What the AP Course Audit is NOT:
• An audit of teacher quality
• An audit of teacher credentials
• An audit of teacher pedagogy
• An audit of teachers
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The AP Course
Audit
Trevor Packer
(212) 373-8716
Tpacker@collegeboard.org
So what IS the AP Course Audit?
• An audit of course content
• An audit of AP teachers’ understanding of college
and university expectations for AP courses
• An audit of administrators’ support for AP
teachers
• An audit that results in license to use the “AP”
label on student transcripts and inclusion of the
school in the official, public ledger of authorized
AP courses.
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What value does the AP Course Audit
provide for new or inexperienced AP
teachers?
• A clear definition of elements required in a
college-level course
• Support materials for development of an
AP syllabus
• Validation of the new teachers’ curriculum
through external review by college faculty
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What value does the AP Course Audit
provide for experienced as well as new AP
teachers?
• Creation of a pipeline from the College Board to
each AP teacher, for communication of updates,
new materials, and course/exam changes
• Leveraging of support for AP teachers among
school administrators
• Defense of college/university admissions benefits
for AP students
• Reminders of exam security requirements
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The likelihood of such an
occurrence is:
1 in 73,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000.
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Background
• The AP Course Audit was created at the request
of secondary school and college members of
the College Board who sought a means for the
College Board to:
• Provide teachers and administrators with clear
guidelines on curricular and resource requirements
that must be in place for AP courses.
• Help colleges and universities better interpret
secondary school courses marked “AP” on students’
transcripts.
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The AP Course Audit: Overview
• The College Board will audit all 2007-08 courses that
schools wish to label “AP” on students’ transcripts.
• Each AP teacher submits 2 elements:
• an AP Course Audit form and
• a syllabus for review by college/university professors
Qualifying courses will receive authorization to use the “AP”
designation.
• Schools may:
• list courses they plan to offer as “AP” in course selection materials
before participating in the audit.
• order and administer exams without participating in the audit.
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Define Standards and Parameters
Course Audit will:
• Specify common, essential
elements of corresponding
college courses and define
resources, such as collegelevel textbooks, necessary for
the course.
• Require teachers and
principals to attest to the
inclusion of these elements in
the course.
• Preserve the flexibility
individual teachers and
schools can and should have
to create their own curriculum
and syllabus for an AP
course.
Course Audit will NOT:
• Prescribe a set curriculum
nor specify particular
delivery models for courses.
• Mandate particular teacher
credentials, professional
development, or certification.
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Sample Curricular and Resource
Requirements
• Curricular Requirements
• English Language and Composition: The course
teaches students to analyze how graphics and visual
images both relate to written texts and serve as
alternative forms of text themselves.
• Calculus AB: The course teaches students how to use
graphing calculators to help solve problems,
experiment, interpret results, and support conclusions.
• Resource Requirements
• U.S. History: The school ensures that each student has
copies of primary sources and other instructional
materials used in the course for individual use inside
and outside the classroom.
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Timeline
• Course Audit materials may be submitted beginning
January 2007
• Deadline to request authorization for 2007-08: June 1,
2007
• Materials received after this date will be reviewed, but the College
Board cannot guarantee inclusion in the first edition of the ledger.
• Ledger of schools with their authorized courses will be
made available to colleges and universities in November
of each year.
• Colleges and universities will be informed of courses authorized
after June 1, 2007 via updates to the ledger.
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Process
Web-based process:
•
Principals, AP Coordinators, teachers, and district officials will receive
instructions for accessing the Web site in January 2007 (via mail).
•
Teachers create an account and do two things:
•
Print the subject-specific AP Course Audit form and fax it with
teacher and principal signatures
•
Submit an electronic version of a syllabus for review
•
Within two months of receiving both the AP Course Audit form and
syllabus, the teacher will receive notification that the course has been
authorized or that further dialogue is required before authorization
can be given.
•
Schools and districts will have the ability to track the status of their
courses through the Web site.
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Syllabus Review
• Syllabus corroborates what the teacher and
principal indicated is occurring in the classroom
on the AP Course Audit form.
• Each curricular requirement, or an alternative
approach to a requirement, must be clearly
evidenced on the syllabus.
• Reviewers will be selected from among
college/university professors and recently retired
AP teachers.
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Additional Reviews
• If more information is needed to grant authorization, the
teacher and principal are notified via e-mail and letter,
respectively.
• The opportunity will be given to all teachers to supply
more materials/explanation about the course.
• If determination can still not be made, a College Boardappointed senior reviewer will work with the school to
define what needs to be in place before the school can
label the course “AP.”
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Syllabus Preparation Resources
Available on apcentral.collegeboard.com/courseaudit
• Syllabus self-evaluation checklist (Oct. 2006)
• The checklist helps ensure that the syllabus includes everything required
and helps teachers avoid simple mistakes.
• Annotated sample syllabi (Oct. 2006)
• Syllabi for each AP subject with annotations showing how the curricular
requirements are evidenced.
• These syllabi will illustrate that there are multiple ways that any given AP
course can be taught.
• Teachers can use these sample syllabi as examples as they craft their
own syllabi.
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Additional AP Course Audit Resources
• AP Central articles written by district
officials who have conducted district-wide
professional development activities to
facilitate syllabi development (September)
• Free online events –11/30, 12/14
• apcentral.collegeboard.com/onlineevents
• AP Course Audit Web site demo
(December)
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Textbooks
• Non-exhaustive lists of example textbooks that fulfill AP
Course Audit curricular requirements appear on AP
Central.
• Reviewers will consider textbooks and classroom
resources listed on the syllabus holistically to confirm that
the items collectively provide students with the course
content delineated in the curricular requirements of the AP
Course Audit.
• The Teacher's Resource Catalog at
apcentral.collegeboard.com/resourcereviews includes
reviews of a wide variety of instructional materials that
teachers may wish to use in their courses.
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Online AP Course Providers
• Online AP courses provided by an online provider,
such as a virtual school, may be listed as “AP” on
the transcript providing the online provider has
been approved to label its courses “AP” by the
College Board.
• Online providers offering authorized AP courses
will be listed on AP Central.
• Schools will have the opportunity to indicate
which online courses they are providing their
students through the Course Audit Web site.
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Renewal Process
• Teachers will not be asked to resubmit approved
syllabi each year. Syllabi need only be submitted
if the College Board makes significant changes to
the course requirements or if the teacher changes
schools.
• In subsequent years, principals may request
renewal of the authorization through a form that
will be provided by the College Board.
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More Information
• For complete information about the AP Course Audit,
including curricular requirements, resource requirements,
syllabus preparation guidelines, and example textbooks
visit: apcentral.collegeboard.com/courseaudit
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