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Home > Features > How Do We Define Success in AP?
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How Do We Define Success in AP?
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by Frazier L. , O'Leary, Jr.
Teacher
Cardozo High School
Washington, District of Columbia
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| | What is the definition of a successful AP student? Many schools feel that doing well on the AP Exam is the sole mark of success in the AP Program.
I teach AP English Language and Literature at Cardozo High School, a public high school in Washington D.C. Our student population is predominantly African-American with a large Latino minority and a significant number of Asian (mostly Vietnamese) students. With few exceptions, my students become the first members of their families to attend college after they graduate.
My students come to the AP classes for many different reasons, by many different routes, and with many different levels of competence. Some are dragged in kicking and screaming because of high PSAT or other standardized test scores. Some come through teacher recommendations. Some choose to take the course because they accept the AP challenge.
All are required to write an extended essay explaining why they wish to be in the class (or in some cases why they do not wish to be in the class). We are convinced that all of the students will benefit from the rigors of the course, and the feedback that we receive from them after they go off to college lets us know that our direction is true. I have had students in the course improve their skills dramatically throughout the year and still score a 1 or a 2 on the AP Exam in May. In other settings, these students would probably not have even been allowed access to an AP class, but our administration believes the entire AP experience is too valuable to be exclusive.
We feel the experience that our students have with literature and the increased sophistication of their critical writing skills is more important than their scores on the exam. This does nothing to shortchange the preparation for the exam. We understand how important passing the exam is, and the entire year focuses on the techniques and strategies that will allow our students to be successful.
Our valedictorian this year is a perfect example of how the inclusive nature of our AP classes benefits students who otherwise may have never had the chance to be in an AP class. Lee Alderman graduated with a 3.91 GPA and earned A grades in both AP Literature and AP Calculus. In many programs, he would not have been accepted into the AP Program because he was a special education student. His classmates and teacher would have missed sharing his insight and intelligence because of arbitrary guidelines that would have excluded him.
We feel that widening the parameters for admittance into AP allows more students the opportunity to be challenged in a college-level course, prepares them to be better college students, and allows them to challenge themselves in an educational arena as never before. |
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