Whats different about the level of learning in AP classes?
The curriculum for AP classes is comprehensive and rigorous. Teachers must cover a great deal in a relatively short period of time. For example, in two semesters of AP European History, students begin the year studying the collapse of the medieval world and continue right on through the Renaissance, the French Revolution, the Cold War period and beyond. What’s different about the way AP classes are taught? Methods used to prepare students may differ from classroom to classroom, but “anywhere in the U.S., teachers of AP (classes) shouldn’t deviate from the College Board curriculum,” according to Warren Jacobson, associate superintendent of curriculum and instruction for Glendale Union High School District, which counts Sunnyslope as one of its nine high schools. Jacobson says that his district “hand selects” highly motivated teachers for training in the rigors of teaching AP subject matter. These teachers are subject to intensive review by the district and can receive monetary bonuses f
