Many years ago, when I took one of those week-long master classes in how to teach an AP class, the instructor (of a College Board sanctioned class) stressed that the AP should be for the top students who live and breathe a subject. Thus, not only should the classes be selective and small, but the incidence of a student's taking more than 2 AP classes should be low -- how many students really see 4 subjects as the end-all and be-all of their academic interests.

At the same time, it seems, school "quality" is judged by the number of students enrolling in AP classes, and AP's on a transcript become the sine qua non of college acceptance. It is all part of this game to market students by having the right words on their transcripts regardless of their skill and interest level. Instead of being content being an Honors student with the isolated AP to show a specific area of love, skill and interest, students now have to be in every AP class available in order to compete, even though success int eh class does not necessarily get the student anything in terms of credits, abbreviated college stays or even success in college.

It is all a sad, sad game. If I felt that college admissions here would not be hurt by abandoning the AP system, I would dump it in a second -- not because true AP classes aren't rewarding, but because the system has become corrupt and useless. When I applied to schools, colleges didn't know my AP scores and results until I applied to get credits for them after Freshman year. Now they are part of the application process. That's just plain wrong.

How can I stress education when I am pushing testing, and how can I encourage exploration when students have to take classes for show.

It is interesting to read the above results regarding Advanced Placement students and their success in higher education. I am a proponent for early college programming and realize that it begins in elementary school. I am not necessarily a proponet of taking the exam and feel it is the student's choice. I would be interested in reviewing data of students who took an AP exam, but never took an AP course.

Many years ago, I too, took one of those week long summer courses on the techniques and practices for teaching Advanced Placement classes. I was fortunate to live in a state that required such training. At the time, the College Board did not have course audits, so the training provided consistency and continuity for coursework. I have since moved to a state that requires no training to teach an AP course. It has been a "given" that the district teachers with seniority would have the first option to teach the AP classes, rather than the teachers who have had recent coursework, advanced trainings or workshops, etc.

Having been a principal in a strong AP school, and a state department of education curriculum & instruction specialist overseeing Advanced Placement, Concurrent (Dual) Enrollment and International Baccalaureate programs throughout our state, consistency is important, as well as knowledge of higher education equivalent coursework. I worked closely with the College Board and had numerous visits each year from a College Board Senior Educational Manager, who was kind enough to present to our states Principals and Superintendents who were interested in programming. She stressed that students must be prepared for AP courses but it was the College Boards policy to be inclusive, not exclusive for students, and that all students should have the opportunity to take an AP course. With this philosophy, it is one's hope that K-12 curricula is preparing these opportunities of choice for all of today's high school students.

With the popularity of Newsweeks' Challenge Index and Jay Matthews ranking the nations best high school based on AP statistics, and more recently, IB data, little is left to wonder why the program isn't growing. Having the opportunity to review courses and data at a state level, there is much discrepancy in the manner in which AP classes are accepted at universities. It is the decision of the university to interpret the credit, rather than a standard set by the Board of Regents. Unfortunately, I have witnessed an AP course given no university credit, equivalent university credit, or humanities-elective-general ed credits in the amount of up to 8 credits per course. I would encourage all students considering a university, to review the policy for accepting AP and IB credits.

Mel Riddile is correct in the fact that a college equivalent AP course is covered in a year of high school versus a semester of college. For years I have told students that it is a great transition course, but may not necessarily prepare a student for the rigor of college. Yet in some cases, high school instructors are much more demanding than a college professor.

In addition to AP and IB, there is a definite place in a high school curriculum for concurrent or dual enrollment. As hard as we try, we do not have a final say in transferring coursework, but to leave high school with an associates degree or a college transcript, works wonders for transferring equivalent credit.