Excellence in AP Physics at Eisenhower

Eisenhower High School, like all of District 218, has experienced phenomenal growth and improvement in Advanced Placement courses: For seven straight years, more students passed AP exams in 2016 than the year before.

Eisenhower also celebrated another record number of AP Scholars, students recognized nationally for exceptional performance on exams, earlier this semester.

Teachers have encouraged students to embrace the challenge of AP classes, helped them to discover that they can do the work, and provided the expertise for them to excel. Teachers like Tierney Smith, pictured here, whose students performed exceptionally last spring on the physics exam.

Tomorrow and Friday, we will share video from an electronics lab in AP Physics 2.

"The class is challenging there is no doubt about it. However I try to balance the difficulty with fun. We do cool experiments, awesome field trips, and I make myself very accessible to them for help any time they
need it," she said.

Ironically, she does not think too much about test results.

"My main philosophy of the class doesn’t relate at all to their score on the AP test. I really just want to make them better prepared to be successful in college," she said.

When asked to talk about how she strategically helped her students to prepare for the AP exam, she touched on several points of focus.

"My approach is really to let them discover the physics for themselves. We do a massive amount of labs. After each lab I take a day to make sure they understood the learning outcomes of the lab," she said.

And like all AP teachers, she never forgets that students know they kinds of questions they will see on the exam.

"I try to model questions similar to the AP tests on all forms of assessment. However, I really think setting high expectations is key," she said.

The course, while challenging, rewards those who enroll.

"I frequently remind them they chose to take an AP class and that I expect a great deal out of them but promise they all will be better prepared for college as a result," Mrs. Smith said.