A recent study issued by the National Research Council, part of the National Academies of Science and Engineering, found high school math and science Advance Placement courses problematic.
The report, which only looked at math and science AP courses, found that they were often poorly taught and tried to cram in too much material.
SNRE sophomore Melissa Gagnier said the AP courses offered in her high school were of low quality.
“The only thing that helped was calculus,” she said. As for her three other AP courses, she “didn”t think they were challenging enough.”
Many students at the University took one or more AP courses in high school.
In his convocation speech for the class of 2004, Ted Spencer, University director of admissions, said “3,250 students received high enough scores on Advanced Placement tests to receive credit at the University.”
The study results raise questions as to whether AP courses should continue to be a significant factor in college admissions.
“Students get credit for taking the most challenging courses,” University spokeswoman Julie Peterson said.
The University uses a selection index that takes into account the strength of a student”s curriculum, Peterson said. AP, International Baccalaureate and honors courses are all “measures that show a higher level of academic work.”
Peterson added the University “has no specific plans to de-emphasize AP courses.” She said AP courses offer many benefits to students, in that they allow students to test out of credits and give them a head start in college.
LSA freshman Ruth Rohrer said her AP Art History course helped to prepare her for college level coursework, as it required a lot of reading and note-taking.
Engineering sophomore Carly Scahill said that she took AP Calculus and passed the exam but didn”t feel prepared for the next level. Despite the fact that she took the class over again, she still thought that taking the AP class was a worthwhile experience.
“It definitely prepared me for college,” she said.
“My high school only offered two, and I took both of them,” LSA freshman Jason Parish said. “They were good classes.”
In spite of the problem within AP classes across the nation, the study reported that the quality of math and science education in American high schools has improved overall as a result of the AP program, and suggested that the program be expanded to include more students from rural and poor urban high schools.