Arkansas High School is one of 100 schools selected nationwide by the College Board to pilot a new Pre-Advanced Placement initiative to help students better succeed in college-preparatory classes.
Students in the classes will receive assessments from College Board, according to Diana Lowe, director of K-12 math and science for Texarkana, Ark., School District. She said it's part of the organization's effort to streamline and align instruction to course frameworks nationwide.
"We're going to have what no one else has," Lowe said of the digital unit exams College Board will provide. "We're excited we're going to get their assessments. It's designed to help more of our students pass their AP exams. We're agreeing to be the guinea pigs."
Lowe said the College Board owns the trademark for Pre-AP and this is one way they are taking control of the brand.
"In the past, Pre-AP had been however any school or state defines. They let it go," she said. "Texas and Arkansas have always had Pre-AP classes designed to get these students ready for college and they were of their own design, how we think it prepares them for advanced placement courses. Now, the College Board has decided they're taking it over. They feel like if they provide assessment resources and training themselves, that there will be an increase in equity and access."
Lowe added that AHS will receive curriculum that's more aligned for the Pre-AP students who wish to pursue AP courses through high school. Ten teachers will travel to Atlanta, Ga. for assessment training, she said, to learn how to grade like an AP exam is graded.
"Ninety-nine percent of teachers don't know how to do that," she said. "Another different thing about it is these Pre-AP courses are for regular students, to, not just honor students. Regular kids can take them and be prepared for college level AP the next year. Most see them as an honors class. College Board sees it as every student should have opportunity to take Pre-AP coursework to prepare for college."
Other area school districts, including Texarkana Independent School District, Pleasant Grove and Liberty-Eylau ISDs all offer the courses, with Pre-AP offered in the seventh grade at Texas Middle School.
School districts are not required to have College Board approval for Pre-AP curriculum, but by the fall of 2022, all courses with the Pre-AP label must be approved through a course audit process.
The Pre-AP website states: "Our aim is to create a unified and consistent set of expectations for any course called Pre-AP-including making Pre-AP coursework available for all students-while preserving local flexibility in what is taught. Schools and districts that wish to continue using the Pre-AP designation will have a transition period of up to five years to adapt to these new expectations."
For more information on the
program, go to pre-ap.collegeboard.org.