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"AP courses and exams have never been validated as admissions tools. They were designed solely for placement purposes."- Bob Schaeffer, public education director for FairTest |
Some new studies question the validity of extra admissions points for AP and IB courses.
A new study done in Texas showed a correlation between taking Advanced Placement (AP) tests in high school and graduating from college. However, as Jay Mathews points out, "Correlation Is Not Causation."
A second study done at University of California makes a similar finding. However, this study was done using a sample of 81,445 freshmen entering UC between 1998 and 2001. UC accepts only the top 12 percent of California high school graduates, which would seem to skew the results since these students are probably highly motivated to begin with.
While both studies may show the importance of advanced college-level course in high school, they also bring up skepticism with regard to assigning extra "points" to the applications of students who have taken AP and IB.
Bob Schaeffer, public education director for FairTest, the National Center for Fair & Open Testing, thinks the questions raised by the CA study are good. "Information from an applicant's high school record should be used only for the purposes for which it has been validated," Schaeffer said. "AP courses and exams have never been validated as admissions tools. They were designed solely for placement purposes."
Trevor Packer, executive director of the College Board's AP program, also thinks the study brings up valid points. He thinks lassrooms that insist on students tackling college-level material and taking the AP exam produce better effects on college graduation than classrooms where the AP label has been slapped on a mediocre course that shuns AP exams but gets its students that extra grade point to make their UC applications more impressive.
College-level courses in high school may make students more prepared and better able to handle college, but, these studies seem to point out, they shouldn't be limited to traditional "A" students, but open to all. Read more at The Washington Post.
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