<p>Ah yes the GPA issue…from the same article even though there is lots of documented evidence to display how out of control it has become…</p>
<p>Promoting Grade Inflation</p>
<p>Saul Geiser is a research associate at the Center for Studies in Higher Education, University of California, Berkeley.</p>
<p>The explosion of Advanced Placement courses is due in large part to A.P.’s expanded role in college admissions. This development was unforeseen when the College Board initiated the program in 1955 to award college credit to high-achieving students and enable them to place out of introductory college courses. Over time, however, A.P. has become increasingly important in college admissions, to the point where its role in admissions has now eclipsed its original placement function. </p>
<p>At many universities, the number of A.P. courses on an applicant’s high school transcript is a key consideration in admissions decisions. The most common practice is to award “bonus points” for A.P. classes in calculating students’ high school G.P.A.s. For example, a grade of “B”, which would normally be worth 3 grade points, is counted as 4 points for an A.P. course.</p>
<p>According to a recent survey by the National Association for College Admissions Counseling, about 70 percent of all U.S. high schools award bonus points for A.P. classes. This boosts students’ high school G.P.A.s and improves their admissions profiles — the average G.P.A. among applicants at highly selective institutions is now well over 4.0. Giving bonus points for A.P. courses in college admissions unfairly boosts high school G.P.A.s.</p>
<p>Testimonial to how AP concentrate on testing over knowledge from a student…</p>
<p>While n High School, I took a couple of AP courses in science and math and was disappointed to discover the same “teaching to the test” syndrome that has now become so common place in many courses throughout secondary education. At some point when focusing on how to score well on the AP exam, students are given very little time for the interesting digressions that are most important in developing a real, lasting passion for a subject.</p>
<p>A teacher testimonial…</p>
<p>As a veteran teacher (35 years), I watched an increasing number of AP courses encroach on our tradition of independent rigorous courses. The increase was fueled by parental anxiety about college admissions and enabled by some school staff. The idea of cultivating a love of learning for its own sake was lost in the cynical gamesmanship by students,choosing AP courses strategically rather than courses they would have preferred to take. This was done in order to dress up the transcript–sometimes without the slightest intention of taking the exam. The classes also had the impact of segregating students in a needlessly rigid way, driving even the most modest heterogeneity from the classroom.</p>
<p>Lastly, none of the commentators–several of whom made the points that I, as a teacher, encountered and witnessed–mentioned that AP is part of huge testing industry that earns great bushels of money for a so-called non-profit business called the “College Board,” a business that earns for its top officers six figure salaries. Let’s stop being so beguiled by AP, even while we remain committed
to rigor and high standards. Let’s turn down the flame under the college admission madness and instead re-ignite an authentic love for learning. </p>
<p>Truth of the matter is most 4.0 students today are actually average (C students) and if were tested 50 to 100 years ago would have been an F student. Haven’t some of you figured out yet that exploiting the lack of understanding and experience of youth and how they are manipulated and exploited in the US because doing so is a HUGE MONEY MAKER?!?!?</p>