie Keng and Barbara Dodd (in press) finds that
students who placed out o introductory college courses as a result o successul AP Exam grades (i.e., the AP Credit group)
earned higher college GPAs (see Figure 2) and took more credit hours in the subject area o their exam (see Figure 3) than
non-AP students. Te study ollowed our cohorts o entering reshmen (19982001) at the University o exas at Austinand accounted or differences in the ability levels o the AP and non-AP students by matching high school rank and college
admission test scores. Figures 2 and 3 present a sample o the results or the most recent cohort (2001); however, findings
indicated that the results were generally consistent across the other cohorts and AP Exams included in the study.
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0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
10909801080860970850
AP Course and Exam
AP Course Only
Standard High School Course
First-YearGPA
SAT Score Category
Figure 4. First-Year College GPA
AP Credit
Matched Non-AP Group
AP
U.S. History
AP
English Literature
AP
Macroeconomics
AP
Calculus AB
AP
Biology
Aftertheentry-levelcourse,ad
ditional
collegecredithourscompletedbystudents
inaparticularsubjectar
ea
0
5
10
15
20
25
Figure 3. After the Entry-Level Course, Additional College Course Work
Completed in a Subject Area
Note: AP Course and Exam means differ significantly rom the Standard High School Course means, p
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Part II:AP Subject Areas: Participation, Performance,and Feedback for Educators
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An Overview of Part II of the
Advanced Placement Report to the Nationotal secondary school enrollments, and particularly enrollments disaggregated by race/ethnicity, are not consistently
available or nonpublic schools. Accordingly, Part I o this Report, designed or state and national policymakers and leaders,
ocused only on public schools in its state-by-state tables.
Part II o this Reportbroadens its ocus to examine AP participation globally, and not just the participation within U.S.
public schools. Accordingly, the data in Part II include the thousands o U.S. nonpublic schools that offer AP, as well as the
hundreds o schools outside the U.S. that provide AP courses or their students.
In Part II, we recognize the schools in each AP discipline that in 2006 achieved the tremendous success o helping a larger
proportion o their total school population succeed on a particular AP Exam than any other school in the nation. See below
or an index to the schools cited in this Report. (Schools outside the United States that lead in each subject area are listed in
Appendix E.)
In addition, this section o the Reportincludes eedback on student learning or AP teachers and administrators. Tis
eedback is an excerpt rom a much longer and more substantive exam results commentary available to the public on the AP
Central Web site. We encourage all AP teachers and administrators to avail themselves o the complete commentary and touse it to revise and ocus syllabi as necessary to address weaknesses or deficiencies in the curriculum.
Index of Schools Cited in Part II of theReport:
California:
Canyon Crest Academy, page 78
Diamond Bar High School, page 22
El Rancho High School, page 20
Te Harker School, page 66
Harvard-Westlake School, pages 30, 32, 34, 60Lowell High School, page 56
Mission San Jose High School, pages 40, 72
Monta Vista High School, page 20
Montgomery High School, page 70
Oxord Academy, pages 20, 30
Pacific Collegiate School, page 78
San Francisco University High School, pages 38, 40, 76
roy High School, page 28
Colorado:
Kent Denver School, page 70
District of Columbia:
Saint Anselms Abbey School, page 44
Florida:
Alex W. Dreyoos School o the Arts, page 74
Barbara Goleman High School, page 18
Christopher Columbus High School, pages 46, 56
Coral Ree Senior High School, pages 30, 32, 36, 78
Cypress Bay High School, pages 24, 38, 44, 54, 66
Design and Architecture Senior High School, page 74
Miami Coral Park Senior High School, pages 26, 62, 64
Miami Killian Senior High School, page 48
Miami Palmetto Senior High School, pages 34, 76
New World School o the Arts, page 58
Pine Crest School, page 48
Ransom Everglades School, page 60
School or Advanced Studies South, page 32
Stanton College Preparatory School, page 36
Stranahan High School, page 66
Georgia:
Southwest DeKalb High School, pages 22, 30, 76
Te Westminster School, page 36
Illinois:
Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, page 68
Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, pages 62, 64
Keith Country Day School, page 36
Northside College Preparatory High School, page 72
Saint Ignatius College Preparatory, page 44
University o Chicago Lab High School, page 60
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8/10/2019 2007 AP Report Nation
19/100
Advanced PlacementReport to the Nation 2007
Indiana:
Park udor School, page 18
Kentucky:
Louisville Collegiate School, page 18
Louisiana:
Jesuit High School, page 52
Massachusetts:
Boston Latin School, page 50
Phillips Academy, pages 58, 62, 64
Roxbury Latin School, page 72
Maryland:
Eleanor Roosevelt High School, pages 26, 60
Georgetown Preparatory School, page 22
Te Key School, page 40
Landon School, page 56
Te German School, page 42
Michigan:
Adams High School, page 42
Renaissance High School, page 32
Minnesota:
Te Blake School, page 32
New Jersey:
Montgomery High School, page 18
Villa Walsh Academy, page 50
New York:
Brooklyn echnical High School, page 20
Convent o the Sacred Heart, pages 38, 74
Edgemont High School, page 28
Great Neck South High School, page 66
Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK High School, page 54
Rye High School, page 54
SAR High School, page 20
Somers High School, page 50
ownsend Harris High School, page 78
rinity School, page 52
North Carolina:
Early College at Guilord, pages 34, 66
Gaston Day School, page 46
North Carolina School o Science and Mathematics,pages, 24, 26
Raleigh Charter High School, page 34
Ohio:
Walnut Hills High School, pages 48, 54, 56
Oklahoma:
Oklahoma School o Science and Mathematics,pages 26, 62, 64
Pennsylvania:
Devon Preparatory School, page 60
South Carolina:Te South Carolina Governors School or the Arts andHumanities, page 58
Te South Carolina Governors School or Science andMathematics, page 30
Tennessee:
Hume-Fogg Academic High School, page 56
Texas:
Greenhill School, page 72
Keystone School, page 76
La Joya High School, page 68
Oratory Athenaeum University Preparatory, pages 68, 70
School or the alented and Gifed Magnet High School,pages 28, 48, 54
Science and Engineering Magnet High School,pages 22, 24, 28
Sunset High School, page 68
Virginia:
Broadwater Academy, page 52
Maggie L. Walker Governors School or Government andInternational Studies, pages 44, 46
Norolk Academy, page 42
Tomas Jefferson High School or Science and echnology,pages 24, 26, 38, 46, 76
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8/10/2019 2007 AP Report Nation
20/100
Advanced PlacementReport to the Nation 2007
18
AP Art History
Exemplary AP Art History Programs
Tese schools lead the nation in helping the widest segment
o their total school population achieve an exam grade o 3
or higher in AP Art History.
