With Advanced Placement (AP) testing coming to an end, students in AP classes can breathe a collective sigh of relief as they close both their note-filled study guides and their eyes to finally lay down for some restful sleep.
While some students experience flashbacks of frantic cramming sessions, others have peace of mind knowing they were thoroughly prepared — especially as they attended several full-length review sessions in the weeks preceding.
The Campanile commends AP teachers who have hosted practice exams and review sessions on their own time without compensation, which provide students with valuable opportunities to experience the timing and environment of a real AP exam.
Through this, students are able to feel more comfortable in regards to pacing, better understand where they are in their development and effectively analyze areas of improvement.
According to AP Calculus AB teacher Scott Friedland, who has hosted practice exams for the past 17 years, review sessions significantly help students raise their scores, getting them over the bump from 3’s to 4’s, or 4’s to 5’s.
Teachers who run these sessions spend several hours orchestrating them, and funnel their time and money into printing practice exams and preparing the rooms, putting up signage and purchasing refreshments for students, according to Friedland.
However, despite sacrificing their personal time and paying out of their own pockets, most teachers who host AP practice exams have never requested compensation from the District.
It is clear that many AP teachers who host these review sessions do so not out of obligation, but rather selflessly out of care for their students. Even though these teachers have not requested compensation, they deserve it nonetheless.
According to Assistant Principal Jerry Berkson, there is currently no official procedure in place for teachers to request or receive compensation for working overtime to host AP review sessions.
To establish such a system, The Campanile believes it should be incorporated into the school’s budgeting process at the beginning of the next school year.
If funds are allocated towards compensating teachers for hosting AP practice exams outside of class hours, not only will these teachers receive the compensation they deserve, but all AP teachers will be encouraged to provide review sessions as well.
This will allow students in all AP subjects to have the opportunity to test their knowledge and improve in preparation for the actual exam.
Though these funds will likely have to come from other areas in the school’s budget, ensuring students master course curriculum is a top priority, and a teacher’s efforts in taking extra time to do so deserve to be recognized.
