College Board change AP curriculum to reflect concept-based learning

Jones PitskerStaff WriterThe College Board has made significant changes to Advanced Placement (AP) class curricula that will go into effect and change the way Samo APs are taught beginning next year.According to I-House Principal Renée Semik, the new standards will stress increased conceptual learning, and are intended to streamline AP classes by cutting out some topics previously covered by the courses. Semik said the College Board changed the curriculum of APs in order to make the content more similar to classes taken by college freshmen.According to Semik, the changes were the result of data-driven consideration on the College Board’s part.“AP continually goes through the process of reflection on exams, curriculum and instruction,” Semik said. “They are constantly working with college professors to ensure that the courses and content try to mirror and match college freshman level work.”According to the College Board’s website, AP Biology and Spanish Literature classes will undergo a curriculum change next year that focuses on teaching less content in order to teach the remaining material in more depth. AP Chemistry and Spanish Language will undergo similar changes for the 2013-2014 school year. Other AP classes, however, will not change their curriculum in the near future.According to a representative from the College Board, the changes were made to promote curricula which reflect the current methods of teaching and the content of college classes. The changes to AP Chemistry and AP Biology were made in order to help teachers develop students’ critical thinking skills. The revisions to AP Spanish Literature and AP Spanish Language were made in order to incorporate thematic units and to concentrate on developing skills of communication.According to AP Chemistry teacher Sarah Lipetz, about 10 percent of the current content will be eliminated, and students may be at a disadvantage if some of the material currently taught in AP classes is cut out. This is because colleges will likely expect them to have the knowledge that was previously present in AP curriculum.“I fear that there will be a lag between colleges adopting the new curriculum and high school students learning the curriculum,” Lipetz said. “To be honest, I think I’ll have to teach students the removed material after APs during the first year to make sure they are ready for chemistry classes in college.”For AP Spanish Language teacher Claudia Bautista-Nicholas, the changes to AP Spanish Language curriculum, which will take place in two years, also pose problems. She believes much of her teaching material may become obsolete.“What concerns me is that the materials I have now, in terms of books and short stories, may not be aligned and relevant with the new changes,” Bautista-Nicholas said.According to Bautista-Nicholas, AP Spanish Language, like AP Chemistry, is being slimmed down so that students can learn more in depth about a smaller range of subjects. Bautista-Nicholas said the main problem is that the College Board has not yet released any specific information regarding the changes.“I have no idea what significant changes they’re going to implement, if any,” Bautista-Nicholas said. “All they’ve given me are the new subjects the students need to know, but they are so vague that anything can be connected to them.”According to Semik, the changes are evidence that the program is adapting to modern college demands, and could help students in the long run.“I think that reflection and change are generally good things,” Semik said. “I think it continues to push us all to do better and to learn more. As far as making the classes better, I am thinking that only time and scores will be able to let us know for sure.”Lipetz, on the other hand, has mixed sentiments about the curriculum cuts.“I think there are a few things that are not necessarily the most appropriate concepts for students to understand in the old [AP Chemistry] curriculum, simply because they might be lacking certain aspects of calculus,” Lipetz said. “I think the test will actually be more difficult for students when the changes are made because it’s more conceptual and that’s what they have trouble with the most.”According to junior AP Biology student Raven Bennett, the students who take classes with the curriculum changes will be at a disadvantage because the large amount of information students are currently required to learn better prepares them for college.“Personally, I love AP Biology and I think the level of detail and the number of subjects we learned this year was intellectually challenging and helped me become a better student,” Bennett said. “In college, the reality is one must study to get an A. Making AP Biology and other AP classes cover less so that they don’t require at least an hour of study every night will make next year’s juniors less prepared for college.However, according to Lipetz, eliminating some of the AP curriculum will not make the workload easier.“It’s not going to be less work, but different work,” Lipetz said. “We’re going to be going over less subjects, but we will be teaching the subjects more in-depth than before.”jpitsker@thesamohi.com