Small-size school (
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8/10/2019 2007 AP Report Nation
21/100
Advanced PlacementReport to the Nation 2007
White
57.4%
Other
4.9%
Not Stated6.2%
American Indian orAlaska Native
0.4%
AP Art History
Examinees by Race and Ethnicity, 2006
Asian, Asian American,
or Pacific Islander
15.2%
Black or
African American
3.5%
Hispanic or Latino
12.4%
AP Art History
Examinees by Gender, 2006
Female
67%
Male
33%
Number of Schools Offering This Course: 1,364
Te ollowing observations on student learning in this APcourse are excerpted rom the Chie Readers commentaryon student perormance, which is available in its entirety asa ree download rom the AP Central Web site.
Students must be able to take bodies o knowledge
and draw inerences rom thoughtul comparisonsnot just visual, but historical, cultural, and unctionalcomparisons.
Students need to understand the characteristics omajor art historical periods that they study as they arerepresented in the works o various artists and be able towork with them actively. It is not enough or students tomemorize the characteristics o an art historical period.Students also need to know that art history is not a serieso discrete, cleanly separable, static periods but a living,dynamic, fluid enterprise, and that pivotal, transitionalartists can be critical to art history.
It is important that students are aware o the major
architectural thinkers, practitioners, and theorists oart history, and it is crucial that they know somethingabout architecture in the modern age. Studentsneed to be able to understand what buildings looklike rom many angles and how they appear in planand elevation. It is recommended that textbooksbe supplemented by short architecture texts orphotocopies o articles and pictures o buildings.
Te lack o knowledge about the modern period ingeneral is disconcerting in both its range and depth.It appears that students are not learning very much
about the modern period (19th- and 20th-centuryart). Te modern period is an integral part o the APArt History course and will continue to appear on theAP Art History Exam.
Some teachers are clearly covering at least one culture
beyond their own in depth and with great skill. Teseteachers and their students are to be commendedvery highly. Students who had not studied anotherculture in depth had great difficulty in analyzing, sothat their essays on the exam in this subject includeddescription, rather than analysis, and a lack ospecificity in identification. Art beyond the Europeantradition is part o the curriculum or this course. I itis not included, both qualitatively and quantitatively,a students course work is incomplete.
On the AP Art History Exam, students should beencouraged to readthe question, to think, and to plana response beore writing, especially in the longer
essay questions. Tey need to be reminded again andagain to answer the question asked, rather than thequestion they wish they had been asked.
Te AP Art History course requires students to applyart historical skil ls and knowledge rather than merelyreproduce what they have learned. Tus, teachersshould consider students acquisition o knowledge toconstitute only hal o this course. Te skills acquiredin thinking critically, building arguments, and activelywriting about art are absolutely essential to success inart history at the college level.
Feedback for Educators
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8/10/2019 2007 AP Report Nation
22/100
Advanced PlacementReport to the Nation 2007
20
AP Biology
Exemplary AP Biology Programs
Tese schools lead the nation in helping the widest segment
o their total school population achieve an exam grade o 3
or higher in AP Biology.
Small-size school (
-
8/10/2019 2007 AP Report Nation
23/100
Advanced PlacementReport to the Nation 2007
White
59.4%
Other
4.0%
Not Stated
4.6%
American Indian or
Alaska Native
0.4%
AP Biology
Examinees by Race and Ethnicity, 2006
Asian, Asian American,
or Pacific Islander
18.5%
Black or
African American
5.4%
Hispanic or Latino
7.7%
Feedback for Educators
Number of Schools Offering This Course: 8,111
AP Biology
Examinees by Gender, 2006
Female
58%
Male
42%
Te ollowing observations on student learning in this APcourse are excerpted rom the Chie Readers commentary
on student perormance, which is available in its entirety asa ree download rom the AP Central Web site.
When questions ask or differences, studentsshould make explicit reerences to both items beingcontrasted. For example, i comparing the structureo eukaryotic and prokaryotic DNA, they should statethat prokaryotic DNA is circular, buteukaryotic DNAis linear. It is not sufficient to say that prokaryoticDNA is circular. When students use metaphors (e.g.mitochondria are the powerhouses o the cell), theyshould realize that no points will be earned withoutan explanation o what this metaphor means.
Emphasize to students the long time periods requiredor evolutionary change at the population level ocomplex organisms and that it extends ar beyond ahuman lie span.
Emphasis on overarching themes in ecology wouldprovide an explanatory context or students that wouldallow a deeper understanding o species interactions.
Require students to use concise definitions o termswithin the context o the question to convey theirunderstandings to the Reader. Saying that thedead cells o the xylem unction as small tubes, orinstance, is ar superior to simply mentioning xylem.
eachers should emphasize the distinction betweenCAM and C4, perhaps teaching CAM first, ollowed
by C4. In the transpiration lab, students should be given
the opportunity to relate the results to how plantsunction within natural environments.
Be cautious with students about making analogiesbetween plants and animals (e.g., stomata are likethe loops o Henle, transpiration is like sweat, orxylem tubes are like arteries), because students tendto accept these too literally.
Direct students not to repeat the question whenresponding. Urge them to use the reading periodto read careully or content and to identiy keypoints o the question, and not to include extraneousinormation. Salient points should be describedseparately, rather than lumped together.
Emphasize to students the interaction o structureand unction.
