Are advanced placement classes really the equivalent of a college course?
That’s a question students must ask when deciding whether possible exemption from introductory college courses is worth the more demanding workload of high school AP courses, which are sponsored by the College Board.
Before teaching AP biology at Ringgold High School, Melanie Keith was a teaching assistant at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. The Ringgold High course is an excellent way for students to prepare for the increased expectations they will face in college, Keith said.
“The class I teach is identical to the college course, except we are more condensed,” she said. “Our labs are very similar to UTC’s. I think they are actually even better, in my opinion.”
Dan Kennedy teaches AP calculus at Baylor School. From 1986 to 1995, Kennedy served on the board that created the end-of-course calculus test, which if passed with a high enough score will be credited as equivalent coursework at many universities.