Advanced Placement Courses

ADVANCED PLACEMENT COURSES
at Middletown High School

Kathleen Polaske, Advanced Placement Coordinator and Advanced Placement Audit Coordinator
Bethsaida Franco, Advanced Placement Coordinator and Advanced Placement Audit Coordinator

ADVANCED PLACEMENT PRESENTATION

The Courses

The AP Program currently offers more than 30 courses across multiple subject areas across the country. Each course is developed by a committee composed of college faculty and AP teachers, and covers the breadth of information, skills, and assignments found in the corresponding college course.

AP courses are taught by highly qualified high school teachers who use the AP Course Descriptions to guide them. The Course Description for each discipline outlines the course content, describes the curricular goals of the subject, and provides sample examination questions. While the Course Descriptions are a significant source of information about the course content on which the AP Exams will be based, AP teachers have the flexibility to determine how this content is presented. Published in the spring of the school year before the course will be taught, the Course Descriptions are available on College Board website for AP Central. 

ABOUT AP CENTRAL

Why Advanced Placement?

For each curious and motivated student, there's bound to be an AP course that matches their unique interests. AP Exams are an essential part of the AP course experience, and help students:

  • Stand out in the admission process
  • Earn academic scholarships and awards from colleges and universities
  • Experience college-level academics now, while they're still in high school
  • Save time and money once they get to college, providing them with more study options and allowing them to move directly into upper-level courses in their field of interest
  • Earn AP Scholar Awards, an academic distinction granted each September by the College Board to students with exemplary AP Exam scores.

AP COURSES AND EXAMS

AP Courses Offered at Middletown High School

The following are AP courses offered here at Middletown High School.

  • English Language
  • English Literature
  • Statistics 
  • Calculus AB
  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Computer Science Principles
  • Environmental Science
  • Physics I
  • Physics II
  • United States History
  • United States Government and Politics
  • Human Geography
  • Psychology
  • Spanish Language
  • French Language
  • Music Theory
  • Studio Art - Drawing
  • Studio Art - 3-D

The Exams

The AP Examinations are administered each year in May and represent the culmination of college-level work in a given discipline in a secondary school setting. Rigorously developed by committees of college and AP high school faculty, the AP Exams test students' ability to perform at a college level.

Development Committees meet throughout the year to create new exams, which each contain a free-response section (either essay or problem solving) and a section of multiple-choice questions. (The only subject that does not follow this format is AP Studio Art, which is a portfolio assessment.) The world language exams also have a speaking component, and the AP Music Theory Exam includes a sight-singing task. The multiple-choice questions are scored by computer, while the free-response portions are evaluated by a team of skilled college professors and high school teachers who meet annually to score exams in their subject area. The involvement of college faculty at all levels of exam development and scoring ensures that the AP Exams truly reflect college-level achievement. Students who perform well can receive course credit and/or advanced standing at thousands of universities worldwide. 

AP COMMUNITY

College Board, Advanced Placement. Retrieved January 25, 2011 from http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/courses/index.html