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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Many threads on this here.

GDS dropped AP courses but still offer proctored AP tests. Many faculty in UL classes end up teaching side sessions in April to help kids prep for AP tests.

The irony is that in the official GDS college profile sent to universities, they still list how many kids took AP tests and how many tests taken in total.

Way to walk the talk

For all the "relax guys" GDS hoo ha, they actually further the arms race with stuff like this

"ADVANCED PLACEMENT EXAMS
In May 2022, 80 GDS high school students sat for 113 Advanced
Placement examinations; 38% earned scores of 5, 80% earned
scores of 4 or above, and 91% earned scores of 3 or above."

The reality is that many kids who plan to apply for Top 50 schools started self study taking APs at GDS in junior year. Also kids who planned to apply to UK schools as well as kids who planned to apply to state flagships which increasingly actually do look at APs NOT just for course credit but also as a signal of rigor - especially when they don't know that the cabal of DC schools stopped offering AP courses. And the kids in public schools and many parts of the country are taking 7 - 14 AP tests by end of senior year. For average UCLA or Berkeley admit, i think close to 12 APs....

Longer story but many of the junior class at GDS took at least one AP test last year (the now seniors) - except CC office discouraged this and yet told colleges proudly how many GDS kids took APs. so yeah....there's good consistency for you.

Only this year did this GDS CO start actually telling freshman kids and parents that you should start to plan to take AP tests if you want to apply to UK or get course credit at many US schools (not Ivies)

Until this year, they only told families in junior year and by then it was too late to sign up for junior spring AP tests for self-study so only parents who pushed hard or had outside help even knew to sign up for AP tests for their kids.

[/quote]

I don't get it...I can understand why you may officially drop the AP designation (as a PP listed all the college board nonsense), but the school can still offer all the AP tests you did previously and tell teachers to spend a measly 2 weeks helping kids prep for the test.  I am sure the teachers basically taught the AP curriculum, but it is just like SAT/ACT prep...you spend 2 weeks teaching to the test.

Seems like that is a win-win for everyone.[/quote]

GDS parent here - it seems to me like mixed messaging. The college office seems to dislike AP testing, discourages AP testing, and until this year didn't even discuss it proactively. AND YET, they include AP testing metrics in the college profile sent to universities.

Meanwhile, several of the "old school" faculty still believe in AP testing (even if they don't strictly teach AP curriculum any more...basically rebranded UL courses are 85-90% of AP curriculum as one told me). Those faculty take it upon themselves to organize 2-3 weeks of extra help sessions for kids taking the testing and self-studying.

I just dont understand why they run it this way. It's mind boggling lack of transparency and two sides of the house not speaking to each other. Almost every parent I know is annoyed at this and just wishes the school spoke with one voice and was consistent. Just pick one side and do it. What they are doing is the worst of all worlds. If the spirit is for "equity" then how is it equitable to not tell kids about testing that could benefit applications to UK schools or skipping college 100-level core classes - that's financial and choice equity no? The icing on the including of AP testing results to college reporting when you told the last 3 classes including these seniors to NOT take the tests, On every parent and kid zoom, college office told them last 3 years, "do not take AP tests" - clearly many did and now GDS decides that it's worth reporting that to colleges.

So, AP testing at GDS has become this secret thing that school tries to avoid talking about, downplays even the sign-up emails in October each year etc and yet some teachers actually encourage but very quietly.... I dont know if school is afraid of the lingering impact of DOJ investigation of DMV school collusion allegations, if college office and faculty disagree or it's something systemic around standardized testing that the school's value system doesnt believe in

But it leaves parents -- ok this parent -- wonder what they are doing or if they even realize it?[/quote]

Sounds like many teachers didn’t agree with the decision. I think the school doesn’t want to backtrack now on the theory that it would mean admitting it was the wrong decision.  Actually, admitting that the decision has not played out well with the advent of test optional, or at least acknowledging openly that AP exams are still helpful to students (and not discouraging them),  would show that the school is able to adjust to changed circumstances.   [/quote]

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