Counseling Notes: Advanced Placement Program(R)

Important Change for the 2009-2010 Academic Year
April 3, 2008

Dear Colleague:

The College Board is committed to supporting college-level world
language and computer science studies in secondary schools, and
in the next several years we will significantly increase our
investment in support of world language and computer science
programs in the following ways:

* Providing AP(R) teachers with downloadable embedded assessments
for measuring students' knowledge, skills and abilities
throughout the AP course, giving teachers much more information
about students' strengths and weaknesses before exam day.

* Providing AP teachers with downloadable curriculum modules
so that they have college-level materials for delivering
key concepts.

* Providing AP teachers with access to student AP Exam score
reports online.

* Convening college professors to raise awareness of the quality
of AP teachers and students and to enhance existing credit/placement
policies.

In addition, in partnership with colleges, universities, secondary
schools and disciplinary associations, the College Board is working
to ensure that these programs maintain alignment with current advances
and scholarship in their disciplines.

However, as we significantly scale up our support for AP Computer
Science and world language and culture teachers, we cannot continue
to offer two separate courses and exams in several subjects. Therefore,
the AP French Literature, AP Latin Literature and AP Computer Science AB
courses and exams will be discontinued following the May 2009 exam
administration. Our intensified commitment to the remaining AP Latin,
AP French and AP Computer Science programs will ensure that these courses
continue to provide the rigorous, college-level academic experience
needed by advanced students. Our commitment will also ensure that
the teachers of these subjects will be supported by an increased
array of curricular resources and professional development opportunities.

We are also making changes to AP Italian. The Board of Trustees
of the College Board originally approved a significant investment
to support AP Italian's first three years; however, the overall
low levels of interest and participation among schools, teachers
and students have necessitated that the College Board significantly
exceed that investment just to sustain AP Italian. The College
Board's investment of resources, 400 percent higher than originally
committed, demonstrates our passion for this program, but only
allows us to offer AP Italian through the 2008-09 academic year.
Therefore, the May 2009 AP Italian Language and Culture Exam
is scheduled to be the final offering of this program.

We hope that between now and May 2009, external partners will come
forward to supplement the College Board's investment and that we
are able to announce a three-year extension of AP Italian through
May 2012. We are hopeful that if this occurs, advocates of AP Italian
will have time to raise awareness and participation among students
to the level of other programs, such as AP German. External support,
similar to that provided for AP Chinese and AP Japanese, would enable
the College Board to fund the conversion of the AP Italian exam
administration and scoring model to the Web-based model employed
by those subject areas, and would also enable the College Board
to perform the necessary maintenance and support of the program.

We will notify educators no later than May 1, 2009, if external
support is forthcoming so that we can extend the AP Italian program
into the three subsequent academic years (2009-10, 2010-11, and
2011-12), after which an assessment of teacher and student
participation would need to occur.

While we are disappointed to be announcing that next year is the
final year of the AP French Literature, AP Latin Literature, and
AP Computer Science AB programs, and, potentially, the final year
of AP Italian, we are eager to focus our resources on efforts
that will provide a much greater degree of support for all AP
teachers than ever before.

Sincerely,

The AP Program

Note: This message is being sent to district officials, principals,
and AP Coordinators, whose schools offer AP courses and exams
in these subjects. All AP Course Audit-authorized teachers also
received notification of changes in their subjects.

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