Pre-AP classes???

[klmama 6,558]

I was looking at a college website which said all high school grades are weighted on a 4.0 scale except Pre-AP, Honors, and AP courses, which are weighted on a 5.0 scale.  I thought Pre-AP just meant it was a college prep class, but I don't see why a standard college prep class would have the same weight as an AP course.  Does Pre-AP mean something more?

[wapiti 7,304]

.

[Farrar 64,558]

My understanding is that a lot of Pre-AP classes are the first part of the information for the class, especially for AP's that cover a lot of content. I can't get over how silly this new thing is, but I suppose we'll all be used to it eventually.

[medawyn 2,408]

AFAIK, Pre-AP has no approved curriculum, although that might have changed in the past 5 yrs.  I taught a Pre-AP English class when I taught 8th grade, and I taught mostly the same materials as my core classes with different expectations about output and discussion.    I didn’t have to get my syllabus approved to call it Pre AP.  

4 hours ago, wapiti said:

No, Pre-AP is just an honors class with a trademarked name and presumably an approved curriculum.

[wapiti 7,304]

9 minutes ago, medawyn said:

AFAIK, Pre-AP has no approved curriculum, although that might have changed in the past 5 yrs.  I taught a Pre-AP English class when I taught 8th grade, and I taught mostly the same materials as my core classes with different expectations about output and discussion.    I didn’t have to get my syllabus approved to call it Pre AP.  

I had it all mixed up; my apologies.

https://pre-ap.collegeboard.org/frequently-asked-questions

Quote

Is Pre-AP an honors program?
No. Pre-AP is a program designed for all students. The courses are intended to be the baseline standard course in their subject areas. All students deserve the opportunity to develop the foundation necessary for college readiness and AP coursework.  

Quote

What does Pre-AP for all students mean?
It means that participating schools offer the courses to all of their students. Pre-AP courses should serve as the baseline standard course in their subject areas for all students across the whole grade level. Only students who require significant accommodations may be exempt from participation at the school’s discretion. Note: If a state’s policy mandates that schools cannot require students to take a college preparatory course, that policy supersedes the Pre-AP policy, and schools may adjust accordingly. If this policy applies to you, we do ask that participating schools give students “open access” to Pre-AP, with no barriers to participation (e.g., test scores, grades in prior coursework, teacher or counselor recommendation, etc.).

Quote

Can I teach Pre-AP with any textbook?
Yes. Pre-AP courses are designed to sit alongside your existing textbook and local curricular resources, but you will need to confirm the alignment of these materials to the course requirements.  

Quote

Is the Pre-AP designation granted to the school or the course?
Pre-AP designation is granted at the course level.

My school or district offers Pre-AP courses now. How will this affect us?
Beginning in fall of 2022, all courses labeled Pre-AP must be submitted and approved through the Pre-AP course audit process. Schools can continue utilizing the same resources they have developed for their local pre-AP courses but will no longer be able to call them Pre-AP in fall 2022.

Our aim is to create a unified and consistent set of expectations for any course called Pre-AP—including making Pre-AP coursework available for all students—while preserving local flexibility in what is taught. Schools and districts that wish to continue using the Pre-AP designation will have a transition period of up to four years to adapt to these new expectations.

Do all teachers teaching a Pre-AP subject have to attend the four-day professional learning workshop or can a lead teacher attend and redeliver?
All new Pre-AP teachers will need to attend the four-day, face-to-face professional learning workshop

 

[Farrar 64,558]

This stuff just ticks me off.

It's all part of the glorification of AP courses over everything else. And lets the College Board get their paws all over middle school classes too.

[fourisenough 2,583]

10 minutes ago, Farrar said:

This stuff just ticks me off.

It's all part of the glorification of AP courses over everything else. And lets the College Board get their paws all over middle school classes too.

ITA! Pretty soon, they’ll have their stamp on the whole education market from cradle to college. So maddening.

[MarkT 1,538]

23 hours ago, klmama said:

I was looking at a college website which said all high school grades are weighted on a 4.0 scale except Pre-AP, Honors, and AP courses, which are weighted on a 5.0 scale.  I thought Pre-AP just meant it was a college prep class, but I don't see why a standard college prep class would have the same weight as an AP course.  Does Pre-AP mean something more?

Why would a college website have the weightings?  Around here in AZ all the public, private and charter high schools use this weighting for their transcripts:

• AP  5.0  A
• Honors / Pre-AP  4.5  A 
• all others 4.0  A

Does that particular college recalculate each applicant - that's crazy.

The schools that use the term Pre-AP now may have to change - referring to post above.

 

[klmama 6,558]

Yes,  they recalculate to be fair in how they assess everyone instead of just accepting whatever scale the high schools use.  I've seen it listed the other way on sites, too - that all grades will be refigured as unweighted on a 4.0 scale.

[Roadrunner 7,899]

I have never heard of this before. 

Soon College Board will be synonymous to Department of Education. Sigh.

[Farrar 64,558]

4 hours ago, MarkT said:

Why would a college website have the weightings?  Around here in AZ all the public, private and charter high schools use this weighting for their transcripts:

• AP  5.0  A
• Honors / Pre-AP  4.5  A 
• all others 4.0  A

Does that particular college recalculate each applicant - that's crazy.

The schools that use the term Pre-AP now may have to change - referring to post above.

 

Because they look at different students from different states, my understanding is that a LOT of schools recalculate according to their formulae. It makes sense too. If you're an AZ ps student applying to a public AZ uni, then of course they don't need to recalculate. But they're going to have students from other states with slightly different rules. Some states, for example, weight honors as 5.0 and AP's as 6.0. Some places, it's by district and different. This way, they get to see a more fair comparison of GPA's. This is why honors vs. AP vs. regular matters when you do your transcript, but you can decide to weight it however you like, because the colleges will decide how to consider it anyway.

[Roadrunner 7,899]

Our district I believe weights AP and Honors the same - 5.0

[RootAnn 14,700]

2 hours ago, Farrar said:

This is why honors vs. AP vs. regular matters when you do your transcript, but you can decide to weight it however you like, because the colleges will decide how to consider it anyway.

:I agree: <- imagine this is the old emoticon

This is why I chose to label courses on my dd's transcript. I have seen one or two colleges that said they do this (with how they weight things). One was on a scholarship page, I believe. One said they only include core classes (math, LA, SS, science, FL) in their recalculation.