I teach two different AP science courses and I absolutely agree that it is a good idea for high school students to take AP courses to help them understand the challenges they will face in college. Students come back and tell me how well my classes have prepared them for college work. However, I hear that from both students who chose to take the AP exam and those who did not. While AP classes are excellent preparation for college, there is nothing about the AP exam itself that helps students prepare for college.. I personally neither encourage nor discourage students from taking the exam. However, our AP coordinator is trying to force our students to take the exams. I am convinced that the recent emphasis on taking the exam is coming directly from those who stand to benefit financially from it: The College Board. Indeed, I wonder if Newsweek receives funding from the College Board to publish your findings as yet another way to bamboozle students into taking the exams. Our AP teachers are coming back from College Board meetings telling students that colleges are less likely to admit them if they take an AP class and then don't take the exam. One of our teachers didn't believe that and took it upon himself to contact a variety of college admissions' officers. They all said that they did favor students who took AP courses but did not penalize those who chose not to take the exam. My recommendation is that you create an index based upon the number of students taking AP courses, not the exam. I understand your objection to that (some teachers discourage kids from taking the exam), but using your index is merely promoting exams to enrich the College Board who has a clear financial interest in promoting the exams.
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