NEW YORK — Preparing students to succeed in higher education is a crucial venture for teachers and administrators. From July 15–18, Advanced Placement® educators from all 50 states and more than 15 countries will gather at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel and the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C., for the ninth College Board AP® Annual Conference. They will participate in workshops, share best practices, network with their colleagues and discuss ways to prepare students for college and future success.
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will kick off the conference at an Opening Plenary Session on July 15 at 4:45 p.m. He will augment his remarks with responses to questions from conference participants — AP educators, counselors, college administrators and college faculty.
Educators will participate in sessions and workshops, focusing on AP courses and Pre-AP® strategies for new and experienced AP teachers, which address issues of equity and access, review innovative teaching methods, and explore exhibits that feature new textbooks and classroom technologies. In all, 332 sessions and professional development workshops will be available.
College Board President Gaston Caperton said, “We are working to see that every child receives the best possible education. By convening the AP Annual Conference in our nation’s capital, we are spotlighting the contribution that dedicated educators make to the future of our country. The Obama administration has placed an unprecedented emphasis on raising national education standards. Like the College Board, the administration believes that all students should have equal access to college-prep and advanced courses.”
Trevor Packer, vice president of the Advanced Placement Program® at the College Board, said the AP Annual Conference provides excellent opportunities for educators to hone their skills and become re-inspired.
“The AP Annual Conference is a resource-rich event that offers educators from around the world a chance to collaborate and strengthen professional ties, while also providing multiple learning opportunities that directly translate to students’ success in the AP classroom,” Packer said.
Plenary Sessions
• Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education, has called education “the most pressing issue facing America,” adding that “preparing young people for success in life is not just a moral obligation of society” but also an “economic imperative.” He added, “Education is also the civil rights issue of our generation, the only sure path out of poverty and the only way to achieve a more equal and just society.” Thursday, July 15, 4:45 p.m.
• Mika Brzezinski is the cohost of MSNBC’s Morning Joe and Citadel Media’s syndicated radio show The Joe Scarborough Show. Prior to joining MSNBC in January 2007, Brzezinski was an anchor of the CBS Evening News Weekend Edition and a CBS News correspondent who frequently contributed to CBS Sunday Morning and 60 Minutes. Thursday, July 15, 5:30 p.m.
• Sir Ken Robinson, a proponent of innovation, will challenge his audience to think creatively. He is the author of the widely acclaimed report All Our Futures: Creativity, Culture and Education. Among his books are Out of Our Minds: Learning to Be Creative and The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything. Robinson was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to the arts. Friday, July 16, 2 p.m.
• Benjamin S. Carson, director of pediatric neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, will share his inspiring story. Growing up in a single-parent home in dire poverty, Carson’s mother, who had only a third-grade education, challenged him to strive for excellence. Today, Carson is a full professor of neurosurgery, oncology, plastic surgery and pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and has directed pediatric neurosurgery for nearly 25 years. Saturday, July 17, 1:15 p.m.
Other Special Events include:
• Education Policy Roundtable: “Raising Rigor, Getting Results.” The College Board Advocacy & Policy Center will host a panel that will discuss ways to strengthen academic rigor in the United States. Governor Roy Romer, a special adviser at the College Board, former governor of Colorado and former superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, will moderate. The panelists include Jackie Gran, senior advisor to the assistant secretary for planning, evaluation and policy development at the U.S. Department of Education; Charmaine Mercer, senior education policy advisor for the House Committee on Education and Labor; Celia Sims, senior policy advisor, Office of U.S. Senator Richard Burr (N.C.); and Rep. Richard Crandall, chair of the Education Committee, Arizona House of Representatives. Friday, July 16, 5:15–6:30 p.m.
• The 2010 AP Studio Art Exhibit, displaying the work of 29 students from the United States and around the world. The focal point of the Opening Reception on Wednesday, July 14, 5–8 p.m., these artworks were selected from approximately 40,000 portfolios and represent the best of the best. The exhibit will be on display during the entire conference.
