John White, the TFA Commissioner of Education in Louisiana, put out a press release celebrating the state’s increased numbers taking AP exams.
Gary Rubinstein looked at the press release and thought it was a joke. The number taking the exam went up, but the scores did not. As Gary writes:
“In this latest press release they call their AP results a ‘surge’ because the number of students ‘taking’ the AP went up by 17% while the NUMBER of students (NOT the percentage) getting a 3 or better went up by 18%. Do they realize that this is meaningless? Those percentages are basically the same number, which is what you’d expect.”
In fact, the SAT scores of black students dropped in all three sections of the test.
How embarrassing! Don’t the folks in Baton Rouge know that people can read and might read more than the press release?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
And just think–Bobby Jindal graduated from Brown and was a Rhodes Scholar.
The blunders by the Louisiana Department of Education is not surprising given their relentless commitment to privatizing public education. The things that have happen in New Orleans to create the most privatized urban public education system in the country is unbelievable.
It is clear that they will do “anything” to make this madness work.
Once the smoke clears and the spin no longer works, folks are going to asked how did could this have happened in America?
They will just invent a new person or thing to vilefy and blame. The free-market, no matter how corruptly implemented, is always “right” by defintion.
Having a “surge” in the number of AP test takers is, in my opinion, an accomplishment, so long as those students are actually taking a College Board-approved class. I remind my AP students that, while I’d love for all of them to pass the exam with a score of 4 or 5, I know that what matters most is how they will take what they’ve learned in my AP class and apply it to their college classes.
However, as a reader of AP exams, I can attest to seeing numerous essays written by students who have had little to no college-level instruction. I suspect that is what’s happened in Louisiana.
I find AP courses to be another revenue stream for the College Board. I took an AP instructor course one summer (three graduate credit hours-a joke) and basically it was a teach to the test seminar. I’m glad I didn’t pay for it and was able to stay for free with my brother and not pay a hotel. Needless to say the instructor struggled with my many questions-ha ha!!
AP, another sorting and separating mechanism to deny certain students access to certain educational opportunities.
Duane,
I’m sorry you had such a negative experience with AP and the College Board. You’re not the first person to express this sentiment. My experience, including attending four week-long summer sessions, has been the opposite. I’ve been able to provide students with a college level experience that doesn’t teach to a test. Also, AP is not a sorting mechanism in my school. Any student who wishes to take on the challenge is welcome in my classroom, and I’ll be there to help him or her get the most out of the course.
And I won’t teach to a test.
I agree with Duane about AP = test prep, especially after the way the College Board has savaged the offerings in my discipline over the past couple of years. My latest AP workshop was all teaching to the test as well.
I have tried with some success to abandon the AP course that I teach and replace it with a concurrent enrollment arrangement with a university in my state. The students get a college-level experience (and transferrable credits), and I get more instructional autonomy (no teaching to the test). The emphasis is placed back on the course rather than on the test.
Based on our test scores you can infer we can’t actually read or do simple math in Louisiana, at least not at LDOE.
Rarely is the question asked: Is our Education Departments learning?
And the answer is HELL NO!
According to my experience here in Louisiana, the press release gets reported by the newspapers and tv, and the people believe it because that’s where they get ALL of their info. No reason to question the media! They repeat the message as per the governor’s wishes. Keep the tea party message alive! Keep Louisiana ignorant at all costs. Keep the money in the pockets of the millionaires. I feel like I’m in Oz.
And that’s why I started my blog, and networking with folks outside of the brainwash zone.
Getting a 3 or better on an AP exam is the equivalent of “passing” the college level course the AP class is supposed to emulate. Granted, the passing rate is atrocious, by the northern, suburban middle class standards I compare my results to, but if 17% more kids took the exams and 18% more passed, that is actually an improvement.
That’s actually just a case for more funding to pay for them. I could have tested out of subjects, but the test are expensive. If Louisiana was really doing a better job preparing our students our remediation rate would go down, not up from 28% to 35% for first time freshman. They also lowered the standards for graduation over this same period. Do you think that could have had an impact? 🙂