The Common Core should not affect AP courses if AP courses are taken after core courses in the same subject, which is what the College Board has been advocating for decades. Only schools that ignore the College Board's advice and use AP courses as core courses should have any trouble. Unfortunately, many high school students take AP Physics as their first physics course. AP Calculus, on the other hand, is taken by students who have already completed prerequisite high school math courses.
Daniel Crowe
Loudoun County Public Schools
Academy of Science
dan.crowe@lcps.org
________________________________________
From: Phys-l [phys-l-bounces@phys-l.org] on behalf of Ze'ev Wurman [zeev@ieee.org]
Sent: Friday, July 12, 2013 11:12 PM
To: Dan Crowe; Phys-L@Phys-L.org
Subject: [Phys-L] Common Core, calculus, and AP physics
This is what School Superintendents are hearing from the College Board.
David Coleman, on of the two architects of the Common Core, has been
recently appointed to head the College Board (home of AP and SAT) and
promised to "align them" with the Common Core. Trevor Packer is the
College Board Senior VP in charge of the AP program.
This seems to say rather clearly that the College Board thinks that
under the Common Core the chances of high school students taking
calculus are rather slim. Further, it is unclear what is the "algebra"
that the College Board thinks can be offered as a "college" course
(which is what AP is supposed to represent).
Some may like it, others not, but if the Common Core comes to pass one
wonders what kind of AP physics will still be offered in the high school.
/Despite these measures, there are still difficulties in reconciling
many AP courses with the Common Core. In particular, AP Calculus is in
conflict with the Common Core, Packer said, and it lies outside the
sequence of the Common Core because of the fear that it may
unnecessarily rush students into advanced math classes for which they
are not prepared./
/The College Board suggests a solution to the problem. of AP Calculus
"If you're worried about AP Calculus and fidelity to the Common Core, we
recommend AP Statistics and AP Computer Science," he told conference
attendees./
/Moreover, the College Board may offer an AP Algebra course (although no
plans are definite), which may supplant AP Calculus, particularly in
schools rigidly adhering to the Common Core standards./