The author shares his experience in effecting change in an AP English Literature and Composition course by employing book trailers as an assessment. Using multimodal responses fostered a shared classroom space that combined the students' preferred, everyday communicative modes with the canonical literature study required by the curriculum. This…

This report summarizes district Advanced Placement (AP) test results in 2017. AP test results may be used by higher education institutions to place students in courses and extend course credit to students who obtain high scores on the examinations.

Research shows that when students have access to advanced coursework opportunities, they work harder and are more engaged in school, have fewer absences and suspensions and higher graduation rates. Unfortunately, many Black and Latino students and students from low-income backgrounds lack equitable access to advanced coursework opportunities, such…

This report summarizes the Austin Independent School District Advanced Placement (AP) test results in 2018. AP test results may be used by higher education institutions to place students in courses and extend course credit to students who obtain high scores on the examinations

This document contains a model policy for the creation of a portfolio of options for accelerated college credit courses. This model legislation outlines a variety of accelerated college credit courses to be available within each public high school. This policy does not include the funding mechanism for accelerated college credit, but it is…

As a veteran pedagogue of AP World History courses who integrates the aesthetics within my instruction, I have witnessed how this integration has helped my students advance their emotional intelligence, develop historical literacy skills, and obtain a three or better in the AP World History exam. (Five is the highest score that students can…

Teachers are eager for professional development on teaching evolution, especially if it includes direct ties to relevant curricula and detailed lesson plans. Howard Hughes Medical Institute's BioInteractive Online Professional Learning: Evolution course was developed to provide educators with free, in-depth, multimedia resources that highlight…

Test-optional and test-blind admissions policies accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic would appear to imperil College Board's SAT college-entrance exam, the rival ACT, and their respective parent organizations. This state of affairs follows years of complaints that the exams favor the affluent. And, in fact, both of the notoriously secretive…

A significant corpus of research now consistently confirms that school leadership is the second most important in-school variable to impact on student outcomes. Investing in leaders and aspiring leaders is therefore an imperative for schools and school systems. However, much of the educational leadership research emerges from national systems of…

When our school implemented AP Physics 1, I wanted to include a project that would extend over time, use more advanced data analysis, and teach students about handling experimental error. Using a donated 5-inch Newtonian telescope and an entry-level digital camera, the students gathered data from digital images of the four Galilean moons, Io,…

This report provides outcomes for Austin Independent School District (AISD) graduates from the Class of 2018 who were ever classified as English learners (ELs) in terms of advanced coursework, college readiness assessments, and postsecondary enrollment.

As a high school AP Physics 1 and 2 teacher, Sean Crumley wanted to create a curricular unit that would authentically connect literacy, opportunities for writing, and science standards while engaging a 21st-century student. This article provides an example of how Crumley incorporated writing into one of his AP physics units, and it could serve as…

Electric potential is one of the most challenging concepts taught in high school physics classes due to the abstract nature of the concept. When taught, electric potential is often taught using a poorly triangulated set of instructional analogies, each possessing different strengths and limitations. Within this paper we share our learning from a…

This document contains a model policy for an advanced placement (AP) incentive program. The model legislation stipulates conditions relating to full-time equivalent student membership values and district funds allocation; teacher bonuses; and annual appropriation limit. A brief list of decision issues and corresponding model recommendations are…

Teaching and reading literature are commonly viewed as contributing to the cultivation of empathy. This article presents critical and pedagogical approaches to test this view and suggests a distinction between low-level, simple empathy inspired by the reading and teaching of "The Tortilla Curtain" and a more complex, self-critical…