College Board to Eliminate Four AP Programs by Next School Year

Published 11 April 08 03:26 AM | Student Loan Girl

The College Board’s decision to drop four Advanced Placement classes and subject exams by the end of the 2008–09 academic year is expected to affect about 12,500 students and 2,500 teachers worldwide.

The AP program allows high school students to take college-level courses at their high schools. AP students can earn college credit at most colleges and universities by scoring high enough on national AP tests given at the end of each academic year.

The AP program currently offers 37 courses and exams across 22 subject areas, but officials of the nonprofit College Board have announced plans to eliminate Italian, Latin literature, French literature and computer science AB from the AP program.

Lack of Student Participation Spurs Cuts

The decision came after officials discovered only a fraction of underrepresented minority students take AP exams in those subject areas, writes Education Week reporter Scott Cech (“College Board Intends to Drop AP Programs in Four Subjects,” April 4, 2008).

Italian, which officials say might still be saved if the program receives outside funding, was 400 percent over budget due to the small number of students taking the exams.

“For us, [the question is], are we able to achieve our mission of reaching a broader range of students?” said Trevor Packer, College Board vice president of the AP program.

Budgets of Remaining AP Programs Expected to Grow

Packer said the decision to eliminate the four programs was not connected to the results of a recently released national quality-control audit intended to gauge whether the rapid expansion of the college-preparatory program over the past decade had led to a decline in the rigor for which it has been known.

Of the 146,671 AP courses submitted for review nationwide, 136,853 — 93 percent — were approved, reports The Washington Post (“Nearly All Area AP Teachers Get Passing Grades in Audit,” March 25, 2008).

The 33 remaining AP programs are expected to have their budgets increased.

“We don’t want any AP subject area to be deemed a so-called second-class citizen,” Packer said. “Our top funding requirement should be … professional development and instructional materials.”