Get ready to meet the new AP program.

According to the AP College Board, several changes are being made to upcoming AP exams in several subjects such as Calculus, Biology, and United States History.

However, according to the Education Week news brief, changes to the United States History exam are being delayed in favor of changes for AP Biology, and “the final U.S. history framework is slated for publication and distribution in fall 2011, with the revisions taking effect in 2013-14.”

”The board will slash the amount of material students need to know for the tests and provide, for the first time, a curriculum framework for what courses should look like. The goal is to clear students’ minds to focus on bigger concepts and stimulate more analytic thinking,’” according to the New York Times.

Additionally, the New York Times said that the AP Biology showed a decline in student scores.  Many prestigious universities have begun to reject credit for AP Biology.  M.I.T.’s Dean of Admissions Stuart Schmill told the New York Times that students who scored fives on the exams “did not have the problem-solving skills needed for higher-level courses.”  The result is the reevaluation of current exams by the College Board.

According to AP Biology teacher Megan Deroba, the exam’s questions will shift their focus from straight memorization to application of knowledge and more narrowed down focuses on certain processes that the College Board decides to test future students on.

Every AP teacher must submit a course outline to the College Board for approval.  With the new changes to the AP Biology exam, those teaching that subject are being required to resubmit a new course audit by Jan. 2013, according to Deroba.

“It’s going to be a very good change, not so much a focus on quantity but on quality…[it’s] learning the process as opposed to memorizing facts,” Deroba said.

“I like this [the new changes to the exam structure] better because you have a better idea of what to study and focus on rather than memorizing everything,” junior Danielle Tiger said.  Tiger is planning to take AP Biology next year.

Starting with the exams in May of this year, “there will be a change to the way AP Exams are scored.” According to the College Board, “total scores on the multiple-choice section will be based on the number of questions answered correctly. Points will no longer be deducted for incorrect answers and, as always, no points will be awarded for unanswered questions.”

“I like the fact that you don’t have to get off for wrong answers.  Your level of knowledge should be based on what you get right rather than what you get wrong,” junior Jenny Yang said.  Yang is planning to take the AP Language and Composition exam this year.

Changes to the AP Calculus AB/BC exams will also be in effect this year.  In Part A and B of the free response questions, the “timed portion for Part B” will allow students to also to continue to work on Part A if they wish, but are not permitted to use their calculators.  Also, “Part A (graphing calculator required)” will now be two problems that must be solved in thirty minutes, and “Part B (no calculator allowed)” will be “four problems to be completed in sixty minutes,” according to the College Board.

“We really believe that the New AP needs to be anchored in a curriculum that focuses on what students need to be able to do with their knowledge,” Vice President of College Board for Advanced Placement Trever Packer told the New York Times.

Grace Kim is a Managing Editor for “The Patriot” and jcpatriot.com.