Educators Trying to Increase Enrollment in AP Courses

By Jennifer Torres, The Record, Stockton, Calif.

Mar. 5–The discussion in teacher Brittony McCollum’s Advanced Placement English class veered toward poet John Donne’s use of the flea.

Why would the writer choose that insect as a central image over any other?

“Let’s look at language, you guys,” McCollum prompted.

Such discussions, common in AP classes, challenge students to think critically and work harder, McCollum said. And across San Joaquin County, an increasing number of students are taking part in them.

Advanced Placement courses were developed to give students a chance to do college-level work while still in high school. The rigorous classes, in subjects such as statistics, English and psychology, usually lead to challenging tests. Some colleges offer course credit to students with high scores on those tests.

In San Joaquin County, 4,493 students took AP classes in 2004-05, the equivalent of about 24 percent of juniors and seniors. In the 2000-01 school year, the equivalent of about 19 percent did.

Many local educators say they are working to increase those numbers even more. But some researchers warn that the classes might not be the most effective way to prepare students for college.

According to the College Board, the organization that administers AP, one-third of U.S. students will take an AP course while in high school.

“AP curriculum is very rigid, very rigorous,” said Manuel Isquierdo, deputy superintendent for the Stockton Unified School District. “Many students would benefit from that opportunity.”

Chris Taing, a senior at Stagg High School, is taking three AP courses this year: English, calculus and chemistry.

On Wednesday, he discussed the Donne poem and suggested, blushing, that the insect mentioned in “The Flea” evoked a fickle young man, jumping from woman to woman.

Taing, 17, said he has known since his freshman year that he eventually would take AP classes. He started out in honors courses. “This was like the next step.”

Other students might not have such a clear idea, said McCollum, who also teaches a sophomore English class.

“I have a few students there who I think would thrive in a setting like this,” she said. “I have seen students who are not what we think of as AP students do very, very well.”

School district officials throughout the county said enrollment in AP classes is based on student and parent input, teacher recommendations, performance in other classes and, sometimes, tests.

Stagg senior Brittany Coleman, 17, said she hasn’t always earned good grades and didn’t consider high-level classes until a teacher suggested she take honors English as a sophomore.

“I was a little scared, but after I got in and got the hang of things, it was fine,” she said.

In the Linden Unified School District, the equivalent of 31 percent of juniors and seniors took AP classes last year. Three years earlier, only 10 percent did.

Jane Steinkamp, assistant superintendent for instruction at Linden Unified, said the district launched an effort two years ago to boost academic rigor at its high school.

The number of AP courses offered was increased, and more students were prepared to take them.

“If you focus on the fact that a rigorous curriculum will help them be successful, I can’t imagine why having more AP is worse than having less,” Steinkamp said.

Recent studies show mixed results on the effectiveness of AP programs in preparing students for college.

A report from the Texas-based National Center for Educational Accountability found that students who took AP courses, regardless of whether they took and passed the AP tests, were more likely to graduate from college within five years than non-AP students.

Another study, though, from economics professors at Texas Christian University and Mississippi State University found that for most students, taking AP classes did not leave them any more likely to perform well in college than students who didn’t take the courses.

Still, increased competition for college spots has contributed to an AP boom, the authors wrote.

“In what can become a vicious cycle, faculty are stretched to limit teaching advanced courses where their own understanding of the material is just one step ahead of their students,” according to the study. “It is time to consider whether the average student is benefiting from this environment in a concrete way.”

Bob Lee, director of secondary education for the Manteca Unified School District, said the benefits of AP classes outweigh those concerns.

“Our hopes are that Advanced Placement courses are taken by as many students as appropriate and that want to,” he said. “We think that it’s a great opportunity to broaden their scope and dig deeper into subject areas, and help prepare students for educational opportunities after high school.

Stagg senior Coleman said she agreed that average students can succeed in classes traditionally perceived as reserved for the academically above-average.

“If people have the potential to do very well,” she said, “they should not be afraid to take chances, to take risks.”

Contact reporter Jennifer Torres at (209) 546-8252 or jtorres@recordnet.com

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