A brief history: The Advanced Placement (AP) program begun in the mid-1950s during the "space race," to expose America's top students to college level math and science concepts. The College Board (SAT exam), a non-profit, has run the program since 1955. Like dual-credit courses, students can earn college credit through a qualifying score on an exam in the spring. Unlike community college courses, however, AP courses are meant to be taught at the same level as an undergraduate survey course at a 4 year post-secondary institution. Since the 1950s, AP has ballooned into over 20 different courses, with just over 850,000 high school seniors taking an AP exam in 2010. It is the College Board's belief that any student planning (or seriously thinking about) attending college, should be exposed to at least one AP level course. Currently, Colfax-Mingo students are able to take AP courses through the Iowa Online AP Academy at the Belin-Blank Center. While this is a fantastic opportunity and extends AP's reach into every corner of Iowa, the Iowa Online AP Academy's funding is tied to the state education appropriation each year. At present, the Colfax-Mingo Extended Learning Program covers the cost of the spring AP exam, $87. Next year, two students will take advantage of this opportunity. For comparison, Newton Senior High School, offers five AP courses on-site.
There is no one AP curriculum. AP classrooms across the country look wildly different, but all have two things in common: a college-level curriculum and high expectations. The Iowa Online AP Academy is a year-long course commitment, if you have questions regarding IOAPA enrollment for 2012-2013 feel free to contact me at the high school.
More information on the AP program can be found here:
