Mining the College Board AP Central Web Site for your New AP Course

Mining the College Board AP Central Web Site for

your New AP Course

Leadership LSO

Gary Carlin

Jan, 2008

NYS Out FrontNew York leads the nation in participation (75%) in Advanced Placement courses.

Of all the state's graduating seniors in 2006, 22.7 percent had scored a passing grade of 4 or higher on at least one AP exam.

New York was the first of only five states in the nation to cross the “20 percent barrier”.

AP Central Home Page• Link to Register or Sign-In

• Main Navigation Menu – Blue Home Bar

- Upper left-hand side, 5 Green Vertical Bars

- My AP Central, AP Courses and Exams, Pre-AP, AP Community, Institutes & Workshops

• Four Section General Information– Features, News, Updates, Also

• http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/Controller.jpf

Registering to AP Central• AP Central Home Page:• You are not signed in....Register or Sign In?

• Click on Register hyperlink• Step 1: Sign Up• Step 2: Customize Your College Board

Experience• Step 3: Confirmation

– In the future you will then Sign In with your account name and password

Navigation Menu• 1. My AP Central

• 2. AP Courses and Exams

• 3. Pre-AP

• 4. AP Community

• 5. Institutes & Workshops

1. MY AP CENTRAL

• Select Either:

• MY AP CENTRAL – List AP courses you indicated you teach and support materials available from College Board.

– OR -

• Personal Preferences – Sign in, then modify Account Information as needed.

1. MY AP Central - CoursesMY AP CENTRAL provides the following links to each AP course you indicated:– Course Descriptions – on Course Home

Page (not always a hyperlink)

– Course Home Page – Exam Questions – see Course Home Page:

Exam Information– Exam Tips – See Course Home Page: Exam

Information– Sample Syllabi – See Course Home Page:

AP Course Information

AP Course Description• A course specific booklet published by the

College Board (download or buy hard copy).• The Course: Prerequisites, Time

Allocations, Textbooks, Topic Outline• The Exam: Sample Multiple Choice, Sample

Free Response (& answers)• Science: Guide for Recommended

Laboratory Program • AP Program Essentials: Reading, Grades,

Support, AP Publications & other Resources

AP Course Home Page

• Contains all the links for a specific AP course in six sections.

- AP Course Information

- Exam Information

- Teaching Resource Materials

- Teachers’ Resources Review

- Feature Articles

- Electronic Discussion Groups

Course Home PageAP Course Information

AP Course Description (Booklet)

AP Teacher's Guide (Book)

AP FAQs - General and by Course

AP Course Perspective (2-3 pages)

Sample Syllabi – 4 different syllabi for 30 different AP courses

Course Home PageExam Information

•    The AP (Course) Exam – link to a short description of the exam content as well as a link to sample M/C questions in the Course Description and the Free Response Questions, Scoring Guidelines, and Student Samples with Commentary (1999-2007).

•  Exam Tips: (Course) - Suggestions from the Chief Reader

Free Response Questions

• Exam Information– The AP Exam description

2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 1999-2002

Questions

Scoring

Samples and Commentary

Grade Distribution

Course Home PageTeaching Resource Materials

• Links to Specific Course Teaching Resources

• Web Guide

• Teaching Tips

• After the Exam

• College Board Products: – Booklets, Books, Manuals, Released Exams

Course Home PageSample Instructional Units

• For AP Science Courses:

• Narrative and Overview for Labs

• Labs, teacher and student versions

• Bibliography of additional lab manuals that can used to create lab experiences

Course Home PageTeachers' Resources Reviews

• Hundreds of reviews of course resources, including:- Textbooks – Web sites– Software, – Multimedia CD-Roms, and more– Each review describes the resource and

suggests ways it might be used in the classroom.

Course Home PageFeature Articles

• Articles that relate to specific AP courses and …– Pedagogy– Equity– Gender– Specific Course Topics– Starting a Course– Generating Interest in a Course– Classroom Issues

Course Home PageElectronic Discussion Groups

• Subscribe to a group ( by AP course) so you may communicate with other members of the AP Central community

– Read and send messages

– Search the archives

– Specify delivery options

Course Home PageSubscribe to AP Newsletter

• Sign-up to receive a newsletter written by the AP Central staff that discusses important program updates and new content items for your specific AP Course.

• Receive automatically via email.

• Bi-yearly

AP Course Audit Box• Teachers submit syllabi and Course Audit forms

for consideration of AP course authorization.

• AP Course Ledger

• AP course authorization is an annual process.

• Course Requirements

• Textbook list

2. AP Courses and ExamsLinks for (* same as previous):

• Course Home Pages*

• Course Descriptions*

• AP Course Audit Information*

• Sample Syllabi*

• Teachers' Resources (Search)

• Exam Calendar and Fees (& Reductions)

• Exam Questions*

• AP Credit Policy Info (search by school)

AP Courses and Exams Teacher’s Resources Search

• Search Words [ ]

• Search by Abstract, Author, Review

• Narrow by

–Content Search

–Type of Resource

–Resource Contents

3. Pre-AP

Links for:

• Teachers' Corner for Pre-AP (by subject)

• Pre-AP: Workshops

• Pre-AP: Publications

• Good resources/materials for prerequisite courses, summer activities, etc.

4. AP Community

• Electronic Discussion Groups

- “created to provide a moderated forum for the exchange of ideas, insights, and practices among AP teachers, Coordinators, consultants, Readers, administrators, and college faculty”.

Link to Become an AP Reader

5. Institutes & Workshops

• Search for PD Opportunities by:• Course/Area

• Date (From/To)

• State/Providence

• Country

AP Summer Institutes

• 5 full day workshops to train new teachers of AP courses (***ESSSENTIAL***).

• Content, Pedagogy, Test, Laboratory Component, Networking, Technology, etc.

• Bronx Sites include: Manhattan College and Fordham University.

AP Grants

• Green NOTICE box (left-hand side)

• Select AP Scholars Awards

• Select AP Grants (blue box –right side)

• Select AP Fellows

• http://professionals.collegeboard.com/k-12/awards/ap-grants/fellows

AP Fellows Program

• March 1, 2008 Deadline

• School: +50% students of color and low income families

• $1000 Scholarship to attend a College Board-endorsed AP Summer Institute.

The College Board Store

• Buying Released Exams– Single $25, package of 10 - $35– Every 3-5 Years

• Course Description• Lab Manual (student/teacher)• Teacher’s Guide• Vertical Teams• Articles• http://store.collegeboard.com/enter.do

On-Line AP Courses

• Apex Learning

http://www.apexlearning.com/

National Repository of Online Courses

http://www.montereyinstitute.org/nroc/nrocdemos.html