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8/10/2019 2007 AP Report Nation
24/100
Advanced PlacementReport to the Nation 2007
22
AP Calculus AB
Exemplary AP Calculus AB Programs
Tese schools lead the nation in helping the widest segment
o their total school population achieve an exam grade o 3
or higher in AP Calculus AB.
Small-size school (
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8/10/2019 2007 AP Report Nation
25/100
Advanced PlacementReport to the Nation 2007
Number of Schools Offering This Course: 11,526
Feedback for Educators
AP Calculus AB
Examinees by Gender, 2006
Female48%
Male
52%
White
64.0%
Other
3.1%
Not Stated
4.2%
American Indian or
Alaska Native
0.4%
AP Calculus AB
Examinees by Race and Ethnicity, 2006
Asian, Asian American,
or Pacific Islander
16.1%
Black or
African American
4.3%
Hispanic or Latino
7.8%
Te ollowing observations on student learning in this APcourse are excerpted rom the Chie Readers commentaryon student perormance, which is available in its entirety asa ree download rom the AP Central Web site.
Continue to encourage students to practice findingthe volume o solids ormed by rotating a regionabout a line other than a coordinate axis.
Remind students to show their work and to usecorrect mathematical language. Specifically, studentsmust remember to present all inormation as theyset up integrals in the calculator-active problems.For example, neglecting to include the limits ointegration can be quite costly.
eachers need to present students with morenontraditional problems that involve criticalthinking.
Students need to learn to justiy their results based onthe inormation given in the problem.
Students need to improve their ability to interpretgraphical data.
Emphasize the connection between finding thesolution to a differential equation with a givencondition and the domain o the solution.
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8/10/2019 2007 AP Report Nation
26/100
Advanced PlacementReport to the Nation 2007
24
AP Calculus BC
Exemplary AP
Calculus BC Programs
Tese schools lead the nation in helping the widest segment
o their total school population achieve an exam grade o 3
or higher in AP Calculus BC.
Small-size school (
-
8/10/2019 2007 AP Report Nation
27/100
Advanced PlacementReport to the Nation 2007
Number of Schools Offering This Course: 4,371
Feedback for Educators
AP Calculus BC
Examinees by Gender, 2006
Female
40%Male
60%
White
58.6%
Other
3.2%
Not Stated
4.5%
American Indian or
Alaska Native
0.3%
AP Calculus BC
Examinees by Race and Ethnicity, 2006
Asian, Asian American,
or Pacific Islander
26.8%
Black or
African American
2.1%
Hispanic or Latino
4.6%
Te ollowing observations on student learning in this AP
course are excerpted rom the Chie Readers commentaryon student perormance, which is available in its entirety asa ree download rom the AP Central Web site.
eachers should emphasize the connections betweentopics learned in the course. Tis will help studentsunderstand the relationships among accumulationunctions, the Fundamental Teorem o Calculus,improper integrals, limits, and horizontal asymptotes.Te synthesis o all o these ideas may be necessaryin order or a student to successully complete a givenproblem.
Students need to develop both specific methodsand the conceptual understanding o topics in the
AP course. I students are encouraged simply tomemorize a ormula or a aylor polynomial or achart set up or Eulers method without having theconceptual understanding o these approximationmethods, the students are not well prepared toexplain their work on the AP Exam.
Mathematical communication is very important.
Students must communicate their understanding othe problem and their solution in a clear and correctmanner.
Students must understand that infinite series involvean infinite expression and should never truncate aninfinite series. Students should be amiliar with theellipsis notation (i.e., ) when solving problems thatinvolve infinite series.
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8/10/2019 2007 AP Report Nation
28/100
Advanced PlacementReport to the Nation 2007
26
AP Chemistry
Exemplary AP Chemistry Programs
Tese schools lead the nation in helping the widest segment
o their total school population achieve an exam grade o 3
or higher in AP Chemistry.
Small-size school (
-
8/10/2019 2007 AP Report Nation
29/100
Advanced PlacementReport to the Nation 2007
Number of Schools Offering This Course: 6,493
Feedback for Educators
AP Chemistry
Examinees by Gender, 2006
Female
47% Male
53%
White
58.9%
Other
3.8%
Not Stated
4.3%
American Indian or
Alaska Native
0.4%
AP Chemistry
Examinees by Race and Ethnicity, 2006
Asian, Asian American,
or Pacific Islander
21.8%
Black or
African American
4.3%
Hispanic or Latino
6.5%
Te ollowing observations on student learning in this AP
course are derived rom the Chie Readers commentary onstudent perormance, which is available in its entirety as aree download rom the AP Central Web site.
Require students to show all their work in all partso a problem in a neat and organized ashion. It ishelpul i the work ollows a logical progression sothat it is clear to the Reader where a number comesrom. Many students earn zeros due to lack owork. Correct answers miraculously appearing on apaper with incorrect work received no credit. On acalculation problem, showing work does NO meanwriting a paragraph explaining the steps done in thecalculation.
Remind students not to round internally in ananswer. Significant errors can be introduced byrounding at inappropriate times in the calculation.Tese errors are compounded in subsequentcalculations requiring use o that answer.
Caution students to be careul and double-checkor reasonable answers. For example, i a studentsubtracts and gets a negative mass or calculates amolar mass less than the empirical mass, the studentshould recheck the work.
Have students practice with a variety o problems
rom various types o data. For example, when givenlab data to 0.001 g, students should use atomic molarmasses with significant figures to match or exceedthose in the given data. In solving this problem,students need to use one- or two-decimal digits givenon the periodic table provided or the exam to findthe number o molesnot molar masses o 12, 16, etc.It would be helpul i students were amiliar with thistable and used it all year.
Remind students to careully check their work.Many simple mathematical errors were made,including transposing digits or just dropping digits.For instance, a student would use 2.24 grams o
CO2when 2.241 grams was given. Several studentsincorrectly rearranged the equation PV= nRtwhentrying to find the molar mass.
Make sure students clearly understand the differencebetween an empirical mass and molar mass.
Practice time management skills and give timedpractice tests so students are amiliar with the pace atwhich they must work to complete this section. It was
very apparent that many students ran out o time withtheir calculators and could not finish the problem.
