Advanced Coursework: Beyond the AP

List of 8 frequently asked questions.

• What is next?

  We are excited to empower our faculty to design an innovative and relevant curriculum. Beginning in the fall of 2024 and over the next three years, Masters faculty and academic leaders will draw on best practices to create these new courses. 
  
  

  This unique moment offers an opportunity for us to identify cross-disciplinary connections and design principles. This work will be supported through strategic engagement with universities, peer schools and independent experts. 
  
  

  For upcoming school years (2024-2025, 2025-2026, 2026-2027), we will continue to offer Advanced Placement classes and exams at Masters.  

• What motivated the change in programming?

  As an independent school, we believe it is our responsibility to regularly assess our partnerships and reflect on how they serve our School’s mission. As part of our ongoing commitment to excellence and innovation, we intensively examined the role of APs to consider whether they engendered the highest level of excellence for our students.
  
  

  We concluded that the elimination of the AP program will open up a new world of intellectual exploration, as teachers and their students will no longer be limited to covering the requirements of AP curricula.
  
  

  The impact of Advanced Placement classes in the wider educational landscape has shifted from previous generations. Today students are less likely to receive college credit or course placement for Advanced Placement work. 
  
  

  Our academic schedule is intentionally designed to create deep learning experiences, foster community, empower students to make choices about their academic courses, and nurture well-being. We prioritize these endeavors over the restrictions of the specific programmatic window designed by the College Board.
  
  

  Following the launch of these courses, we will form a new task force dedicated to assessing our progress on an ongoing basis, with particular attention to student achievement during capstone projects and to ensure we are creating an experience that is rigorous, engaging and mission-aligned.  

• What schools have moved beyond the AP designation? 

  New York City: Berkeley Carroll, Brearley, Chapin, Dalton, Fieldston, Horace Mann, Nightingale-Bamford, Packer Collegiate, Riverdale, Spence, St. Ann’s, Trevor Day
  
  

  Boarding Schools: Cate School, Choate, Concord Academy, Emma Willard, Hotchkiss, Lawrenceville, Loomis Chaffee, Milton Academy, Miss Porter’s School, Northfield Mount Hermon, Phillips Exeter Academy (NH), St. Andrew's (DE), St. George’s

• Will this make it harder for Masters students to get into competitive colleges?

  No. Our College Counseling team has been extensively researching this question for the last several years through conversations with peer schools and representatives from competitive colleges and universities. Their feedback was unanimous that moving away from the College Board program would not adversely affect Masters students' college outcomes. These courses will be designed to give students the opportunity to cultivate curiosity and dive deeply into complex problems, taking them beyond our standard curriculum. We believe these experiences will help students differentiate themselves in an increasingly competitive landscape. 

• How will these advanced classes be designated?

  As part of this process, we will create a coherent cross-departmental labeling system that helps students, families and colleges understand which courses offer the greatest challenge and how they are accessed.

• How will students know if they are eligible for advanced courses? 

  As is currently the case, students will express course preferences in March in consultation with their families and advisors. Academic departments will determine eligibility for advanced courses based on prior coursework and performance. 

• What impact will this shift have on the academic calendar?

  We are not planning substantial changes to our core calendar as part of this shift. However, eliminating AP tests will give the School greater flexibility to deliver its academic program by freeing up three weeks in May that are, for some students, dominated by Advanced Placement exam preparation and participation.

• How will Masters communicate these programmatic changes to colleges?

  The College Counseling Office communicates regularly with colleges and universities to help them understand the contours of our academic program, most notably through our College Profile. In the coming years, as we approach this transition, we will include an addendum letter that gives appropriate context for the new courses to acknowledge the work students are doing. In their letters of recommendation, college counselors will include language about the School’s advanced curriculum and how each individual student was able to take advantage of these opportunities.