For the first time, the College Board, which administers the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and Advanced Placement (AP) exams, has implemented a new system for students to apply and track their exams and progress. This new system, known as AP Classroom, is a requirement for AP exam students to sign up for if they want to take their exams.
AP Classroom is a personalized interface in which students can view a report on skills and concepts they need to review, along with their weaknesses and strengths. The system also sends reminders to students when an exam is coming up.
AP U.S. Government and Politics teacher Joe Schwab said, “[AP Classroom] helps us as teachers align with the standards AP requires and can act as a guide in how we teach the course. I can use it to ensure that I am addressing each of those objectives in my daily lessons.”
AP Classroom is making AP class teaching more organized, with a database of free digital resources. AP is gradually evolving into a “cookie-cutter” structured curriculum, in attempts to make the courses more straight-forward and consistent.
“I am using AP Classroom to assign homework material for the students,” AP Statistics teacher Elizabeth Pearson said. AP Statistics is not only conceptual, but also mathematical. With AP Classroom, Pearson has an idea about the wording, specific concepts and test statistics on the real exam in May. “The questions are straight from College Board, so what they do on AP Classroom is pretty close to what the actual exam will be like.”
Initially, students could only register for their exams on one day in their classes, and if they were not available, they would be responsible for contacting their test administrator to register them. Some students neglect their duty and do not sign up until the last minute. With AP Classroom, students can easily sign up for courses online, with only a code provided by their teachers.
The College Board will continue to add more features throughout the entire year and aims to make their AP courses as accessible and well-structured as possible.
