AP Information for School Personnel

Overview

Advanced Placement courses are college-level courses offered by trained high school teachers in the regular high school setting. Since 2008, over one-third of the seniors in Georgia public high schools were enrolled in AP courses. AP courses guarantee rigor in our classrooms. To learn more about offering AP courses in your high school, contact Martha Smith, Program Specialist at the GaDOE, 404.463.2588 or masmith@doe.k12.ga.us.

AP State of the State

Over the past ten academic years, the increase in the number of Georgia students benefitting from Advanced Placement (AP) courses being offered in their high schools has been dramatic. For more information, see the linked document 2020 AP STATE OF THE STATE.

AP for Teachers

This page offers a variety of resources to support Georgia's Advanced Placement teachers including:

GaDOE AP Virtual Academy
GaDOE Advanced Academics

AP Honor Schools

The Georgia Department of Education began recognizing AP Honor Schools in 2008. This recognition began with three categories: AP Access and Support Schools; AP Challenge Schools; and AP Merit Schools. AP STEM and AP STEM Achievement categories were added in 2011, and the AP Humanities category was added in 2015. In 2020, two new categories were added: AP Humanities Achievement and AP Exapansion Schools. The AP Merit Schools category was renamed to AP Schools of Distinction.

2021 Honor Schools Definitions of Categories

AP Access and Support Schools 2021

AP Challenge Schools 2021

AP Expansion Schools 2021

AP Humanities Schools 2021

AP Humanities Achievement Schools 2021

AP Schools of Distinction 2021

AP STEM Schools 2021

AP STEM Achievement Schools 2021

AP Coordinator Resources

2021-2022 Webinars

GaDOE & College Board Back-to-School Meeting & Presentation Materials (August 2021)
GaDOE & College Board AP Classroom for the AP Coordinator & Presentation Materials (October 2021)

2020-2021 Webinars

College Board & GaDOE Digital Testing Guidelines for AP Testing & Presentation Materials (3/10/2021)
College Board & GaDOE 2021 AP Testing Information (2/24/2021)
AP Potential: Promoting Equity and Access to Georgia's Advanced Placement Program (2/10/2021)
AP Best Practices for Georgia Schools and Districts Using AP Classroom Resources and Presentation Materials (1/20/2021)
PSAT Data Webinar and Resources: Presentation, Using PSAT/NMSQT Scores for College Readiness, Lesson Plan (12/2/2020)
PSAT Five Steps to Access & Equity Webinar (10/7/2020)

New AP Coordinators

If you are a new AP Coordinator, please contact Martha Smith, masmith@doe.k12.ga.us to be added to our distribution list. New AP Coordinators in Georgia high schools need to carefully study the AP Coordinator’s Manual for guidance regarding the AP Course Audit process and the process for ordering and administering AP exams. For additional AP Coordinator resources, visit the AP Coordinator page of the College Board website at https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/ap-coordinators.

AP Audit/Authorized Syllabi

Principals must ensure that the syllabus for each AP teacher in the school is authorized by The College Board through the audit process. The audit process ensures each course meets specific academic/AP standards. After a course is authorized through the audit, it will appear in the AP Course Ledger, the official list of all AP courses.

To authorize a syllabus, the principal (or designee) must access the AP Audit registration site and enter the teacher’s name and then work with the teacher to get the syllabus submitted for approval. Principals that have questions about the Audit process should find more information at the College Board website here.

Building a Quality AP Program

AP Potential is a powerful free tool schools may use to identify potential AP students. AP Potential utilizes data from the PSAT to help match students in your school who could be successful in specific AP courses. For assistance, contact Alison Coker at acoker@doe.k12.ga.us or Martha Smith at masmith@doe.k12.ga.us.