Article: AP Test Prep Open to N.M. Students

When you click on the link at the bottom of the email it takes you to the FL virtual school website where you as a homeschooler can take the test but you do have to register with your information, name address and such before you can enter the site. Also, here is a blog which has information about the recently passed virtual academy information as well as some other things that might be interesting to you http://nmccs.org/blog/ Enjoy!--Tabbi


AP Test Prep Open to N.M. Students

By Andrea Schoellkopf

ABQ Journal Staff Writer

April 10, 2007

High school students throughout New Mexico will have access to online review and practice tests for the college-level Advanced Placement exams.

Albuquerque Public Schools, which is splitting the $19,000 cost of joining the Learning Network with the state Public Education Department, announced the new program Monday at Rio Grande High School. The state has teamed with the Florida Virtual School, which provides online exam reviews.

“The idea is you might be better-prepared to take the test (by first taking it) online,” said Tom Ryan, APS executive director of technology.

Rio Grande offers 15 AP classes— the average in APS is 11— primarily because it receives federal and state subsidies to offset the $88 exam fee, which for Rio students is only $13, said Hollis Elkins, an AP English teacher at Rio Grande.

Katherine Reut, 18, and Jamie Lefebvre, 17, said they weren’t able to get a 3 on the tests they took last year, but hope the practice exams will give them a boost on next month’s exams.

“They’re pretty difficult,” Lefebrvre said, who is taking two AP classes this year.

Last year, there were 6,406 students taking a combined 10,322 AP classes in New Mexico. That figure is up from 5,991 students in 2005 taking 9,505 classes.

The mean score for all classes, however, was a 2.57 out of 5, which is considered to be a passing score, yet is less than the 3 required to get the college credit. Only two of the 12 most popular subjects listed— Spanish Language and Calculus— had mean scores that surpassed a 3. There are currently 35 different AP exam subjects.

Additionally, the number of students taking the classes is expected to increase with new state requirements for high school graduation— passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Bill Richardson— that dictate that all students must take at least one AP class, honors class, dual credit course or distance learning courses.

The exam reviews are available to any student in New Mexico, including public, private, charter and home school. They include test taking strategies, samples of graded student entries, access to practice tests, essay prompts, multiple choice tests and study guides.

In such classes, test preparation begins on the first day of school, Elkins said.

“You can only do so much in the classroom,” she said. “You can only do so much to prepare.”

Elkins said the school will make its classroom computers and computer laboratories available for students who want to practice the exam.

http://aptestreview.flvs.net/aptreg.nsf/registrationAPT