<p>Our school district wants to require all students who take AP classes to take the AP test. To accomplish this they are implementing a rule that students must make a partial payment for each AP test ($30.00)and take the test in order to get the AP weight for the class. If they do not pay for and take the test then the class is weighted for them the same as a regular class. I expect that the district can require students to test, but can they require students to pay for the test and tie that requirement to their grade. It seems like this should be illeagal but can anyone refer me to a specific law that would cover this?</p>
<p>Illegal? This is how it is here in Maryland. Actually, at our school, it’s worse - if you don’t take the AP exam, you don’t get credit for the class, period.</p>
<p>P.S. - Students here must pay the entire $86 as well. There is no fee reduction.</p>
<p>Maybe it is legal but it sounds like charging a fee for a grade seems contrary to the way public education should operate. I have not yet found anything that clearly says it is not legal. If it is legal then there really is no argument against it.</p>
<p>Never work in our district. AP courses are weighted no higher than auto shop, with or without taking the test. What some courses do, however, is that if students get a 4 or 5 on the test, they are guaranteed an A in the course.</p>
<p>How does that woek, idad? Scores don’t come out until the middle of summer. Do they go back and change all those grades?</p>
<p>So, don’t take the class. </p>
<p>Be thankful you don’t have to pay the entire test cost. </p>
<p>They aren’t charging for a grade. If they were then everyone would be lining up with their $30 to get an A. They just want to make sure that kids really want the class. If they don’t have anyone interested in taking the test, there wouldn’t be any reason to offer it.</p>
<p>No, the Texas Education Agency nor the Texas Legislature has any ruling or law on this. It’s your district’s decision. Attend the next board meeting and voice your concerns.</p>
<p>Youdon’tsay: That is precisely what they do.</p>
<p>OP- Schools in our area require students to pay and take the AP tests. It weeds out the non-serious students who are just looking for a weighted class, thus reducing the number of students enrolling.</p>
<p>Changing a grade is a mjor ordeal for our teachers. They’d all quit if they had to go through the paperwork required to change hundreds and hundreds of grades.</p>
<p>181818, I’ve argued with a friend about this. I think it’s punitive to kids who can’t afford to pay $86/test for several classes but who want a challenge.</p>
<p>My school offers ways for kids who truely can’t afford AP tests to pay for them. Does that district not offer the same thing?</p>
<p>Youdon’t say- The CollegeBoard offers fee waivers to all students who can’t afford the tests, they need to ask their GC to fill out a form.</p>
<p>My understanding is that’s only for those who qualify for free or reduced lunch, which is great, but there are plenty of people, myself included, for whom six AP tests was a hardship even though we don’t quite qualify for free or reduced lunch. The test is optional for us, but I can see people of similar means who would opt to reduce their AP loads if forced to take the AP test at $86 a pop. We saw it as an investment and took the money out of savings, but not everyone has savings.</p>
<p>Nunya: Kids not taking the class because of the cost is part of the reason that I think that this is not fair. My question isn’t about what I think about this policy, I could go on and on about that. But yes, they are paying for a grade. With the test, their grade is a full point higher than what it would be without it. No, the fee isn’t for an A but it will change a B to an A etc. (at least for GPA and class rank purposes, the grade remains what it is on the transcript) I guess it remains to be seen if kids line up with their $30 to bring their grade up one point. </p>
<p>My question is about what the law says. There is really no point stating my opinion to the school board on this one.</p>
<p>Qwert: Kids on a free lunch program do not have to pay.</p>
<p>I have found the following two points in the law, I think both leave room for interpretation. I was hoping to find something that spoke a little more directly to this situation. These are from The Texas Education Code, Title 2, Subtitle C, Chapter 11, Subchapter A, Section 11.158:</p>
<p>(a) The board of trustees of an independent school district may require payment of:
(1) a fee for materials used in any program in which the resultant product in excess of minimum requirements becomes, at the student’s option, the personal property of the student, if the fee does not exceed the cost of materials;…</p>
<p>(b) The board may not charge fees for:…
(7) admission to or examination in any required educational course or program; …</p>
<p>Youdontsay: I feel the same way about this. The test is an investment at any price. This issue came to the forefront because there were some classes that were so poorly taught that if the student didn’t self teach there was no way they were going to pass the test. In the case of those classes it does seem like paying for the grade or money out the window.This isn’t a comment about our whole AP program some classes were excellent.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, AP classes are not a required educational course or program. You can always take the non-AP class.</p>
<p>Our students have the option of taking or not taking the AP test–there is no school help in paying for the tests. The class is weighted the same whether or not your take the test. If a student isn’t serious about the class, he will have a hard time getting a decent grade in the class. </p>
<p>The score on the test does not change the grade the student earned in the class.</p>
<p>It is a hardship for some families to pay for the tests, especially if the student is also an IB candidate and takes IB and AP tests.</p>
<p>The argument my friend made was that requiring the test was a good way to measure teacher quality. That seemed bogus. If kids feel like the teacher was crummy and therefore the kids felt unprepared, then why make the kids pony up to take a test to tell the admin something it probably already knows? Our school does not release what teachers have what proportion of 5s, 4s, etc. I know some of our teachers get straight 5s nd 4s, but many don’t, and I don’t see that as a huge reflection on the teachers. Part of the reason for the discrepancy is that some of the classes are geared to self-selected kids. By that, I mean that kids who sign up for BC Cal didn’t just happen to land in that class; they have an aptitude for it, whereas APUSH is required at our school so kids of all aptitudes in history are taking the test.</p>
<p>It’s late. I hope that makes sense and is somehat relevant.<br>
:)</p>
<p>ellemenope, at ds’s school, there often is not a non-AP equivalent for required courses.</p>
<p>AP USH is required of all kids in your school? Wow…is your school one of those magnet or IB schools? </p>
<p>You don’t have to have all kids take the test to know whether the teachers are any good. Our AP Euro and AP USH teachers do a good job at covering the material, running review sessions after school before the tests and otherwise helping the kids prep for the test as the time of the test comes closer. Almost all of the kids in those classes choose to take the test.</p>
<p>In other AP classes, the teaching is hit or miss, the kids have rare review sessions to attend and don’t feel comfortable taking the test. As a result, very few take the test and the few who take it are lucky to get a 3. </p>
<p>My point–you can tell how good the teaching is in an AP class merely by seeing what percentage of the class takes the test.</p>
<p>Youdontsay: Our district has made the same arguement and obtaining data in this way would be fine on the district’s dime. They could collect similar data by giving kids a prior years test at a much lower cost.</p>
<p>Ellemenope: Our district interpreted the low percentage of students testing as a reason to require testing. I agree, kids will test if they believe it may earn them credit.</p>
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<p>To what end? To measure teacher quality as it relates to material to be covered by the AP test? If so, I think they can save themselves the trouble…the low percentage of students testing and the scores of those few who test will tell you everything you need to know without making everyone take the test.</p>
<p>Scores on AP tests are not necessarily the best and only way to judge a teacher.</p>