Explain AP classes, syllabi, etc to me, pretty please :)

[Ann.without.an.e]

I know that I cannot call a class AP unless it is taught from an approved syllabus. Do I need to create my own syllabus or are there approved syllabi already available? If so, do I need to do anything to approve my use of that syllabus (submit it to the college board under my school name?) or do I simply supply the already approved syllabus to the college if they ask for it? Can homeschoolers share syllabi or does this somehow go against rules? For example, if I were to teach AP History in a co-op class, could the parents use my approved syllabus? If so, would they need to get it approved and get their own letter of approval or could they just use my letter of approval? If they cannot use my letter approval, is it acceptable for them to submit my syllabus for their own letter of approval? This would be without alteration except for the school name at the top? Someone told me today that you cannot get a syllabus approved unless you are a certified teacher. Is this true?

 

Thanks for helping a gal out :coolgleamA:

[AFwife Claire]

Hmm . . . all I have experience with is biology. There they had 4 sample syllabi online at the college board website. I used some elements of those, but some of my own stuff too. I definitely didn't just copy one wholesale, although I'm not sure if that is okay to do or not. I thought I saw somewhere when I was submitting mine a place where you could submit a syllabus that you thought was a "direct copy" of yours or something like that, like if you were complaining about it. But I could have misread something. I needed my own because I already knew the book I was using, the order I ws teaching things, etc., and those things didn't line up in any of the online syllabi I found.

 

Before looking at the college board website, I searched "AP apporoved biology syllabus" or something. Tons came up, but the vast majority were syllabi that the teachers were sending out in a packet to their students. That gave me ideas for the pacing of the class, but they didn't not include half of what the collage board actually wanted for the official submitted syllabus, which for biology, requires tons of specific examples of how you are going to connect different Big Ideas to each other, and what non-lab activities you are going to use for various learning objectives (at least one for each Big Idea), and which labs you are doing (2 per Big Idea), along with what Scientific Principles you are covering in each lab, as well as a ton of random statements about things like how lab time is 25% of your class, and how you are going to have your kids present lab data. No one puts that stuff on the syllabi they hand out to students, I think!

 

So definitely the first step would be to go to the college board history website and see exactly what the requirements are for a syllabus for history. After you go to the AP whatever history home page, click on the "AP Course Audit" link. They should have some helpful links there that walk you through the process. You actually have to make an account with the college board (you register as a teacher, and your access code is the one for your state--the same one your child uses to take the PSAT), and then submit your syllabus to them. They approve it or send it back with a request for changes. I think you have 2 times to get it right? I can't remember. I submitted mine under my name. That gives me access to secure documents (released practice exams, etc.) under my own audit portal. Very helpful! Oh, and I am most certainly not a certified teacher, so that is a false rumor!

 

I teach my class for a little co-op, and students that take my class can put on their transcript that they took an AP biology class with me as their teacher. Then the college they are applying to could look up my name for whatever year and see if I was approved (I am pretty sure that is how it works, anyway!). The approval email says to keep it for your records. I don't think any other parents need their own approval--YOU are the teacher, so as long as the class is linked to you, it should be okay, and their kids who are taking the class can legitimately call it an AP class.

 

I hope this is helpful!

[regentrude]

I teach my class for a little co-op, and students that take my class can put on their transcript that they took an AP biology class with me as their teacher. Then the college they are applying to could look up my name for whatever year and see if I was approved (I am pretty sure that is how it works, anyway!).

 

I very much doubt the college will go to the trouble to look up whether a class had an approved AP syllabus.

They care whether the student has taken rigorous classwork but will definitely not be checking up on every detail (the thing that really matters is whether the student has passed the AP exam.)

[Joan in GE]

Can homeschoolers share syllabi or does this somehow go against rules? For example, if I were to teach AP History in a co-op class, could the parents use my approved syllabus? If so, would they need to get it approved and get their own letter of approval or could they just use my letter of approval? If they cannot use my letter approval, is it acceptable for them to submit my syllabus for their own letter of approval?

 

I agree with the things Claire wrote and will just add a bit.

 

There is the option of using/sharing an approved syllabus (not that students in your class would need to have a separate syllabus if you are teaching the class, but just in case someone else wanted to use your syllabus)....Then the person who wants to now teach the course can submit that same syllabus (and you click that option in the submission process).

 

In theory, if you found a syllabus that you really liked, you could ask the teacher if you could submit their syllabus. But would the teacher agree to it? I don't know as I haven't tried that approach and there are lots of different teachers out there.

 

You do have to submit the syllabus to the College Board.

 

Otherwise you don't have an approved course where you can label the course "APxxxx". You can go the route of saying History with an AP exam...or something like that. There have been previous threads about this and how beneficial or not it is to have a course actually labeled AP xxx...

 

HTH,

Joan

[beckster]

I just went through the process to get AP Psych and AP US history approved. It is a very easy process. You get an account on the college board website and submit a syllabus. There is a button for using a pre-approved syllabus, or you submit your own. I looked at a bunch of AP syllabi and made prodigious use of "cut and paste"! You have to have an approved syllabus before you can label the class AP, but you have until January of the current school year to get approval. Once your syllabus is approved, there are discussion boards you can join. Those are very helpful!

[daijobu]

You actually have to make an account with the college board (you register as a teacher, and your access code is the one for your state--the same one your child uses to take the PSAT), and then submit your syllabus to them.

 

If you're like me and didn't know your school number, call the help line and tell them that you homeschooling and your state and they'll provide the code.