KUTZTOWN UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
KUTZTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA
DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY EDUCATION
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
COURSE TITLE:
I.
EDU 565 Special Topics – Designing and Implementing an
Advanced Placement Course for the Diverse High School
Classroom.
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course is designed to help prospective and practicing secondary school
teachers develop the skills necessary for planning, implementing, and assessing an
effective Advanced Placement course in their subject area. The course will
provide teachers with the support and strategies needed to design and teach AP
courses, particularly to students from diverse backgrounds. Included are skills in
planning, from both College Board and PDE curriculum standards, including class
registration and student recruitment, syllabus development and choosing course
material, preparation for the performance-based assessment, integrating
technology, and adapting/modifying learning experiences to meet the needs of
culturally and linguistically diverse students. This course will prepare pre-service
and practicing teachers to design and implement a College Board recognized
Advanced Placement course in their schools for college credit.
3 s.h. 3 c.h.
II.
COURSE RATIONALE:
More than ever before, education is the foundation for a healthy, productive life; a
strong democracy; and an economically prosperous nation. However, too many
students are falling through the cracks as they navigate the education system. It is
critical that the number of students who earn a college degree be increased,
especially students from groups historically underrepresented in higher education.
Key to this course are strategies to engage students of all backgrounds in precollege programs. Guided by the College Board’s principles of excellence and
equity in education, the course content is organized to ensure that students from
all backgrounds have the opportunity to succeed in college and beyond. This
course provides in-service teachers, as well as pre-service educators, with
professional development resources and services to engage students in high-level
learning. Ultimately, teachers will be given the tools to ensure their AP classes
reflect the diversity of their student population.
III.
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:
1. design and deliver instruction/learning experiences in particular content areas
based on College Board and state standards for instruction in a high school
college credit course.
2. understand current theory/research and how to use instructional strategies
derived from this theory/research in specific curricular areas.
3. organize content area instruction based on the implications of student age,
abilities, interests, experiences, and the influences of students’ linguistic,
ethnic, racial, socioeconomic background and gender.
4. incorporate technology as appropriate within the instruction of specific
content areas.
5. recognize how to integrate specific content activities across other content
areas, as well as how to team with teachers in other academic content areas to
achieve content integration.
6. appraise student achievement through performance based assessment.
7. judge and eliminate barriers that restrict access to AP for students from ethnic,
racial, and socioeconomic groups that have been traditionally underserved.
IV.
ASSESSMENT
Assessment of each student’s level of accomplishment with reference to the
course objectives will be based upon a subset of the following:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
V.
create an Advanced Placement school year calendar for their course
conduct two interviews of current Advanced Placement teachers in their field
maintain a dialectical journal
organize a bibliography chart for their subject area
design four vertical team activities
COURSE OUTLINE
A. College Board and Advanced Placement Overview
1. AP policy on equity and access
2. Course description for individual subject – guides what should be in their
course
B. Course Creation
1. Look at sample syllabi and audit process
2. AP course audit
3. School and district obligations
4. Course description for individual subject
C. Exploration of Resources
1. Set up Dialectical Journal
2. Available Resources through College Board
 Electronic discussion group (AP central) – set up at KU



Teacher Resources (under AP courses and exams)
Check out the official pre-AP “SpringBoard and pre-AP teachers corner
Textbook exploration
D. Advanced Placement Exam Preparation
1. Released exam: multiple choice and free response
2. Exam strategies
3. Exam resources
4. Student support
5. Study skills and test taking tips
E. “Building the Pipeline”
1. Explore AP potential
2. AP outreach to parents and students
3. collegeboard.org/shareap
4. Vertical teaming
5. Roundtable discussion with local Advanced Placement teachers
VI.
INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES
Advanced Placement Digital Library. (2000). Houston, Tex: Rice University.
AP Exam Secrets. (2010). AP exam secrets study guide: AP Test Review for the
Advanced Placement Exam series. Mometrix Media Llc.
Ashford, E. (March 01, 2007). AP courses get audited for quality. Education Digest:
Essential Readings Condensed for Quick Review, 72, 7, 25-28.
Barron’s' AP series. (2010). Hauppauge, N.Y: Barron's Educational Series.
Borg, S. K. (2010). Hispanic student access to advanced placement courses. Thesis
(Ph.D.)--Sam Houston State University, 2010.
