Much of American education has been dumbed down over the last 50 years. Less learning is expected of students, and yet grades keep rising.
There are, however, some exceptions. In today’s Martin Center article, Professor Clark Ross of Davidson discusses one of them: the Advanced Placement (AP) economics exam. He points out that the AP course and the first-year college course ought to be academically equivalent. Some people say that the AP courses are generally weaker, however, and that’s why colleges often decline to give students credit even when they get high scores on their AP exams.
Ross observes that college courses have been getting less rigorous over time and that the AP exam is more rigorous. He writes, “I directed one such colloquium for AP economics in Philadelphia in March 2014, and the college faculty present were quite surprised by the content taught and the degree of rigor expected in student answers. Specifically, in AP microeconomics, they were surprised that the course included such topics as elasticity calculations (including cross-price and income elasticity), increasing cost industries in perfect competition, and monopsony in the labor market. Very few college introductory courses will go into all of these nuanced topics.”
Ross also praises the College Board (creator of the AP exams) for updating AP economics with contemporary topics that aren’t always found in college courses.
He concludes, “The publicly released curricula for AP economics courses are rigorous and in the vanguard of economics teaching. Indeed, they are likely ahead of the majority of undergraduate economics courses in certain respects. In sum, the AP economics system is well-designed and trustworthy. Many introductory college courses have some catching up to do.”