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8/10/2019 2007 AP Report Nation
30/100
Advanced PlacementReport to the Nation 2007
28
AP Computer Science A and AB11
Exemplary AP Computer Science
A and AB Programs
Tese schools lead the nation in helping the widest segment
o their total school population achieve an exam grade o 3
or higher in AP Computer Science A and AB.
Small-size school (
-
8/10/2019 2007 AP Report Nation
31/100
Advanced PlacementReport to the Nation 2007
Feedback for Educators
AP Computer Science A and AB
Examinees by Gender, 2006
Female
16%
Male
84%
White
57.8%
Other
4.0%
Not Stated5.0%
American Indian orAlaska Native
0.4%
AP Computer Science A and AB
Examinees by Race and Ethnicity, 2006
Asian, Asian American,
or Pacific Islander
22.4%
Black or
African American
3.8%
Hispanic or Latino
6.6%
Number of Schools Offering This Course: 2,491
Computer Science A:
Te ollowing observations on student learning in this APcourse are excerpted rom the Chie Readers commentaryon student perormance, which is available in its entiretyas a ree download rom the AP Central Web site.
Students must be comortable with interacting
classes, including examples where a simple class isprovided and another class stores and manipulatesobjects o that class.
Students need to be careul in distinguishing betweenArrayLists and arrays, and they need to recognizethat removing an element rom an ArrayList shifssubsequent elements down and thus may requirespecial care during a traversal.
eachers who are not covering the case study or whoare relegating it to the very end o the year need torecognize its importance.
In general, students need to be more comortablewith inheritance and polymorphism. Tey need tosee examples o inheritance hierarchies and be able torecognize when fields and methods can be inheritedand when they need to be overridden.
Students should be comortable reading detailedalgorithm descriptions and making the low-leveldesign necessary to implement algorithms.
Computer Science AB:
he ollowing observations on student learning inthis AP course are excerpted rom the Chie Readerscommentary on student perormance, which is available
in its entirety as a ree download rom the AP CentralWeb site.
Continue to emphasize the Java Collection classes.Students need to know how to construct collectionsand use methods to access and update the collections.
Te difference between interaces (e.g., Set and List)
and classes (e.g., HashSet and LinkedList) needs to bebetter understood by students.
eachers who are not covering the case study or whoare relegating it to the very end o the year need torecognize its importance.
Students should be aware that design may becombined with more complicated algorithms andperormance analysis.
Te role o polymorphism in design, particularly increating general-purpose collections rom a classhierarchy, should be understood and appreciated bystudents.
Students need to realize that instances o a class can
access private fields and methods o other instanceso the class. Tis is not a bug or a unique eature oJavamany methods (e.g., Compareo, equals) wouldbe impossible to write without this eature.
Recursion continues to be a difficult topic or manystudents, especially when used in a nonstandardway. Recursion needs to be seen as more than just away o traversing a tree or implementing quick sort.In general, students should be prepared or examquestions where a complex algorithm is described andthey are asked to implement it.
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8/10/2019 2007 AP Report Nation
32/100
Advanced PlacementReport to the Nation 2007
30
AP English Language and Composition
Exemplary AP English Language
and Composition Programs
Tese schools lead the nation in helping the widest segmento their total school population achieve an exam grade o 3or higher in AP English Language and Composition.
Small-size school (
-
8/10/2019 2007 AP Report Nation
33/100
Advanced PlacementReport to the Nation 2007
Number of Schools Offering This Course: 8,168
Feedback for Educators
AP English Language and Composition
Examinees by Gender, 2006
Female
63%
Male
37%
White
61.7%
Other
3.7%
Not Stated
4.7%
American Indian or
Alaska Native
0.6%
AP English Language and Composition
Examinees by Race and Ethnicity, 2006
Asian, Asian American,
or Pacific Islander
10.7%
Black or
African American
6.9%
Hispanic or
Latino
11.8%
Te ollowing observations on student learning in this APcourse are excerpted rom the Chie Readers commentaryon student perormance, which is available in its entirety asa ree download rom the AP Central Web site.
each students to read complex analytic andargumentative prose, such as that published incontemporary magazines and journals.
Help students achieve a deeper understanding o howthe organization, structure, diction, and syntax ocontemporary American nonfiction prose maniests atexts meaning and purpose.
Students need to comprehend archaic (pre-20th-century)prose by identiying the meanings o terms in context,
as such prose is requently encountered in collegecourses.
each students about rhetorical theory and analysis,so that they understand concepts such as audience,purpose, occasion, tone, establishment o generalcontention, appeals to the authors characterand credibility, appeals to audiences emotions,organization and structure, diction, syntax, imagery,and figurative language.
each students to analyze the unity o argumentativetexts: the way orm ollows unction and the ways thatorganization, structure, orm, and style relate to andsupport the establishment o meaning, purpose, andeffect.
Encourage students to read and write authoritativelyabout a range o current topics that engage theattention o well-educated people.
Help write essays that thoughtully interact with theaudience, acknowledge that readers might not sharethe writers values and belies, accommodate differingbelies with appropriate explanation and evidence, andmake the arguments logic transparent.
Students must be able to find appropriate evidenceor public discussions o current events and issues,recognizing that the literary works one reads or acourse might not always provide the best evidence tosupport claims about such issues.
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8/10/2019 2007 AP Report Nation
34/100
Advanced PlacementReport to the Nation 2007
32
AP English Literature and Composition
Exemplary AP English Literature
and Composition Programs
Tese schools lead the nation in helping the widest segmento their total school population achieve an exam grade o 3
or higher in AP English Literature and Composition.
Small-size school (
-
8/10/2019 2007 AP Report Nation
35/100
Advanced PlacementReport to the Nation 2007
Number of Schools Offering This Course: 11,904
Feedback for Educators
AP English Literature and Composition
Examinees by Gender, 2006
Female
64%
Male
36%
White
64.6%
Other
3.5%
Not Stated
4.8%
American Indian
or Alaska Native
0.5%
AP English Literature and Composition
Examinees by Race and Ethnicity, 2006
Asian, Asian American,
or Pacific Islander
10.2%
Black or
African American
6.8%
Hispanic
or Latino
9.6%
Te ollowing observations on student learning in this APcourse are excerpted rom the Chie Readers commentaryon student perormance, which is available in its entirety asa ree download rom the AP Central Web site.
