Excellent WSJ Article on AP

Follow this to the article. Here was my comment. I am a retired math professor who, for years, taught gifted high school students that had completed AP calculus and who went on to attend elite schools.  I have a blog (See below.) where, by clicking on the category “AP”, you can read about AP courses, […]

Are High School Students – And Their Parents – Misled About Their Math Knowledge? Probably.

I just read an online discussion by high school students.  They were wondering how today’s math courses compare to the ones in the 60’s. I attended high school in the sixties and took the most advanced course that my East Texas town of 35,000 had to offer; and, of course, I grew up with people from that era, so […]

On Mark Bauerlein’s Commentary in “The Chronicle of Higher Education”

In his Commentary “Give AP Credit Where Credit Is Due”, Professor Bauerlein explains how he “…chaired a group of high-school and college English teachers charged … with reviewing and revising the standards for…” an AP course.  (See his entire commentary at http://chronicle.com/article/Give-AP-Credit-Where-Credit-Is/137543/) Prof. Bauerlein writes that there “…was a deliberate, two-year process. For instance, we examined the results […]

Even More On AP Courses – From the New York Times

Today (January 18th) Tamar Lewin reported in the NY Times that Dartmouth will stop giving AP Credit.  What is more important is what Dartmouth found when they looked into how well students with a 5 on the AP had actually learned.  You can read that here: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/18/education/dartmouth-stops-credits-for-excelling-on-ap-test.html?_r=0 The article goes on to report that “…The […]

More on AP Courses

Here is a quote from CalTech’s description of its Freshman math course: “…The typical high school courses, and the AP tests themselves, are woefully inadequate in explaning, or testing, why things work and how to justify one’s propositions…” The link to the where I got this quote is: http://www.math.caltech.edu/~2011-12/1term/ma001a/#des This is, of course, CalTech, but […]

AP Calculus Courses Discussion on NPR

I commented on the “Talk of the Nation” show: “Op-Ed: AP Classes Are One of America’s ‘Great Frauds’”.  It is based on a piece by Mr. Tierney that appeared in the Atlantic.  My comments are about 6 minutes into the show.  Here is a link to the NPR program: http://www.npr.org/2012/12/03/166414595/op-ed-ap-classes-are-a-scam