Why should my child enroll in

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Westside High SchoolAdvanced Placement

• Why should my child enroll in
• Pre-AP and AP courses?

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What is Advanced Placement (AP)?

• Sponsored by The College Board
• Cooperative endeavor between secondary schools
  and colleges and universities
• Provide students with the opportunity to take
  college-level courses while still in high school
• Students gain college-level skills
• May earn college credit

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AP and College Success

• One of the best standard predictors of academic
  success at Harvard is performance on Advanced
  Placement Examinations.
• Bill Fitzsimmons
• Dean of Admissions Financial Aid
• Harvard University

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Factors InfluencingCollege Admission Decisions
NACAC Admission Trends Survey, 2001
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Impact of AP on 5-Year College Graduation Rates
Source Chrys Dougherty, Lynn Mellor, and Shuling
Jian, The Relationship Between Advanced Placement
and College Graduation (National Center for
Educational Accountability, 2006)
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University of California Research (2004)

• After creating a pool of similar students by
  removing differences of GPA, school quality,
  parental education level, and family income
• This study emphatically supports the conclusion
  that AP Examinations are among the very best
  predictors of college performance. . . . The
  subject-specific, curriculum-intensive AP exams
  are the epitome of achievement tests, and their
  validity in predicting college performance should
  not be surprising.
• The Role of Advanced Placement and Honors
  Courses in College Admissions, by Saul Geiser
  and Veronica Santelices (2004).

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Why AP??

• Rigorous curriculum
• Potential to earn college credit
• Extra point towards GPA
• Strength of schedule on college applications

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Pre-AP Classes at Westside

• English 1 and 2
• World Geography
• Algebra 1
• Geometry
• Algebra 2
• Pre-Calculus
• Biology

• Chemistry
• Computer Science
• Spanish 2 and 3
• French 2 and 3
• German 2 and 3
• Latin 2 and 3
• Art 1, 2, and 3

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AP Classes at Westside

• English Language
• English Literature
• Human Geography
• World History
• European History
• U.S. History
• Economics
• Government
• Psychology
• Calculus AB
• Calculus BC
• Art History

• Statistics
• Biology
• Chemistry
• Physics
• Environmental Science
• Computer Science A and AB
• Spanish Lang and Lit
• French Lang and Lit
• Chinese Lang and Culture
• Japanese Lang and Culture
• German Language
• Latin Lit and Vergil
• Studio Art

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The AP Exams

• Each year in May two weeks
• Dates and times set by the College Board
• Registration in early February
• Given in the gyms
• Cost - 54 (5 if the student is on free/reduced
  lunch)

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Westsides AP History
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How does my child get into PAP/AP classes?

• Westside has adopted the College Boards policy
  of open enrollment in AP/PAP courses
• A student simply indicates the course(s) on the
  course selection sheet
• AP Potential

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• Questions?
• Westside AP Coordinator
• Stephanie Matlock
• 281-920-8022
• smatlock_at_houstonisd.org