Buck, C. R., & Gratz College. (2010). The need for advanced placement courses.
Melrose Park, Pa: Gratz College.
Burney, V. (January 01, 2010). High achievement on Advanced Placement exams: The
relationship of school-level contextual factors to performance. Gifted Child
Quarterly, 54, 2, 116-126.
Cech, S. J. (February 01, 2008). AP trends: Tests soar, scores slip--gaps between groups
spur equity concerns. Education Week, 27, 24.)
College Entrance Examination Board. (2010). AP central. S.l.: CollegeBoard.com, Inc.
College Entrance Examination Board. (2010). AP Released exam series. New York: The
Board.
Contreras, F. (January 01, 2005). Access, achievement, and social capital: Standardized
exams and the Latino college-bound population. Journal of Hispanic Higher
Education, 4, 3, 197-214.
Cracking the AP exam series. (2010). New York: Random House.
Foust, R. C., Hertberg-Davis, H., & Callahan, C. M. (January 01, 2009). Students'
perceptions of the non-academic advantages and disadvantages of participation in
Advanced Placement courses and International Baccalaureate programs.
Adolescence, 44, 174, 289-312.
Garrity, D. (August 01, 2004). Detracking with vigilance: By opening the high-level
doors to all, Rockville Centre closes the gap in achievement and diplomas.
School Administrator, 61, 7, 24.
Gewertz, C. (March 01, 2008). Opening AP to all. Education Week, 27, 27, 23-25.
Handwerk, P., & ETS Policy Information Center. (2008). Access to success: Patterns of
advanced placement participation in U.S. high schools. Princeton, NJ: Policy
Information Center, Educational Testing Service.
Hoyle, J., & Kutka, T. (January 01, 2008). Maintaining America's egalitarian edge in the
21st century: Unifying K-12 and postsecondary education for the success of all
students. Theory into Practice, 47, 4, 353-362.
Imig, A., & George Fox University. (2008). A case study of teacher effectiveness in
advanced placement courses. Thesis (Ed.D.)--George Fox University,
Kaplan, Inc. (2010). AP express series. New York: Kaplan Publishing.
LearningExpress (Organization). (2002). LearningExpressLibrary. S.l.: LearningExpress
LLC.
Milligan, Mary Mida Figliulo. (2005). Latino enrollment in advanced placement courses:
a study of motivational factors in a racially diverse school district. Thesis
(Ed.D.)--Texas A&M University-Commerce, 2005.
Moore, G. W., & Slate, J. R. (November 13, 2008). Who's taking the Advanced
Placement courses and how are they doing: A statewide two-year study. The
High School Journal, 92, 1, 56-67.
Oates, Jerry L. (2003). Increasing minority enrollment in advanced placement courses.
Thesis (M.S.A.)--University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 2003.
Ohrt, J. H., Lambie, G. W., & Ieva, K. P. (October 01, 2009). Supporting Latino and
African-American students in Advanced Placement courses: A school
counseling program's approach. Professional School Counseling, 13, 1, 59-63.
P re , P., Ce a, . anuary ,
. Building a atina o student transfer culture:
Best practices and outcomes in transfer to universities. Journal of Hispanic
Higher Education, 9, 1, 6-21.
Petrovich, J., & Wells, A. S. (2005). Bringing equity back: Research for a new era in
American educational policy. New York: Teachers College Press.
Sadler, P. M. (2010). AP: A critical examination of the advanced placement program.
Cambridge, Mass: Harvard Education Press.
Scott, T. P., Tolson, H., & Lee, Y.-H. (September 06, 2010). Assessment of Advanced
Placement participation and university academic success in the first semester:
Controlling for selected high school academic abilities. Journal of College
Admission, 208, 208, 26-30.
Stoker, G. L. (2008). Closing the gap between educational aspirations and outcomes: Is
Advanced Placement (AP) the answer? Chicago, IL: University of Chicago,
School of Social Service Administration.
Von, B. P. (January 01, 2009). Are Advanced Placement courses diminishing liberal
arts education? Arts Education Policy Review, 110, 3, 25-26.
Xiaoming, X. (2010). How do we go about investigating test fairness? Language
Testing, 27(2), 147-170.
Zarate, M. E., & Pachon, H. P. (2006). Equity in offering advanced placement courses in
California high schools, 1997-2003: Gaining or losing ground? Los Angeles:
Tomas Rivera Policy Institute.