Barbara Goleman Senior High School, a flagship school for the Advanced Placement Capstone Program headed by The College Board, was recently chosen for evaluations and will be part of a documentary showcasing the rigor and achievements made within the program.
The College Board sent four representatives to the school to conduct interviews and film students and teachers within the AP Capstone program, which will then be utilized for trainings.
Maria Albano, lead teacher for the AP seminar course, is a fan of the program, applauding the innovative approach in teaching college-readiness for overlooked topics such as research, a core component of many college courses.
“We are privileged to have been selected with the program and offer interviews. It's very innovative in that they are using a performance-based approach in scoring,” said Albano. “In seeing the interviews with the students, the representatives are excited. It validates what they believe this course was going to do.”
The AP seminar course is skill-based with no textbook. The course aims to prepare students to develop an argument on anything as a means of analysis.
“There is no googling the answer,” said Albano. “This course makes them think. They end up learning the information with better comprehension.”
The 75 students in the program this school year commented on the rigor of the course, noting it was manageable.
Despite the cool demeanor of the students, when asked if anyone was feeling nervous for the upcoming AP exam a resounding “yes!” filled the room.
“I think this is a very good program,” said Albano. “These are sophomores doing what freshmen in universities are doing. They are accelerating the process of critical thinking that schools are hoping students achieve before beginning college.”
Verbal and writing skills are emphasized, as well as evaluation of different perspectives which in turn creates stronger interpersonal skills. Group and individual research papers are submitted as part of the curriculum and the AP seminar exam will take place in May.