Pre-AP
Preparing every student for college
College Board's Pre-AP initiatives are designed to equip middle and high school teachers with the strategies and tools they need to engage students in active, high-level learning through which they develop the skills, habits of mind, and concepts needed to succeed in college.
Pre-AP is not a prescribed set of courses or exams, but rather a suite of professional development resources that includes:
- Team-building institutes and workshops
- Subject-specific training
- Curricular guides
There are three types of Pre-AP workshops:
- AP Vertical Teams®: These one-day workshops for teams of middle and high school teachers introduce and illustrate the Vertical Teams concept and some of its key attributes. Workshops are currently available for science, world languages, social studies, English, mathematics, studio art, and music theory.
- Classroom Strategies: Individual middle or high school teachers can take advantage of these one-day workshops to improve their understanding of content, instructional strategies, and pedagogical methods that will help their students succeed in college and rigorous AP courses. Available subjects are science, world languages, social studies, English, mathematics, Spanish, studio art, and music theory.
- Instructional Leadership: This one-day workshop for secondary instructional leaders (including board members, superintendents, principals, central office staff, and counselors) teaches how to include Pre-AP professional development in school development plans, organize and develop a support system for AP Vertical Teams, evaluate the impact of AP Vertical Teams on school improvement, and more.
More information on Pre-AP resources and AP Vertical Teams is available in the Professional Development area of this website.
Please note: The College Board does not design, develop, or assess courses labeled "Pre-AP." In fact, the College Board discourages the labeling of courses as "Pre-AP." Typically, such courses create a track, thereby limiting access to AP classes. The College Board supports the assertion that all students should have access to preparation for AP and other challenging courses. Courses labeled "Pre-AP" can inappropriately restrict access to AP and other college-level work and as such are inconsistent with the fundamental purpose of the College Board's Pre-AP initiatives, which are professional development workshops designed to help teachers instill more rigor in whatever courses they are teaching students in the years prior to AP.