Provide requent opportunities or students to engagein close reading and explication o text.
Provide requent opportunities or reading,discussing, and analyzing poetry so that studentscan better understand poetic mechanics and connectlanguage to meaning.
Have students write requently, and help them scorethe essays anonymously using the AP Exam scoring
guidelines. each students to both recognize literary techniques
and explain how those techniques contribute tomeaning.
Use texts rom a variety o literary periods anddemonstrate that, although conventions may differ,certain literary techniques and genres are commonlyemployed.
each students to integrate and embed textualevidence into sentences and paragraphs and to avoidsimplistic and bald assertions.
Emphasize that mature thinking and writingrecognize and explore the ambiguities and ironies ohuman existence.
Utilize drama as a means o encouraging students tobecome active learners and readers; use drama as atool or teaching what if?
Students must recognize the difference betweenparaphrase or summary and analysis, and how toturn observations into an argument.
each students to read exam prompts careully,without preconceptions.
Encourage students to use specific examples rom
texts, embedding that evidence in their writing. Provide students with opportunities to practice
writing assignments that connect artistic strategiesto societal problems, complex meanings, and valuesimplied by orm and language.
I film versions o texts are used in classroominstruction, help students identiy ways in which thefilm adapts, misuses, or distorts the primary text.
each students that generalizations without detailedsupport, and paraphrasing without analysis, areserious flaws in an essay.
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8/10/2019 2007 AP Report Nation
36/100
Advanced PlacementReport to the Nation 2007
34
AP Environmental Science
Exemplary AP
Environmental Science Programs
Tese schools lead the nation in helping the widest segment
o their total school population achieve an exam grade o 3
or higher in AP Environmental Science.
Small-size school (
-
8/10/2019 2007 AP Report Nation
37/100
Advanced PlacementReport to the Nation 2007
Number of Schools Offering This Course: 2,225
Te ollowing observations on student learning in this AP
course are excerpted rom the Chie Readers commentaryon student perormance, which is available in its entirety asa ree download rom the AP Central Web site.
Be sure that students engage in critical readingactivities on a regular basis, utilizing case studiesand news articles. Students should look at issuesrom a variety o perspectives and be able to supportdifferent positions. Simply extracting the relevantinormation given in a document and applying it tothe appropriate section o a question can earn points.
Make sure that students are amiliar with the issuessurrounding the use o solar energy, including at leasta rudimentary understanding o the different types
o solar energy systems, their respective benefits andcosts, and their use and design.
Work with students on graph interpretation andcritical thinking related to graphs, including careulconsideration o axes and units. Tey also needpractice in dimensional analysis, scientific notation,simple mathematical operations without using acalculator, and the application o quantitative analysisto environmental problems. Remind them to showtheir work.
Emphasize current climate change predictions so that
students are better able to determine whether theircalculation results are the correct order o magnitude.
Encourage students to complete their thoughts andto be as actual and specific as possible. Tey shouldreread their answers and make sure that they are notrestating the questions.
Make it clear that i a question asks or two examples,students only list two; additional examples will notreceive credit.
Review the difference between environmental andeconomic benefits or effects.
Include discussions o regulations and laws withinthe context o particular environmental issues or
problems. Students should study environmentalconcerns, not just cause-and-effect issuestheyshould learn methods o problem solving, with anaim toward finding specific solutions and appropriateways to manage conflicts.
Feedback for Educators
AP Environmental Science
Examinees by Gender, 2006
Female
56%
Male
44%
White
63.1%
Other
3.6%
Not Stated
4.9%
American Indian
or Alaska Native
0.5%
AP Environmental Science
Examinees by Race and Ethnicity, 2006
Asian, Asian American,
or Pacific Islander
12.0%
Black or
African American
5.8%
Hispanic
or Latino
10.1%
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8/10/2019 2007 AP Report Nation
38/100
Advanced PlacementReport to the Nation 2007
36
AP European History
Exemplary AP
European History Programs
Tese schools lead the nation in helping the widest segment
o their total school population achieve an exam grade o 3
or higher in AP European History.
Small-size school (
-
8/10/2019 2007 AP Report Nation
39/100
Advanced PlacementReport to the Nation 2007
Number of Schools Offering This Course: 4,194
Te ollowing observations on student learning in this APcourse are excerpted rom the Chie Readers commentaryon student perormance, which is available in its entirety asa ree download rom the AP Central Web site.
Chronologythat is, knowing where to place an ideaor a movement or an important historical figureis achallenge or students. As much as possible, teachersshould show students how to organize their learningabout European history into time periods and helpthem to get a sense o the order in which culturalchanges happened.
Students will benefit rom constant emphasis on bothcritical thinking and essay writing. In essay writing,students need to be taught how to address the questiondirectly, how to develop a clear and strong thesis,and how to avoid generalized discussion. Also oparticular importance in writing is learning how toanalyze, rather than merely describe. Students need tounderstand that analysis means more than listing acts.
On the AP Exam, students would benefit rom beingreminded to answer the question asked and to answer
the wholequestion, not just a portion o it. Studentsshould understand how important it is to spend sometime planning their essays. By doing some prewritingor outlining, they will be better able to begin theirresponses with a specific thesis statement.
Students need ongoing instruction in constructingeffective point-o-view analysis; or example, they mustbe able to explain whya particular source expressesa particular point o view or bias, or howa sourcemight have been intended or use. Using terms suchas biasor reliablewithout sufficient explanation does
not demonstrate analytical skill; similarly, simpleattribution by itsel provides no analysis. Grouping related primary source documents together
is another issue that is sometimes problematic orstudents. On the AP Exam DBQ (document-basedquestion) question, they must develop at least threeexplicit groupings (containing at least two documentseach) that demonstrate analysis and advance anargument in the essay; arbitrary grouping ofenundermines the essay.
