SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
Memorandum
To:
Senate ?
From: N. Heath
Secretary, S.U.A.B.
Subject:
SUAB 162 ?
Date: 87/02/16
Action undertaken
by
the Senate Undergraduate Admissions Board at its
meeting of 29 January 1987 gives rise to the following motion:
MOTION:
That Senate approve the granting or transfer credit and/or
advanced standing for eHaminatlons passed with a grade
• ?
of 4 or higher in the specified disciplines of the Odvenced
Placement Program as given in S. 87-4
and that this policy be effective Immediately on a
3-year trial basis, subject to a review by S.0 ILD. in 1988.
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SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
?
Memorandum
To: Senate
?
From: N. Heath
Secretary, S.U.A.B.
Subject: APP ?
Date: 87/02/16
Proposed Psilci:
For an interim 3-year period, from the present until December, 1989, Simon
Fraser University will grant transfer credit and/or advanced standing for
certain specified examinations in the College Entrance Examination Boards
Advanced Placement Program as follows;
The candidate must have achieved a minimum grade of 4 (where 5 is the
highest grade).
M1
11
J;FT117-T-M
li
European History ?
Advanced standing in History 106
Biology ?
Transfer credit for Biological Sciences
101,102(g)
Physics B
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Transfer credit for Physics 101, 102 (6)
Calculus BC
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Advanced standing in Mathematics 151.
152, subject to an individual assessment
Physics C ?
Advanced standing in Physics 120, 121
Chemistry ?
Advanced standing in Chemistry 104,105
English (Lang. & Composition) No advanced standing
English (Lit. & Composition)
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No advanced standing
Further APP examinations may be added to this list following a review by
S.U.A.B. of the recommendation of the respective academic department.
Background:
The Advanced Placement Program consists of a series of examinations in
various disciplines, given annually in May.to senior high school students.
The examinations are set by commmittees of instructors at both the
high
school level and at the college and first-year university level. The
examinations are marked centrally, and the administration of the
examinations Is handled by the Educational Testing Service In Princeton, New
Jersey.
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APP. started in 1955, and since then, the numbers of students writing the
examinations, and numbers of post-secondary institutions giving recognition
to the examination results, have grown substantially. Approximately
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150,000 candidates from about 5,800 high schools will Write the
examinations this year. About 1,800 colleges and universities in the United
States will grant recognition in some form to these examinations.
The program encourages college level coursework in the secondary schoàl.
Typically, the Advanced Placement examinations are taken only by selected
Students who are in enriched high school programs, and who would
otherwise find the high school curriculum lacking in intellectual challenge.
However, APP does not replace the local high school curriculum, but is a
supplement to it. Students who are successful in the APP examinations
appear to be highly motivated and are likely to pursue their educations at
the university level with a high probability of success.
Until recently, there appears to have been little interest In the APP in
Canadian secondary schools. The only university in Canada which gives
recognition to APP examinations is McGill. In the past two years, a number
of B.C. secondary schools have begun to implement enrichment programs for
selected students, leading to APP examinations in some subjects, in addition
to regular secondary school graduation.
The program was started in B.C. public schools by Science teachers in the
Central Okanagan School District and has since been adopted by a number of
other schools in the greater Vancouver area. Interest now appears to be
province-wide. At the present time, it appears that about 30 B.C. secondary
schools will be presenting candidates for APP examinations in 1987 or 1988.
radIaq
Each examination is graded on a 5-point scale as follows:
5 - extremely well qualified
4- well qualified
3- qualified
2- possibly qualified
1- no recommendation
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is
rA
.
Many of the 1,800 universities and colleges in the United States accepting
APP results will give recognition to courses passed with a grade of 3 or
higher. However, a number of the more prestigious schools require a 4 o
higher for advanced standing or credit, since it is not in the students best
interest to proceed to higher level courses without a thorough mastery of the
first-year courses In most disciplines.
The Senate Undergraduate Admissions Board considered that placement and
credit should only be considered for grades of 4 or higher.
[ipuleuce
We are aware of only a handful of students who have entered the University
having taken APP examinations. Of these, only one student has been given
transfer credit on an individual basis, for first-year Physics. Consequently,
inadequate data are available for making any statistical inferences about the
relative performance of students with and without APP. However, a number
of research reports based on APP students in U.S. institutions show that
these students tend to perform better than average in university programs.
Csucluslsa
Simon Fraser University needs to remain responsive to initiatives taken In
the B.C. school system to improve the quality of education. The decision
taken in 1984 to give credit for certain partially completed International
Baccalaureate programs, has helped substantially in raising the profile of
Simon Fraser as a university which is interested in attracting the Province's
best academic students. Similarly, it will be in the interests of the University
and of its future students, to take the Initiative on this issue, and to
recognize the Advanced Placement Program. This is especially Important In
view of the widespread distriubution of results of these examinations.
Universities across the continent will be focussing part of their recruitment
activity on British Columbia students who have performed well in APP
examinations.
S
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