NPR

4 Things We Don't Know About AP Tests

Nearly 3 million students take their Advanced Placement exams in the coming weeks. There's very little independent research on the benefits of these courses.
Source: Oivind Hovland

This week and next is a national rite of passage for stressed-out overachievers everywhere. Nearly 3 million high school students at 22,000 high schools will be sitting down to take their Advanced Placement exams.

Created by the nonprofit College Board in the 1950s, AP is to other high school courses what Whole Foods is to other supermarkets: a mark of the aspirational, a promise of higher standards and, occasionally, a more expensive alternative.

AP courses promise to be the

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from NPR

NPR4 min read
What Are Sperm Whales Saying? Researchers Find A Complex 'Alphabet'
Researchers say sperm whales have a complex communication system, an example of how new technology is opening up the mysterious world of animal language.
NPR4 min read
Columbia And Emory Universities Change Commencement Plans After Weeks Of Turmoil
Columbia cancels its main ceremony, while Emory's events will now take place in the suburbs outside its Atlanta campus. The moves come after weeks of protests against the war in Gaza.
NPR3 min read
5 Workers Dead, Dozens Still Missing After A Building Collapsed In South Africa
Rescue teams worked searching for dozens of construction workers buried under the rubble after a multi-story apartment complex that was being built collapsed in a coastal city in South Africa.

Related Books & Audiobooks