Feedback for Educators
AP European History
Examinees by Gender, 2006
Female
54%
Male
46%
White
67.9%
Other
4.0%
Not Stated
4.2%
American Indian
or Alaska Native
0.4%
AP European History
Examinees by Race and Ethnicity, 2006
Asian, Asian American,
or Pacific Islander
12.4%
Black or
African American
3.5%
Hispanic
or Latino7.5%
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8/10/2019 2007 AP Report Nation
40/100
Advanced PlacementReport to the Nation 2007
38
AP French Language
Exemplary AP
French Language Programs
Tese schools lead the nation in helping the widest segment
o their total school population achieve an exam grade o 3
or higher in AP French Language.
Small-size school (
-
8/10/2019 2007 AP Report Nation
41/100
Advanced PlacementReport to the Nation 2007
Number of Schools Offering This Course: 3,501
Te ollowing observations on student learning in this APcourse are excerpted rom the Chie Readers commentaryon student perormance, which is available in its entirety asa ree download rom the AP Central Web site.
In order to maximize students success on theunction words section, teachers should always stressthe importance o accents as part o spelling, andmake sure that students read a lot o texts in standardFrench. In written passages and listening exercises,comment regularly on verbs and unction words.
eachers should stress that the essay does not merelyrequire an answer; it requires a responsethat is, areaction to the question that enables the student todemonstrate his or her capacity to write in depth andat length on a given topic.
Attention to common spelling errors, clearlyorganizing the essay, making use o effectiveexamples, and using appropriate connecting wordsare al l areas that students should practice thoroughlyin order to improve essay writing.
Students speaking skil ls can be improved by avoidingmere lists o vocabulary as responses. Tey shouldpractice answers to more abstract questions and useappropriate transition words. Students should havea strong command o synonyms and antonyms,
conditional clauses, and comparative and superlativestructures.
Feedback for Educators
AP French Language
Examinees by Gender, 2006
Female
71%
Male
29%
White
62.8%
Other
5.6%
Not Stated
5.6%
American Indian or
Alaska Native
0.2%
AP French Language
Examinees by Race and Ethnicity, 2006
Asian, Asian American,
or Pacific Islander
11.6%
Black or
African American
5.7%
Hispanic
or Latino
8.4%
-
8/10/2019 2007 AP Report Nation
42/100
Advanced PlacementReport to the Nation 2007
40
AP French Literature
Exemplary AP
French Literature Programs
Tese schools lead the nation in helping the widest segment
o their total school population achieve an exam grade o 3
or higher in AP French Literature.
Small-size school (
-
8/10/2019 2007 AP Report Nation
43/100
Advanced PlacementReport to the Nation 2007
Number of Schools Offering This Course: 478
Te ollowing observations on student learning in this APcourse are excerpted rom the Chie Readers commentaryon student perormance, which is available in its entirety asa ree download rom the AP Central Web site.
Ensure that all texts have been studied in ull. Illustrate the difference between assertion and
analysis/explanation/demonstration. rain students on the effective use o literary and
analytical terms. Help students craf a cohesive essay and choose
pertinent supporting examples. Students should avoidrehashing the question itsel.
Students must avoid vagueness by learning to expresscause and effect that will bring out the meaning otheir observations.
Provide ample essay-writing practice, both timed anduntimed.
Use the Internet to study essays o rancophonestudents and their use o terms, expressions, andwriting strategies in their literature essays.
Feedback for Educators
AP French Literature
Examinees by Gender, 2006
Female
72%
Male
28%
White
63.4%
Other
6.9%
Not Stated
6.3%
American Indian
or Alaska Native
0.3%
AP French Literature
Examinees by Race and Ethnicity, 2006
Asian, Asian American,
or Pacific Islander
10.5%
Black or
African American
6.9%
Hispanic
or Latino
5.7%
-
8/10/2019 2007 AP Report Nation
44/100
Advanced PlacementReport to the Nation 2007
42
AP German Language
Exemplary AP
German Language Programs
Tese schools lead the nation in helping the widest segment
o their total school population achieve an exam grade o 3
or higher in AP German Language.
Small-size school (
-
8/10/2019 2007 AP Report Nation
45/100
Advanced PlacementReport to the Nation 2007
Number of Schools Offering This Course: 1,320
Te ollowing observations on student learning in this APcourse are excerpted rom the Chie Readers commentaryon student perormance, which is available in its entirety asa ree download rom the AP Central Web site.
For the fill-in section, rather than devise clozepassages that ocus on particular points o grammarand vocabulary, teachers should select a text andsimply remove every eighth or ninth word, regardlesso its orm. Have students fill in the missing words.
Te most productive classroom strategy in
preparation or the composition is to conductrequent, timed, in-class writing sessions, evaluatedaccording to the AP Reading standards. Especiallygood practice is derived rom prompts that ask orarguments and counterarguments as well as thosethat require a coherent narrative.
eachers can expect the highest perormance romtheir students on the speaking section o the exam ithey have helped them to achieve mechanical masteryo the actual equipment that will be used during theexam.
Frequency o speaking practice and amiliarity withthe scoring guidelines is very beneficial. Additionally,teachers are advised to give specific attention tolexical items and grammatical markers that lendcohesion to narratives.
Feedback for Educators
AP German Language
Examinees by Gender, 2006
Female
49%
Male
51%
White
77.7%
Other
4.4%
Not Stated
5.6%
American Indian
or Alaska Native
0.4%
AP German Language
Examinees by Race and Ethnicity, 2006
Asian, Asian American,
or Pacific Islander
6.3%
Black or
African American
2.0%
Hispanic or
Latino
3.7%
-
8/10/2019 2007 AP Report Nation
46/100
Advanced PlacementReport to the Nation 2007
44
AP Government and Politics: Comparative
Exemplary AP Government and
Politics: Comparative Programs
Tese schools lead the nation in helping the widest segment
o their total school population achieve an exam grade o 3
or higher in AP Government and Politics: Comparative.
