The DeKalb school board recently voted to continue paying for an AP test for students who take a class in what is considered college-level coursework.
Board member Stan Jester questions that investment. He’s not alone. Some independent research on AP courses suggests the program has been oversold.
AP courses are college-level courses created by the College Board and offered in high school. Jester wonders whether AP enrollment is a surrogate measure of quality and whether pushing more DeKalb students into AP courses is an effective strategy, especially given performance on the tests.
“At best, it is giving people a false sense of progress and success at their school. At worst, it undermines instruction in both AP and non-AP classes,” he says. “There is also the opportunity cost. This money could be redeployed to another use that did produce an increase in student success in some way. What is absolutely, specifically clear right now is that the AP exam pass rates at many schools in DeKalb are a robust indicator that something isn’t working well with the district’s emphasis on AP courses and their exams.”
The fee for an AP exam is $93. Some districts assume the cost; many do not. The state of Georgia covers the cost for one AP exam for low-income students. DeKalb has been paying for one test for all its students since 2013 so low-income students get two tests underwritten.
To read more about AP classes, go to the AJC Get Schooled blog.
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