As the number of students who take Advanced Placement exams increases, colleges and universities across the country are beginning to question the extent to which they reflect a student's knowledge in a particular subject.
Educational Testing Services, the organization that administers APs and the Scholastic Achievement Test, cited a 10 percent increase in the number of students who took exams in the past year.
ETS representative Thomas Ewing said the service is aware of and concerned about the reports that the AP tests are losing their value.
"Sure, we're slightly concerned," Ewing said. "It's not so much that AP tests are losing popularity, but that colleges are beginning to question whether they can afford to give credit for such a widespread test."
Dean of Freshmen Peter Goldsmith said, "Administrators at various colleges are growing increasingly uncertain of whether high school AP courses are actually equivalent to college courses or whether they are overly geared towards preparation for the AP exams."
While the College does not anticipate changes in its policy regarding the tests, Goldsmith said he has proposed that the Committee on Instruction look into the issue.
Goldman said he suggested the COI "question whether we are prepared to test students over a broad range of subjects for knowledge acquired in high school, in the absence of a standardized test score or college transcript."
He said the College has no current policy on this matter.
Although Goldsmith said that the College is conservative in its awarding of AP credit -- some departments guarantee credit or placement for fives only -- he said he believes the College's standards are "not off the scale" when compared to other Ivy League schools.
"Most of our competitors give credit for fours and fives," he said.
Each department is responsible for deciding the course credit or placement awarded for AP scores at the College and for the most part, department chairs continue to regard the tests as a valuable tool for evaluating pre-matriculation work, Goldsmith said.
"We've been using the AP exam since its inception. We much prefer it to giving our own placement test during orientation," said Dana Williams, vice chair of the mathematics department.
"We really feel the score means something," Williams said. "It's far from perfect, but we're very happy with the test."
The math department does provide tests for students who did not take the May exam or were dissatisfied with their score, Williams said.
The English department also uses the AP test to determine exemption from English 5, a required introductory English course, Bill Cook, chair of the English department, said.
"I would say the test itself is a fairly strong measure of writing ability," Cook said. "In an ideal state, nobody ought to be exempted from English 5, but we cannot physically do it."
In an effort not to discriminate against students who could not take AP courses, the department also gives exemption for high verbal scores on the SAT, Cook said.
Under a policy implemented with the new curriculum this year, AP credits can only be used towards credits for graduation, not for distributive requirements.
Goldsmith said the decision was made because the faculty "believes that there is a kind of intellectual depth in Dartmouth courses that is not replicated in high school courses."
But Goldsmith said the College, "like all its peer institutions, feels some pressure to accept AP test for credit because it can become an issue for some number of students in choosing between one college or another," Goldsmith said.
Goldsmith said he has not personally encountered a great deal of dissatisfaction among students about Dartmouth's AP policy. But, he said, the issue is handled primarily by the faculty not the Freshman Office.
Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Karl Furstenberg also said he did not think the College's AP policies have led applicants to choose other schools over Dartmouth.
And, as far as admissions are concerned, AP test scores do not have much of a bearing on admission to Dartmouth, he said.
"Since most applicants don't take AP tests until the spring of senior year, exam results are not a major factor in the admissions process," Furstenberg said.
He said the College, which requires applicants take three achievement tests and the SAT, has "more than enough testing" for admissions already.
About two-thirds of matriculated freshmen took some sort of AP exam, but results of the tests were not available for 50 percent of the students at the time of admission, according to Furstenberg.
Because the Admissions Office does not officially keep track of scores, there is no clear way of telling whether more or fewer students are taking AP exams than before, he said.
Furstenberg said, "it is unfair to take AP tests into account in any significant way" because some high school students do not have access to the tests and preparatory classes for them.
He said achievement tests are a more important factor in admissions due to the availability of results and similar "subject-based format."
