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EDUCATION
March 24 - 30, 2016 • Page 18A
£
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remain contested despite recent success
AP exams
by R. Scott Belzer
sbelzer@dekalbchamp.com
Despite recent
accomplishments, Advance
Placement (AP) exams
remain a contested topic in
the DeKalb County School
District (DCSD).
Due to recent district
approval for the purchasing
of exams, one DeKalb
County board of education
member, Stan Jester, has
contested whether or not
the tests warrant tax dollar
spending.
AP exams are taken
by students at the end of
every school year after
completing college level AP
courses. Course subjects
range from art history to
statistics and are designed
to test students’ knowledge
after a year of study.
Opportunities are available
in 37 courses, which often
vary from school to school.
According to The
College Board, the
company responsible
for AP coursework, the
classes and subsequent
tests “ensure college-
level learning is being
assessed.”
Students are graded
on a 1 to 5 scale after
taking a test made up of
multiple choice and free
response questions. A
score of 5 recognizes a
student as “extremely
well qualified” in a subject
whereas a score of 1
classifies a student under
“no recommendation.” Most
American colleges grant
course credit to students
who score a 3 or higher.
“I contend that students
who voluntarily choose
to take AP courses and
exams are the types of
students that are already
better prepared and highly
motivated,” Jester wrote
on March 6. “Success in
college, perhaps, is not
attributed to the AP class
and exam, but to the
personal characteristics
that led them to participate
in the class to begin with.”
Achievements relating
to AP exams in DeKalb
County for the 2014-
2015 school year were
announced on March 11.
DCSD boasted 12 out of
22 district high schools
have been recognized by
the Georgia Department
of Education and placed
on the AP honors list.
Approximately 41 percent
of students throughout the
district were able to score
a 3 or higher, a percentage
that has steadily risen since
the 2010-2011 school year
(31.7 percent).
“We are proud of
this latest example
of how the district is
preparing students for
their first year of college,”
said superintendent
Stephen Green in the
announcement. “On behalf
of the school district, I
congratulate the students
and teachers for their hard
work and dedication.”
The announcement
came four days after a
March 7 meeting at which
the DeKalb County Board
of Education approved a
$310,000 purchase for one
AP exam for every student
enrolled in an advanced
course. This coincides
with the State of Georgia’s
commitment to pay for
one AP exam per student
enrolled in free or reduced
lunch, meaning students
participating in free or
reduced lunch had one
extra exam.
On March 7, Jester
said he was “at odds with
the efficacy” of purchasing
exams during the Board of
Education’s work session.
Jester went further
on his blog, factchecker.
stanjester.com, including
an interview with Knox
Phillips, director of
research, assessment and
grants at DCSD, who was
able to answer questions
regarding concerns
over district rationale in
purchasing the exams.
Phillips cited studies
linking AP exam success to
further success in college.
“[One study] found that
students who successfully
participated in one or more
AP exams and courses
significantly outperformed
their non-AP peers,”
Phillips said. “Students
who took one or more
AP courses and exams
had higher college GPAs,
earned more credit hours
and were more likely to
graduate in four years or
less. The findings indicate
that even AP students who
took the course and scored
two out of a possible five
points on an AP exam will
still tend to do better in
college than a student who
did not take AP courses or
who skipped the AP exam.”
Phillips was able to
provide six specific studies,
but Jester remained
unconvinced, stating The
College Board funds such
research and “financially
benefits from more test
takers.” Jester also claimed
the research was not
peer reviewed and did not
take into account enough
variables.
“This was not an
independent piece of
scholarly research,”
Jester wrote. “Additionally,
researchers at Harvard
and the University of
Virginia did not find
significant difference in
college outcomes between
students taking AP courses
and those that did not.”
On March 7, Green
pointed out that “AP
stands on its own merit,”
independent of any study.
The superintendent said
anything the district
could do to increase the
standard in the classroom
should meet overwhelming
approval.
“Maybe I’m biased
because I worked for
The College Board for
eight years,” Green said.
“Numbers of studies have
been done about the
impact and influence of
these rigorous instruction
programs. At the end of the
day, students are better off
having been in them.”
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