Last month marked the end of the notorious AP exams. Everything covered in each AP class curriculum is fair game, and can be put on the test.  AP exams throughout the years have varied in difficulty depending on each test’s focus area.  Generally AP students are at the top of the class, work hard throughout the year, and relentlessly study weeks before their exams.  For the last few years AP exam scores have been particularly low, specifically last year.  Several years ago there used to be requirements and students had to apply to get into some of North’s AP classes, for example AP Psychology.  In recent years, now any student, junior or senior, regardless of their GPA and academic ability can take the class.

  Generally, there is a handful or more of students in AP classes who do not sign up to take the exam.  This is usually because they have low confidence that they will score a 3 or higher.  In addition to the students who do not take the AP exam, there are even more students who take the exam and score extremely low, bringing down the average scores for Middletown North.  What students put in to an AP class is generally what they get out of it.  If a student studies and works hard there is an extremely high chance they will get at least a 3 on the exam, yet for as many students who do well, there are just as many that do poorly.  Begging the question, should AP classes require entry exams again?

  Having less students in each AP class would lead to more one-on-one attention for students making the potential for higher scores higher.  Having the students who really care about the AP classes exclusively will lead to a more focused classroom dynamic making large amounts of material easier to cover.  However on the other side of the argument many students tend to be poor test takers and may have a higher level of intellect than their entry exam scores would indicate.  Additionally, it would be difficult to exclude students who want to take the class purely for interest purposes and to not take the AP exam.  This issue is controversial because both AP students and teachers want more focused students, however, it would be difficult to purposely exclude other students.