Open Enrollment in AP Classes?

One of the most difficult issues facing teachers of Advanced Placement courses is the current trend towards open enrollment in all AP classes. This recent development, which has the full support of the College Board, the group which administers the test, has often put teachers in the difficult position of teaching students who may not possess the necessary skills to succeed at the AP level.

Advocates of open enrollment, such as Jay Mathews of the Washington Post who created the Challenge Index, claim that open enrollment provides opportunities for all students to benefit from a college level curriculum. In fact, Mathews' Challenge Index ranks schools by the number of AP exams administered each year and is regarded as a major reason for the dramatic rise in AP enrollment during the past several years.

Critics of open enrollment argue that courses which should be highly rigorous are ultimately being "dumbed down" by the admission of students who are unprepared to work at an advanced level. A recent survey by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute found that a majority of AP teachers share this concern. (See my May 19, 2009 post for more on this survey.)

The College Board itself recognizes the seriousness of the situation. It officially encourages open enrollment but admits on its website that, "there are warning signs that the quality of the AP Program is threatened, mostly because of concerns about inappropriate placement of students in AP courses for which they have not been prepared."

I recently posed this question to Charles Murray, author of Real Education: Four Simple Truths For Bringing America's Schools Back To Reality. Murray, bestselling coauthor of The Bell Curve, is the W.H. Brady Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., and one of the most influential thinkers on social policy today. He was kind enough to respond to my query, and his comments on open enrollment are both insightful and provocative.

Murray generally supports open enrollment as long as it does not lead to a decline in standards. "I like the idea that everybody who really wants to try something should be permitted to do so, but without anybody cutting them any slack."

He then proposes a three-step process to allow open enrollment under certain conditions:

"1. When students whose grades and test scores don't look good want to take an AP course, they and their parents get an honest statement about the difficulty of the course and the reason that their prospects for success are dim.

2. If they still want to enroll, they are permitted to do so.

3. Nothing in the curriculum, teaching style, or grading--including the criteria for an F--is altered to accommodate the presence of weaker students."

Murray argues that if such a process were followed, the problem would take care of itself. "Word gets out that if you take the course without the right qualifications, you'll probably end up with a D or worse on your transcript and no college credit anyway. Fewer and fewer unqualified students will try."

He goes on to recognize that this may sound good in theory but would be difficult to implement in practice. "The problem, of course, is that school administrators are notoriously loathe to maintain standards if it means making parents vocally unhappy. And if the Ds and Fs turn out to go predominantly to black and Latino students, there's not a prayer that the standards will be maintained."

Murray has a point. Schools routinely take steps to accommodate the needs of all students, as well they should. Unfortunately, this can and does frequently lead to a decline in standards that undermines overall academic achievement.

Data on AP test scores released by the College Board tends to support this view. A smaller percentage of students today are earning the highest scores on AP exams ( 5's and 4's) while a higher percentage are earning the lowest scores (1's and 2's). A summary of this data can be viewed on the College Board website at: http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/ap-data-2008-Grade-Dist-All.pdf.

The message seems clear. Given that open enrollment in AP courses is here to stay, teachers should redouble their efforts to welcome all students while maintaining the highest possible standards in their classes from day one.

As we all gear up for the back to school season and prepare to meet our new students, this seems like the best approach whether we teach Advanced Placement, honors, or regular courses. To do less would be a disservice to ourselves and our our students.