Small-size school (
-
8/10/2019 2007 AP Report Nation
47/100
Advanced PlacementReport to the Nation 2007
Number of Schools Offering This Course: 1,041
AP Government and Politics:
Comparative
Examinees by Gender, 2006
Female
47%
Male
53%
White
64.2%
Other
4.3%
Not Stated5.6%
American Indianor Alaska Native
0.5%
AP Government and Politics:
Comparative
Examinees by Race and Ethnicity, 2006
Asian, Asian American,
or Pacific Islander
12.3%
Black or
African American
5.0%
Hispanic
or Latino
8.1%
Te ollowing observations on student learning in these APcourses are excerpted rom the Chie Readers commentaryon student perormance, which is available in its entirety asa ree download rom the AP Central Web site.
eachers should review their syllabi and teachingmethods to make sure that students are providedwith opportunities to learn important theoreticaland methodological concepts in the study ocomparative politics and are able to apply them inspecific contexts. Using the topics provided in theAP Government and Politics Course Description willhelp teachers introduce the core concepts that arelikely to be assessed.
Most students could not identiy two definingcharacteristics o a corporatist system. A commonerror was incorrectly defining corporatist systemsas systems o governance in which business interests
alone played the dominant role. Although students demonstrated extensive
knowledge o the Russian government, in generalthey did not have a undamental grasp o the essentialeatures o presidential and parliamentary systems.Many students mistook single-member districts andproportional representation as necessary eatureso a parliamentary system. Another common errorwas offering the bicameral structure o the Russianlegislative assembly as a characteristic eature oRussias mixed presidential/parliamentary system.
eachers should go beyond defining terms likeprivatization and supranational organizations. Helpstudents to careully consider the intertwining oeconomic and political actors, particularly as they
are affected by globalization. Use Britain and Chinaas examples o countries that have operated oryears within a world divided into nation-states andthat have ofen made economic decisions relativelyindependently rom other nations. A study o theEuropean Union should be an important part o acomparative government course, particularly Britainsrelationship to it.
Likewise, teachers need to ensure that studentskeep up with the rapidly changing current trends oprivatization o industry in China.
Conceptual analysis is an important higher-levelcritical-thinking and analytical skill that students
should begin to acquire in introductory university-level political science courses. eachers should stressthe application o concepts in their syllabi and intheir teaching. eachers should give some attentionto basic concepts in comparative government andhave students work to relate and apply those conceptsto concrete political structures, political events, and
varieties o political contexts.
Feedback for Educators
-
8/10/2019 2007 AP Report Nation
48/100
Advanced PlacementReport to the Nation 2007
46
AP Government and Politics: United States
Exemplary AP Government and
Politics: United States Programs
Tese schools lead the nation in helping the widest segment
o their total school population achieve an exam grade o 3
or higher in AP Government and Politics: United States.
Small-size school (
-
8/10/2019 2007 AP Report Nation
49/100
Advanced PlacementReport to the Nation 2007
Number of Schools Offering This Course: 5,982
Feedback for Educators
AP Government and Politics:
United StatesExaminees by Gender, 2006
Female
53%
Male
47%
White
62.4
Other
3.6%
Not Stated
5.1%
American Indian
or Alaska Native
0.5%
AP Government and Politics:
United StatesExaminees by Race and Ethnicity, 2006
Asian, Asian American,
or Pacific Islander
12.2%
Black or
African American
5.6%
Hispanic or Latino
10.7%
Te ollowing observations on student learning in these APcourses are excerpted rom the Chie Readers commentary
on student perormance, which is available in its entirety asa ree download rom the AP Central Web site.
eachers should instruct their students to be sure torespond to the specific questions that are asked. Forexample, when asked to identiy the undamentalgoal o political parties and interest groups, studentsshould rerain rom listing multiple goals, whichimplies that they are unsure o the undamental goal.
eachers should continue to stress the importanceo assimilating and being able to apply critical socialscience concepts like demographic trends. Anotherway that teachers can help students improve theirperormance is by encouraging precision in thedefinition o key terms and concepts.
Being able to connect and relate inormation andknowledge about discrete subjects is a centralanalytical and critical thinking skill or studentso government and politics. eachers should makelearning such linkages integral to their lecturesand course assignments. Tey should also conveyto students the importance o integrating theirknowledge o different relevant topics in United Statesgovernment and politics when responding to ree-response questions.
A common error was students inability to provide arationale or justification or bicameralism other than
the Connecticut Compromise. Many were unable toidentiy more than one specific and unique poweror each o the chambers. Another weakness in theresponses was the tendency or students to discussgeneral congressional powers rather than specificpowers connected to a particular chamber. Quite aew students had difficulty explaining why the powersthey identified were expressly given to the House orthe Senate.
Te theoretical bases o political institutions are asignificant aspect o United States government andpolitics. eachers should address this topic whencovering the United States Constitution and revisitthe theoretical oundations o political institutionswhen each specific institution is covered in class.
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8/10/2019 2007 AP Report Nation
50/100
Advanced PlacementReport to the Nation 2007
48
AP Human Geography
Exemplary AP
Human Geography Programs
Tese schools lead the nation in helping the widest segment
o their total school population achieve an exam grade o 3
or higher in AP Human Geography.
Small-size school (
-
8/10/2019 2007 AP Report Nation
51/100
Advanced PlacementReport to the Nation 2007
Number of Schools Offering This Course: 890
Feedback for Educators
AP Human Geography
Examinees by Gender, 2006
Female
55%
Male
45%
White
61.1%
Other
3.8%
Not Stated
4.0%
American Indian
or Alaska Native
0.5%
AP Human Geography
Examinees by Race and Ethnicity, 2006
Asian, Asian American,
or Pacific Islander
10.4%
Black or
African American
7.2%
Hispanic
or Latino
13.0%
Te ollowing observations on student learning in these APcourses are excerpted rom the Chie Readers commentaryon student perormance, which is available in its entirety asa ree download rom the AP Central Web site.
Focus on the AP Human Geography CourseDescription, and consult a wide variety o relatedmaterials when preparing or class to ensurecomprehensive coverage. Integrate current events intocourse material and class discussions o geographicconcepts.
