One of the things that make the AP Program unique is its establishment of and reliance on Development Committees. These committees are essential to the preparation of Course Descriptions and exams. The College Board has found that a committee of highly qualified secondary school teachers and college professors can best determine the content of an AP course, and can design an exam that will be appropriate for assessing the achievement of students who have taken the AP course.
Most Development Committees have six or seven members, representing secondary schools and colleges from all regions of the country. They also represent a diversity of knowledge and points of view in their fields. Committee members bring to their tasks knowledge of the curricula and instructional methods in their fields, and of the abilities and skills that are critical to mastery in a given subject and how students can demonstrate them.
The 2012-13 Committees
- Art History
- Biology
- Calculus
- Chemistry
- Chinese Language and Culture
- Comparative Government and Politics
- Computer Science A
- English Language and Composition
- English Literature and Composition
- Environmental Science
- European History
- French Language and Culture
- German Language and Culture
- Human Geography
- Italian Language and Culture
- Japanese Language and Culture
- Latin: Vergil
- Macroeconomics
- Microeconomics
- Music Theory
- Physics B
- Physics C
- Psychology
- Spanish Language
- Spanish Literature
- Statistics
- Studio Art
- United States Government and Politics
- United States History
- World History