AP Courses Have Lost Some Meaning

Re “When Testing Trumps Learning,” by Deborah Stipek, Commentary, May 16: Advanced Placement courses no longer hold the meaning they were intended to hold. As a senior at Cerritos High School, I have taken four AP courses and five honors courses in my four years in high school, and I must admit that the reason for taking so many rigorous courses is to help myself gain admission into the college of my choice.

Three of my four AP courses were in European history, U.S. history and U.S. government and politics, and I have no particular interest in history or in politics. However, today, in order to gain admission into an “exceptional” university, it is necessary to take these AP courses. From my own experience, I took each course not to learn something because I enjoy the subject, but to learn it and then pass the AP exam, hoping to gain college credit.

In the AP courses I have been in, the courses are structured for the student to pass the tests; they’re fairly time-consuming, stressful and cause sleepless nights. Sometimes, it feels as if one would learn more and have more fun in a regular college-prep class. In some cases, even teachers are absorbed into the AP frenzy that goes on; in order to have a high pass rate, some teachers suggest to students not to even bother signing up for the exam.

The AP system has been misused greatly, it has lost its original purpose and, as we go into the future, more and more AP courses are going to be available in numerous high schools. I believe that the only way for AP courses to regain their true use is if universities end the expectation of students taking AP courses. Once this ends, AP classes will truly be devoted to helping students gain more knowledge in the subject of their interest instead of helping students get into college.

Jane Lee

Cerritos

*

As a former AP U.S. history teacher, I have to agree with Stipek’s comments that AP courses are designed for one purpose--to help students pass the test. Unfortunately, I have also found that my students’ purpose for taking AP U.S. history is to get the subject “out of the way” in college, for more “important” subjects like science and business.

The disheartening results are evident throughout our society, where the lack of appreciation and understanding of our past results in an unclear vision of our future.

John L. Uelmen

Newbury Park