“Rethinking Advanced Placement" by Christopher Drew
New York Times January 7, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/education/edlife/09ap-t.html?_r=1
New York Times January 7, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/education/edlife/09ap-t.html?_r=1
Topic: The College Board is changing the format and curriculum for AP tests
Summary: The College Board, owner of the AP exams, is revamping the format for AP tests in the future. Since 1956, when AP testing began, the advances in science, technology, and number of major historical events have added an enormous amount of information to the required curriculum for AP classes. Current tests can draw from any information covered in the class- making it nearly impossible for teachers not to teach to the test. Average scores have been dropping due to the amount of material that must be memorized by students in preparation for the tests. This article focuses primarily on the AP Biology, as it is the first test that will be revamped. The new test will increase open ended answer questions, cut the number of multiple choice questions in half, and add questions that require math calculations. The hope is that the new test and subsequent new curriculum will teach students to think like scientists and build problem solving skills and critical thinking as opposed to simply requiring the memorization of vast amounts of information that may or may not be covered on the test.
Intended audience: General Public
Key Points:
- The AP exam and courses have become overwhelming, forcing teachers to “teach to the test” and requiring students to memorize large amounts of information
- Average test scores are dropping
- Many colleges are no longer giving to credit for scores of 3 or higher, because the students do not demonstrate the type of critical thinking and problem solving required to succeed in higher level courses
- The new tests (starting with biology) will feature fewer multiple choice questions and additional free-response questions
- The change may be difficult for many schools/teachers to make. Lab improvements may be costly
Relevance: This article covers many topics we have already looked at in class; teaching to the test, memorization, freedom to design curriculum, budget concerns, and outside pressures and requirements guiding the way curriculum is set up.
Learning for tests was a terrible experience when I was a high school student. We have College-Entrance Test each year to select students go to different ranks of universities in China. It was a 2-3days thing. Lots of students suicide themselves because of high pressure from parents, teachers and peers. Whether you can go to a good university or not, it all depends on your test scores.
ReplyDeleteAnd memorizing a bunch of information in textbooks makes students dumb. But there still needs to be something to see how far students go. Less multiple choices and more free response questions is a good idea...
I really enjoyed this article! It brings to mind my own AP classes, and the AP experiences of my friends at the large high school I went to in McMinnville. It's also immediately relevant because the charter school I work at is trying to increase their AP course offerings; this will help with high school student retention, as well as make our school all around more attractive and successful... but the problem is staff time! How can we teach these daunting offerings effectively when we are all overburdened already?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, thinking about the curriculum changes, and the direction things are changing in, reminds me a lot of the philosophical lens activity we worked on last night in class. Moving away from the Perennialist teaching of the "classics" (represented in this case by the great accumulation of facts in biology and history, the latter especially based largely on "the great ideas of Western culture") and towards a more progressivist, existentialist model of both teaching and testing, mirrors not only what our class philosophy tended towards last night, but also what seems to be the current trend in pedagogical methods thinking. Rather than cram students with decontextualized facts, give them the tools they need to explore the world around them and find any facts any time they need them! These changes by the College Board recognize the importance of applicable skills over rote memorization; though both have a place in any discipline, colleges are pointing out that one better prepares students to thrive in the relative freedom of college.
Thanks for the comments! I was interested to hear about your experience with testing. I did not take any AP courses in high school. I did take some IB(International Baccalaureate) courses that have similar tests available at the end of the year. However, I opted not to take the tests. They were expensive and I had an opportunity to spend a couple moths at the end of my senior year teaching English to elementary students in France. So, as opposed to taking the tests, I chose to travel. I know that the curriculum in these courses was designed less to teach to the test and more to develop creative thinkers, problem solvers, and members of the global community. Although I didn't take the tests, it is my understanding that they are more like the "new AP" and less like the old. Here is a link to the methods of assessment from the IB Diploma program website: http://www.ibo.org/diploma/assessment/methods/ I feel that the IB program was definitely based more on the existentialist and progressive teaching philosophies, and I feel that I did very well as a result of the way the program was run.
ReplyDeleteI have also seen many kids drop out of AP Biology due to the demands of the course. I know it works differently in different schools, but at the school where I coached water polo, the class began during the spring of Junior year and continued throughout the entire Senior year. With a LOT of independent work over the summer. Many kids ended up dropping the class during the fall of their Senior year after realizing the amount of work it required.
Yin Yin, I am wondering, is education in China that intense from a young age up? I think if someone threw an American student into a test that lasted 2-3 days, they wouldn't be able to handle it either!
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ReplyDeleteHi Jessica, education in China is intense. We have all kinds of tests for students to move up. And the College Entrance Test is the biggest one! It means a lot to us. It's all about the score, how much you get. I think it is ridiculous! What if a student perform excellent during daily study, while failed in the exam? And we have to take 3 big tests. If someone does not feel good for the first test, their following tests will be affected. Anyway, that's the policy. But I heard it is changing, according to so many bad news happened because of this test.
ReplyDeleteI remember in high school it was a students choice to register for an AP or IB course. To be perfectly honest, the draw to the AP courses and exams was the promise of college credits, which would lead to saved time and money both!
ReplyDeleteI admit I was not in the classes for "all of the right reasons", but I think to an extent they were still beneficial. I remember certain interesting facts and tidbits, but feel that I missed the bulk of the content because there was so much info to cover that went to deep.
I agree with Ben in the sense that these classes are very time consuming and detail oriented, for teachers and students. When the pressure is on to just cover the basics with such a high student population, I wonder how sucessfull AP teaching reallt is?
I didn't see Jessica had already blogged about this article, so I am adding my ideas as a comment:
ReplyDeleteI think the article shows how the A.P. courses are adapting to what colleges say they want to reflect in their A.P. students. That is, they want them to think critically like college students before granting the "Placement" part of the A.P. It also reinforces what we are discussing in Ed Psych, where colleges expect a completely different type of learning style than high schools.
The new approach is important because critical thinking skills are considered essential for advanced college courses and jobs in today’s information-based economy. College administrators and veteran A.P. teachers familiar with the new biology curriculum believe the changes could have significant reverberations for how science is taught in introductory college classes and even elementary school classrooms, and might bring some of the excitement back to science learning.
I liked how it said they were interested in 'deeper' learning (Bruner). Because the A.P. courses had failed to keep pace with research on how people learn: instead of listening to lectures, “more real learning takes place if students spend more time going into greater depth on fewer topics, allowing them to experience problem solving, controversies and the subtleties of scholarly investigation.”