AP College Board Standards & AP Exam Preparation 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the AP Pre-AP program designed to accomplish?
- Provide gifted students an accelerated version of AP courses in middle school
- Build foundational academic skills in grades 6–10 to prepare students for AP coursework (Correct answer)
- Replace AP courses for students who cannot pass the AP exam
- Offer college credit to ninth graders through the College Board
Correct answer: Build foundational academic skills in grades 6–10 to prepare students for AP coursework
Pre-AP courses develop the critical thinking, reading, writing, and reasoning skills that students need to succeed in AP courses in high school.
Question 2: When constructing an AP course syllabus for the Course Audit, which element is most critical to demonstrate?
- A full list of textbooks used in the classroom
- Evidence that the course covers the required content outlined in the College Board's CED (Correct answer)
- Proof of teacher certification in the subject area
- Student AP score data from prior years
Correct answer: Evidence that the course covers the required content outlined in the College Board's CED
The audit evaluates whether the submitted syllabus shows coverage of all required content, big ideas, and practices from the official Course and Exam Description.
Question 3: Which of the following is NOT a standard component of an AP exam?
- Multiple-choice questions
- Document-based questions (in applicable courses)
- Oral examination component (Correct answer)
- Free-response questions
Correct answer: Oral examination component
AP exams consist of written sections (multiple-choice and free-response); no AP exam includes an oral examination component.
Question 4: How does the College Board use AP Exam score distributions each year?
- To automatically adjust a school's curriculum based on low performance
- To set a curve that raises all scores above 3
- To inform curriculum revisions, teacher professional development, and score-setting processes (Correct answer)
- To rank high schools publicly on CollegeBoard.org
Correct answer: To inform curriculum revisions, teacher professional development, and score-setting processes
Annual score distributions help the College Board evaluate whether the exam accurately measures student mastery and guide adjustments to curriculum support resources.
Question 5: What is the purpose of 'AP Score Setting' that occurs each June?
- Assigning college credit hours for each AP score level
- Determining the raw score cutoffs for scores 1–5 using statistical and judgmental processes (Correct answer)
- Publishing national rankings of AP performance by state
- Setting the price of the AP exam for the following school year
Correct answer: Determining the raw score cutoffs for scores 1–5 using statistical and judgmental processes
AP score setting is a rigorous process where college faculty and AP exam experts establish the raw-to-scaled score conversion for that year's exam.
Question 6: A teacher notices that their AP students consistently struggle with the synthesis free-response question. According to College Board best practices, what is the most effective instructional response?
- Remove synthesis from the course since students find it too difficult
- Embed regular practice using primary sources and argument-building throughout the year (Correct answer)
- Assign extra multiple-choice homework to build content knowledge first
- Request that the College Board remove the synthesis question from future exams
Correct answer: Embed regular practice using primary sources and argument-building throughout the year
The College Board recommends building synthesis skills incrementally throughout the course through sustained practice with evidence-based argumentation.
Question 7: Which College Board policy addresses access and equity in AP programs?
- The AP Capstone Diploma program requirement
- The AP Access and Equity policy encouraging schools to open AP enrollment to all motivated students (Correct answer)
- The AP International Diploma framework
- The SAT School Day policy
Correct answer: The AP Access and Equity policy encouraging schools to open AP enrollment to all motivated students
The College Board's access and equity initiative encourages schools to remove barriers to AP enrollment and support historically underrepresented students in AP courses.
AP College Board Standards & AP Exam Preparation 3
What is the AP Pre-AP program designed to accomplish?