Should HHH Restrict AP Designation to Test Takers Only?

Week one of Advanced Placement (AP) exams in Half Hollow Hills is almost over, which puts Hills East seniors Jacob Henner and Joshua Shinbrot between a rock and a hard place.

At $87 per exam, the tests. Shinbrot, who will be a freshman at Georgetown University this fall, is in a similar position.

Since their chosen universities are particularly selective, they do not accept AP test credits for several of the AP courses the seniors have taken, even with perfect scores. The pair would prefer to put the money they would be spending on the exams toward their college funds. However, a Half Hollow Hills School District practice places the pair in a position where they have to take the exams in order to have the "AP" designation included on their high school transcripts. 

If an HHH student completes all requirements for an AP class, but decides not to take the correlating exam, they will have "College" instead of "AP" in the course subject line written on his or her transcript.

The phrasing presents several potential problems for students. One is that some courses offered by the school district are actually branded "College" courses, but have a lower level of difficulty than AP classes. This could result in a student being perceived to have taken a less advanced course than he or she did. Another issue for students is that colleges may not recognize that a course labeled "College" in Half Hollow Hills is the AP class, which may pose a roadblock during the college admission process.

John O’Farrell, assistant superintendent
 for secondary education, defended the district’s policy. He explained that the reason behind the transcript designation is due to a looming concern that the district would not be allowed to offer AP courses in the future if more and more students chose not to take the tests each year.

"We understand the situation Jake and Josh are in with regards to their AP examinations. The reality is that some colleges and universities are becoming more selective about granting credit for these courses and the district will be addressing this issue in the future. Our long-term concern is for the integrity and viability of our AP program if students do not participate in these exams,” he said.

However, program directors at College Board told Patch that the number of students who actually sit for an AP exam has no bearing on whether a district will be able to offer the AP courses in the future.

“Schools are required to complete the AP Course Audit in order to affix the AP label on students’ transcripts. This is to ensure that any course carrying the AP name does in fact meet the course requirements outlined in AP course and exam descriptions. The College Board does not impose any further requirement that students take the AP exam in order for AP to appear on their transcript,” Deborah Davis, Director of College Readiness Communications, said.

*This article has been updated.

Should HHH Restrict AP Designation to Test Takers Only? Tell us in the comments below.