Same AP Tests, Less Time to Learn: Later School Start Dates Put Students in Crunch for Early-May Exams

By Ann Doss Helms, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.

May 4–Caitlin Baber could save hundreds of dollars in UNC Chapel Hill tuition if she earns high marks on her three Advanced Placement exams this week.

But like college-bound students across North Carolina, she’s trying to master the fast-paced, homework-heavy courses in less time than ever, thanks to a state law that pushed back the start of school. S.C. schools, many of which opened in early August this year, will lose that edge next year when a similar law takes effect.

Students across the country take the national exams the first two weeks of May, regardless of how long they’ve been in school.

Baber, a senior at Gastonia’s Forestview High, had about 13 weeks to cover her second-semester AP courses this year, compared with 17 weeks before. Last year, second-semester courses began when students returned from Christmas break; this year, they started Jan. 23.

The crunch comes as schools such as UNC Chapel Hill demand higher scores for credit.

“The standards are so high that it’s too short of a time to learn what you have to learn,” she said this week.

Frustrated Forestview teachers agree, saying they’re piling on homework, paring back lessons and holding after-hours reviews.

“You have to condense it and condense it and condense it,” said Joseph Jackson, who teaches AP European history, “and the result is you’ve dumbed down the course.”

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, which teaches each course over a full academic year, is feeling the pinch less than districts such as Gaston, which covers courses in one semester. Gaston’s approach, which lets students complete four courses first semester and four others second semester, is more common, N.C. officials say.

Nationally, schools are split over the best time for testing, with a slim majority favoring early May, says Trevor Packer, who heads the AP program.

In decades past, only the academic elite took college-level classes in high school. But the push to close achievement gaps has driven more schools to offer AP courses, and to encourage a wider range of students to take them. Studies have shown that students who do fare better in college than those who don’t, even if they score poorly on the exams.

Students with high scores on several AP courses can graduate early. At N.C. State University, 331 of this year’s freshmen had enough AP credit to shave off a semester, and about 50 of them had a full year’s credit. Tuition and living expenses at State run about $14,500 a year.

But few students save that kind of money, officials at several universities say. Most, they say, use AP credit to skip basic freshman classes and take courses that interest them more.

Strong AP participation creates twists. At many private universities and a few selective state schools such as UNC Chapel Hill, most freshmen have passed some AP exams, Packer said. Those schools teach freshman courses at a more advanced level. Only students with very high AP scores are given credit and allowed to skip the class.

The growing number of schools participating also creates conflict over when to test.

In 2004, the N.C. legislature passed a school calendar law, which took effect this year, forbidding most public schools from opening before Aug. 25. That was a big shift for districts that had opened in early August and dismissed before Memorial Day.

Starting next year, S.C. schools must wait until the third Monday in August to open.

North Carolina’s law was pushed by the tourism industry, which wanted students available in August for family vacations and teen labor. But Connie Wilson, who spearheaded the calendar law as a state representative from Mecklenburg County, said research showed at least 35 states already had late starting dates and their test scores didn’t suffer.

“The complaints really won’t hold water,” said Wilson, who resigned her seat in 2004 to work as a lobbyist for employers.

Meanwhile, Forestview High teachers are holding AP review sessions before and after school, and on weekends.

Nova Lewis, who teaches AP English, says she has spent the first part of the semester focusing on skills that will be tested. She’ll use the month that remains delving into literature.

“My idea is to change the calendar back,” Lewis said, “but of course the state legislature probably isn’t going to come ask me.”

What it Means to You

If you’re among the 42,000 N.C. students taking AP exams, you have less time to prepare this year, because of later school starting dates. The 15,000 S.C. students taking the test face the same problem next year. High scores can earn college credit, boost chances of getting into competitive schools, and save money on tuition and living expenses.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.

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