Advanced Placement Summer Institute: AP Teacher Training Programs Guide

The Advanced Placement Summer Institute (APSI) is College Board's flagship teacher training program for AP educators. If you're a teacher who's been asked to teach an AP course—or a school administrator evaluating professional development options—this guide covers what APSI is, how it works, and what to look for when choosing a training program.

For students, understanding AP teacher training also provides context for what well-prepared AP instructors know about exam design, scoring, and the expectations that determine your grade. It's a useful angle when you're deep in exam prep and wondering how AP courses are supposed to be taught.

What Is the Advanced Placement Summer Institute?

The AP Summer Institute is an intensive professional development program designed to help teachers learn to teach AP courses effectively. It's organized by subject—there are separate APSI programs for AP Biology, AP Calculus AB, AP English Language and Composition, AP US History, AP Psychology, and dozens of other AP subjects.

Each institute is typically 4-5 days long and includes curriculum review, instructional strategies, exam scoring calibration, and hands-on content work. College Board doesn't run the institutes directly—instead, it certifies host sites (typically universities, school districts, and educational organizations) to run APSI programs using College Board's curriculum frameworks and guidelines.

College Board certifies APSI sites through a formal application process. Certified sites get access to College Board's official APSI materials, presenter resources, and participant resources. This means that whether you attend an APSI at a university in Texas or a school district in Ohio, the core content and learning objectives are standardized.

Who Attends APSI?

APSI programs are designed for two audiences: new AP teachers who are teaching an AP course for the first time, and experienced AP teachers who want to deepen their content knowledge or update their practice. Most institutes run separate sessions for new and experienced teachers because the needs are different.

New teacher sessions focus heavily on the AP Course and Exam Description (CED), how to structure a syllabus, and what College Board expects in terms of course rigor. Experienced teacher sessions go deeper on instructional strategies, common student misconceptions, and analysis of recent exam data.

School administrators and department chairs also attend APSI in some cases to build their capacity to support and evaluate AP teachers at their schools.

How to Find an APSI Program

College Board maintains a searchable directory of certified APSI sites at collegeboard.org/apsi. You can filter by subject area, dates, location, and format (in-person or virtual). Most institutes run between late June and mid-August—the summer window gives teachers time to prepare before the school year starts in fall.

When evaluating APSI options, look at:

• Format: In-person institutes typically provide more networking and hands-on time with materials. Virtual institutes provide more flexibility and have expanded significantly since 2020.
• University affiliation: Institutes hosted by universities often provide graduate credit options, which can matter for teacher salary scales and licensure requirements in some states.
• Presenter experience: College Board requires APSI presenters to be current or former AP teachers with documented student performance. Experienced presenters who've taught the course recently will bring current exam insights.
• Dates relative to your school year: Earlier institutes (June–early July) give you more time to build your curriculum before school starts. Later institutes can feel rushed if your school opens in August.

Cost and Funding for AP Teacher Training

APSI registration costs vary by host site, but typical fees run $650–$1,200 per participant for a 4-5 day in-person institute. Virtual institutes are often slightly less expensive. These fees typically include all instructional materials but not travel, lodging, or meals for in-person attendance.

Funding options for AP teacher training include:

• School district professional development budgets: Many districts cover APSI registration as part of their PD spending, particularly if the teacher is newly assigned to AP.
• College Board AP Excellence Awards: College Board offers grants to help schools in underserved communities fund AP teacher training. Check the Equity and Access section of collegeboard.org.
• Title II grants: Federal Title II funding (Supporting Effective Instruction) can be used for AP teacher professional development in qualifying schools.
• State-level AP expansion grants: Several states, including Florida and Texas, have specific programs to fund AP teacher training, particularly for subjects where the state is trying to expand access.

Some host sites offer scholarships or reduced-fee slots for teachers from schools with high percentages of students qualifying for free and reduced-price lunch. Ask about financial assistance when you register.

What AP Teacher Training Covers (By Subject Area)

APSI content is organized around College Board's AP Course and Exam Descriptions. Here's a sense of what subject-specific institutes typically focus on:

AP Science Institutes (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Environmental Science)

Science APSIs spend significant time on laboratory work—College Board requires that AP science courses include hands-on inquiry labs, and institutes teach teachers how to run them effectively. Participants often do the actual lab exercises themselves so they understand both the content and the safety/logistics requirements. Exam scoring rubrics for free-response questions are a major focus.

AP History Institutes (US History, World History, European History)

History APSIs focus heavily on the document-based question (DBQ) and long essay question (LEQ) rubrics, which are notoriously specific and take time to internalize. Instructors learn how to score student work accurately, design authentic practice, and teach the analytical writing skills the exam requires. Recent changes to the AP World History Modern curriculum are a common topic in experienced-teacher sessions.

AP English Institutes (Language and Composition, Literature and Composition)

English APSIs focus on rhetorical analysis, synthesis writing, and argument development—the core skills tested on both AP English exams. Scoring the synthesis essay and rhetorical analysis essay are major components. Participants learn how to read and score student responses using the 0-6 holistic rubric and discuss common student errors that cost points.

AP Math Institutes (Calculus AB, Calculus BC, Statistics)

Math APSIs work through the AP curriculum unit by unit, with particular attention to concepts that are frequently misunderstood or taught inaccurately. For Calculus, the relationship between the graphical, numerical, analytical, and verbal representations of calculus concepts is a major focus—College Board expects students to work across all four representations.

AP Training for Students: What This Means for Your Exam Prep

If you're a student preparing for AP exams, understanding how your teacher was trained gives you useful context for how to prepare.

AP teachers who've attended APSI have been trained specifically on the scoring rubrics—they know exactly how free-response questions are graded, what language scorers look for, and what common mistakes cost students points. When your AP teacher gives feedback on your practice essays, they're drawing on the same rubric training that College Board uses to train actual AP exam readers.

This also means that if your teacher hasn't had recent APSI training, they may be teaching from an outdated understanding of the exam. AP curriculum and exam formats change periodically. An AP US History teacher who hasn't attended a recent APSI may not know about changes to the SAQ (Short Answer Question) format or updates to the DBQ stimulus documents. If your teacher acknowledges they haven't been trained recently, supplement their instruction with current College Board resources—the AP Daily videos and AP Classroom resources are current and free.

For comprehensive AP exam preparation, our 30-day AP study plan covers how to structure your review regardless of course. Our AP Classroom guide walks you through the free digital tools College Board provides to AP students. And our guide to passing AP exams covers the strategies that matter most in the final weeks before exam day.

Beyond APSI: Other AP Professional Development Options

APSI isn't the only AP teacher training option. College Board and its partners offer a range of professional development formats:

AP Annual Conference (APAC): A national conference where AP educators gather each summer to share best practices, attend workshops, and hear from College Board curriculum developers. Expensive and time-intensive, but excellent for networking and staying current.

AP Consultants: College Board-certified consultants who provide school-based training, coaching, and curriculum review. Good option for schools that want on-site PD tailored to their specific context.

AP Daily and AP Classroom: Free online resources for teachers (and students). AP Daily videos are short, curriculum-aligned instructional videos. AP Classroom provides formative assessment tools and progress checks. Both are aligned to the current AP Course and Exam Descriptions.

Subject-specific professional organizations: The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), National Council for Social Studies (NCSS), and College Board have joint programming that bridges AP-specific training with broader subject expertise.

For teachers new to AP, APSI is generally the highest-value starting point—it's specifically designed for the AP context in a way that generalized PD programs aren't. For experienced AP teachers, the Annual Conference and peer-to-peer networks often provide more additive value.