![]() ![]() In fact, most other AP courses have less than 1% of tests taken in the 9th grade. Indeed, no other AP course has over 10% of 9th graders except for Computer Science Principles (11%) and Chinese Language and Culture (16%). This is highly unusual for AP exams no other exam comes even close. One of the reasons behind this relatively low rate of success comes from the fact that two thirds of all students take APHG in ninth grade. In his PG article, Kaplan explains (p.614), 3 In 2019, 50.8% of all students who took the APHG exam failed to earn a passing score only the AP Physics I course has a lower success rate in the entire AP program. APHG, growth, and inequality in student outcomes For comparison, the team is also analyzing student exam scores for cognate courses in the AP program. Earlier this year, we organized a team of researchers to help us analyze APHG exam score distributions by geographic setting (state by state as well as by urban, suburban, and rural school districts), student demographics, and grade level over the entire history of APHG. Grosvenor Center for Geographic Education. ![]() In this column, we would like to initiate this conversation by sharing a preview of research currently underway here in the Gilbert M. There are other facts about APHG that we believe should be openly and honestly discussed among geographers and the leadership of our organizations. The conversation we need requires a shift in perspective from growth metrics to quality metrics, so that we begin to acquire a clear understanding of the things that really matter: the extent that APHG is effective for the students who participate in the course and whether APHG is delivering on its potential for geography in higher education. APHG’s growth curve must also look good from the perspective of textbook companies and authors whose works are adopted by schools offering the course. Additional revenues are associated with supplemental exam prep and tutorial fee payments. the exam cost per student is $96, though lower fees are available for students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Until then, one of the things we can be sure about is the considerable amount of revenue generated by APHG’s skyrocketing growth. A national tracking study would be challenging to execute, but it would certainly provide some clarity about one of the potential benefits of offering APHG in high schools. 2 At present, we do not know how many students receiving APHG credit take additional geography courses across the country. Yet as former AAG President Dave Kaplan notes in a recent article appearing in The Professional Geographer, this growth coincided with a 12.4% decrease in conferred undergraduate geography degrees from 2013-2018. 1 APHG students are considered by many geographers to be recruitable majors, or at least likely to take more geography courses as an undergraduate. Given the perennial stress placed by low undergraduate course enrollments on many geography departments, it is a small wonder that the growth in APHG is commonly viewed by geographers as a success story. In practical terms, students can receive college credit hours with a passing mark on the APHG exam (a score of at least 3 on a 5-point scale). Much has been written about the purported benefits of student participation in APHG. Source: American Association of Geographers (2019).Įven geographers who have paid cursory attention to APHG are likely to be familiar with this growth curve from the high publicity it receives. The immediate takeaway is of a College Board program providing tens of thousands of students with the opportunity to take a rigorous geography course in high school. Figure 1: Growth in the number of students taking AP Human Geography exams. Two decades on, the Advanced Placement Human Geography (APHG) course continues its upward trajectory in student enrollment. In recent years, well over 200,000 high school students took the APHG exam, marking an impressive period of growth since it was first offered in 2001 (Figure 1). Grosvenor Center for Geographic Education, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Texas State University ![]()
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