Although AP Human Geography is not a map-reading or world geography course, students need tohave a basic level o geographic literacy.
Stress interconnections across different sections othe topic outline. Encourage students to integrateconcepts rom different areas o the course.
each students to become amiliar with applyingconcepts and with analyzing spatial processes andlinkages across multiple geographic contexts and on a
variety o scales.
Ensure that students are amiliar with relevantvocabulary. Encourage them to define terms in theirown words to help them understand key geographicconcepts and to apply these concepts to a variety oreal-world contexts.
each students to be explicit and precise in theirresponses to exam questions, and to not restate thequestion or write introductions and conclusions.
Encourage students to take five minutes per questionto careully read the question, taking the t ime to
interpret correctly any stimulus material, and tooutline their responses in a manner consistent withthe structure o the question. Make sure studentsunderstand what is expected when words like explain,define, identify, and discussare used in a question.
-
8/10/2019 2007 AP Report Nation
52/100
-
8/10/2019 2007 AP Report Nation
53/100
Advanced PlacementReport to the Nation 2007
Number of Schools Offering This Course: 311
AP Italian Language and Culture
Examinees by Gender, 2006
Female
64%
Male
36%
White
70.3%
Other
3.9%
Not Stated5.1%
American Indian
or Alaska Native0.1%
AP Italian Language and Culture
Examinees by Race and Ethnicity, 2006
Asian, Asian American,
or Pacific Islander
4.3%
Black or
African American
1.4%
Hispanic
or Latino
15.0%
Te ollowing observations on student learning in these APcourses are excerpted rom the Chie Readers commentary
on student perormance, which is available in its entirety asa ree download rom the AP Central Web site.
Students need periodic in-class practice in writing acomposition that reflects the actual exam conditions(30 minutes, on a specific topic, ollowing AP Examinstructions). Tey also need to develop a senseo how much time it will take to write a 150-wordcomposition.
It is important to remind students that the culturecomposition will be scored twiceonce or contentand a second time or languageby two differentReaders.
It is important to amiliarize students with the
scoring guidelines (available on AP Central) so thatthey know how their responses will be evaluated; itwould be useul to post the guidelines prominently inthe classroom so that students may consult them.
Students should develop the habit o giving theircompositions a final prooreading or commonerrors in subjectverb agreement, nounadjectiveagreement, use o the subjunctive, placement oaccents, spelling, use o transitional elements,appropriate use o paragraphs, and so orth, as well asto ensure that the composition has stayed on topic.
Students should learn to cite cultural reerences intheir practice compositions on cultural subjects. Tis
would include film, literary sources, newspapers,and the like. Being able to do this presupposes thatthey spend timelikely both in and out o classidentiying, discussing, and interpreting what theinormation in such cultural products implicitly andexplicitly reveals about the culture o Italy.
In the picture sequence, students tend to describe thepictures instead o narrating a story with a beginning,middle, and end. Beore beginning to speak, eachstudent has two minutes to make notes and preparethe narration. Tis is a very important preparatorystep or providing a complete oral narrative, and itshould be incorporated in all practice sessions.
Students need to hear a wide variety o male andemale voices to be prepared or the conversation parto the exam. Appropriate clips rom various media(film, songs, opera, television, radio) would be useulin and out o the classroom. Such materials may belocated on the Internet, at movie rental stores, ontelevision, or at public or university libraries.
Feedback for Educators
-
8/10/2019 2007 AP Report Nation
54/100
Advanced PlacementReport to the Nation 2007
52
AP Latin12
Exemplary AP Latin Programs
Tese schools lead the nation in helping the widest segment
o their total school population achieve an exam grade o 3
or higher in AP Latin.
Small-size school (
-
8/10/2019 2007 AP Report Nation
55/100
Advanced PlacementReport to the Nation 2007
Number of Schools Offering This Course: 1,153
Feedback for Educators
AP Latin
Examinees by Gender, 2006
Female
49%
Male
51%
White
73.7%
Other
3.7%
Not Stated5.5%
American Indian
or Alaska Native0.4%
AP Latin
Examinees by Race and Ethnicity, 2006
Asian, Asian American,
or Pacific Islander
10.9%
Black or
African American
3.0%
Hispanic
or Latino
2.8%
Te ollowing observations on student learning in these AP
courses are excerpted rom the Chie Readers commentaryon student perormance, which is available in its entirety asa ree download rom the AP Central Web site.
Vergil: Emphasize to students that, when translating literally,
they should be precise in noun and adjective agreement,verb tenses, and rendering participle phrases.
Provide students with opportunities to divide readingpassages into translation segments and score theirown translations using AP scoring guidelines.
Encourage students to read Latin in sense unitsrather than translating word by word.
Help students develop strategies or recognizing two-part questions.
Review in context grammatical eatures such assubjunctive, vocative, and interrogative adjectives,and stress their significance.
each students to use poetic devices as support orunderstanding textual content.
Latin Literature:
Emphasize recognition and translation osubjunctives in context.
each students to attend to conjunctions, with respectto both meaning and to what they connect.
Spend time reviewing biographical inormation aboutfigures who appear in the poetry.
Provide many opportunities or students to conductpoetic analyses, particularly with practice essays.
Provide requent opportunities or students topractice analyzing and translating long clauses.
Provide requent opportunities or students topractice parsing and translating complex sentences.
eachers o Cicero should emphasize the rhetorical/
literary devices ound in prose, just as they do orthose devices ound in poetry.
Emphasize vocabulary instruction in order toimprove students abilities to recognize key words.
Careully explain all semantic connections insentences.
-
8/10/2019 2007 AP Report Nation
56/100
-
8/10/2019 2007 AP Report Nation
57/100
Advanced PlacementReport to the Nation 2007
Number of Schools Offering This Course: 2,622
Feedback for Educators
AP Macroeconomics
Examinees by Gender, 2006
Female
45%
Male
55%
White
55.4%
Other
3.5%
Not Stated
6.0%
American Indian
or Alaska Native
0.4%
AP Macroeconomics
Examinees by Race and Ethnicity, 2006
Asian, Asian American,