• The 2010 Siemens Math and Science AP Teacher of the Year, Jeff Johnson, an AP Physics B teacher from Hoover High School in Alabama, will be honored on Saturday, July 17 at 1:15 p.m., during the closing plenary session. For 24 years, he has worked extensively to support at-risk and low-income students and is now actively involved in the Alabama Teacher Mentoring Program.
Special conference session strands have been set up for AP Coordinators, Pre-AP and AP administrators and counselors, multidisciplinary approaches and 30 specific AP subjects, as well as Pre-AP subjects. The Equity and Access strand has sessions on Friday, July 16, and Saturday, July 17. These sessions are:
- “Addressing the Invisibility of Underrepresented Students in AP,” Friday, 9 a.m.
- “Raising Expectations,” Friday, 10:45 a.m.
- “Proactive Intervention: Catching Students BEFORE They Fail,” Friday, 3:30 p.m.
- “Supporting Open Enrollment,” Saturday, 9 a.m.
- “An Administrator's Guide to Increasing Equity, Access and Achievement,” Saturday, 10:45 a.m.
- “Strategies: Equity Is Not Equal,” Saturday, 2:45 p.m.
In addition to sessions and workshops with educator presenters from across the country, the conference will also include a strand of sessions with presenters from prominent Washington, D.C., institutions. The sessions include:
- “Examining the Human Footprint: Population, Land Use and the Global Environment,” presented by Pamela Wasserman, Population Connection, Friday, July 16, 9 a.m.
- “C-SPAN’s Free Online Resources,” presented by Joanne Wheeler and Meredith Rapp, C-SPAN, Friday, July 16, 10:45 a.m.
- “Raising Expectations,” presented by Robyn Jackson, Mindsteps, Friday, July 16, 10:45 a.m.
- “The People Connection: Hands-On Human Geography,” presented by Pamela Wasserman, Population Connection, Friday, July 16, 10:45 a.m.
- “Tomorrow’s Jobs: The 2008–2018 Employment Outlook from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics,” presented by Michael Wolf, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Friday, July 16, 10:45 a.m.
- “AP Art History and AP Studio Art at the National Gallery of Art,” presented by Julie Springer, National Gallery of Art, Friday, July 16, 3:45 p.m.
- “State of Deception: Analyzing Nazi Propaganda in AP Classrooms,” presented by Dan Napolitano, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Friday, July 16, 3:30 p.m.
- “Art Museums: Your Greatest Resource,” presented by Margaret Sharkoffmadrid, Oakton High School, Vienna, Va.; and Elisa Patterson, National Gallery of Art, Saturday, July 17, 2:45 p.m.
For a complete list of AP Annual Conference sessions, visit www.collegeboard.com/apac.
About the Advanced Placement Program®
The College Board’s Advanced Placement Program (AP) enables students to pursue college-level studies while still in high school. Through more than 30 college-level courses, each culminating in a rigorous exam, AP provides willing and academically prepared students with the opportunity to earn college credit and/or advanced placement. Taking AP courses also demonstrates to college admission officers that students have sought the most rigorous curriculum available to them. Each AP teacher’s syllabus is evaluated and approved by college faculty from some of the nation’s leading institutions, and AP Exams are developed and scored by college faculty and experienced AP teachers. AP is accepted by more than 3,800 colleges and universities worldwide for college credit, advanced placement or both on the basis of successful AP Exam scores. This includes over 90 percent of four-year institutions in the United States. In 2010, 1.8 million students representing more than 17,000 schools around the world, both public and nonpublic, took 3.2 million AP Exams.
The College Board
The College Board is a not-for-profit membership association whose mission is to connect students to college success and opportunity. Founded in 1900, the College Board is composed of more than 5,700 schools, colleges, universities and other educational organizations. Each year, the College Board serves seven million students and their parents, 23,000 high schools, and 3,800 colleges through major programs and services in college readiness, college admission, guidance, assessment, financial aid and enrollment. Among its widely recognized programs are the SAT®, the PSAT/NMSQT®, the Advanced Placement Program® (AP®), SpringBoard and ACCUPLACER. The College Board is committed to the principles of excellence and equity, and that commitment is embodied in all of its programs, services, activities and concerns.
Contact
Jennifer Topiel , The College Board, (212) 713-8052, communications@collegeboard.org