AP Latin Literature Cancelled -- Please Add Your Name

[Andrew Reinhard]

Salve,

As many of you know, AP Latin Literature is being cancelled, although AP Vergil will remain in place for the immediate future. Please read the letter from the AP in the news section on the right and the letter from Ronnie Ancona in the Blog, and if you feel strongly about keeping the AP Latin Literature program alive and active in the United States, please add a comment to this post with your name and school affiliation attached. I will collect these in preparation for what is sure to be a counter-offensive by some of the leading lights in US Classics education. Thanks for adding your names to the list.

Andrew Reinhard
Director of eLearning
Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers

[David]

As a student in my first year of Latin, I can personally attest to the benefit of the classics. Since September 2007, I have explored the grammatical side of Latin language as well as the aspect of Roman culture and history. Being a dedicated student to Latin, even so early, I know I would jump at the opportunity to take a test that so many have already had the chance to take if only to explore Latin Literature more in depth. How can we qualify a similar honors class as equal to what is currently AP Latin Literature without an equal weight as other "advanced placement" classes? It is crucial to future Latin students' interests to open up as many doors into Latin just to keep it alive, and by shutting it, we are killing the study of language.

[James Uden]

Please add my name to the list. As someone who teaches at the university level, I know how valuable this kind of preparation is for higher study of Latin.
James Uden
Classics Department, Columbia University,
New York, NY.

[Karin Suzadail]

I was aghast when I read the email from the College Board and I was saddened that such an important decision was reached seemingly without consultation or research into its impact.

Admittedly, part of this is for selfish reasons. I truly enjoy the Latin Literature syllabus and the instruction of this course is a highlight in my teaching day. Looking out into my classroom I also see the joy that it brings my students. They actually like the syllabus and they enjoy the rich variety within it as well as the vivid palette of human experience it offers. Indeed, the last activity that we do before starting AP is to research the offerings, have the students look at the writings and the author and to select the AP syllabus based on their preferences – Latin Literature is always chosen. Pedagogically, the varied poems allow for differentiation of approach and assessment and lends itself well to a variety of rich and engaging classroom activities.

That is not to denigrate the Vergil syllabus in any way. Vergil is an essential piece of Latin literature and absolutely should be studied. It has immense literary worth and is also open to engaging teaching practices. This is an important work that demands the attention of Latin learners.

My objection is to the imposition of this choice on students and teachers after such a long history as the successful culmination of a course of study at the high school level. My objection is that because of this decision only one author in the Latin corpus is deemed worthy enough for advanced study. My objection is that this decision negates the time, energy, and resources that so many educators from all levels have dedicated to developing courses, completing course audits, writing textbooks, and developing coherent and articulated Latin I through AP programs.

It is sad that the College Board has come to this decision that will take a significant part of the corpus out of high schools. Currently, students who take first the Latin Literature and then Vergil approach it with richer backgrounds for its study. Student who take only Latin Literature enter college with a working knowledge of a wider variety of poetic conventions. In the future, this will not be the case and the impact of this decision will have an effect on all Latin curricula both in the K-12 arena as well as in higher education. Granted, these authors may be moved to other levels, but at a time when education is continually stressed by budgetary and time constraints, this may not be a viable possibility.

I would implore the College Board to carefully read the passionate and informed contributions of all of my Classics colleagues in this discussion and in other fora and take time to consider the impact of this decision and to explore other options for maintaining two Latin Advanced Placement Exams.

Respectfully submitted,
Karin Suzadail
Latin Teacher, Owen J. Roberts High School, Pottstown Pennsylvania
Regional Representative for Central Pennsylvania, Classical Association of Atlantic States

[Andrew Reinhard]

A statement from ten former Development Committee Chairpersons and Chief Readers for the AP Latin program was mailed on Wednesday, April 16, 2008, to Trevor Packer, Vice President of the Advanced Placement Program, and to the Trustees of the College Board. An electronic copy was sent to Mr. Packer on Thursday morning, April 17. An information copy of the statement was mailed on Thursday, April 17, to a number of professional organizations and groups involved with the teaching of Latin, Greek, and other languages.

Click below to read the letter Letter to CB Trustees re AP Latin and for the list of signees.

[boogmeister]

Having taken the AP Latin Literature course under Mrs. Suzadail this year, I know first-hand the linguistic, cultural, and personal and enrichment the program provides. While there is a plethora of information to be found in Vergil, the connections my class has made between the works of Ovid and Catullus this year are invaluable. I feel that the variety found in the work of these poets provides great balance to Vergil, whose epic work, to me, having yet to study it, can seem daunting. Spending ten minutes in class last week to analyze just the fricative consonants in Catullus 30 served as a reminder of the intricacies of the short works of Catullus. Furthermore, some of Ovid's Metamorphoses are primary sources for the tales they tell, a fact which cannot be overlooked.
There is great joy in studying these works of these poets, as well as the orations of Cicero, which are also offered for study in Latin Literature. I feel that College Board has made a terrible mistake and that the AP Latin Literature course should be reinstated for the sake of future AP students who will be denied the privilege I was offered in studying these works.

[Kimberly Klee]

I am a student currently enrolled in AP Latin Literature and I enjoy the story of the Aeneid, but it really is rather thick and focusing only on one story line for an entire year would be mind numbing. The writings of Catullus and Ovid have been what made the course enjoyable for me and, as much as I love the class, I don't see myself being able to like the Vergil syllabus nearly as much and I possibly might not have taken AP Latin at all.

Kimberly Klee
Owen J. Roberts High School
Pottstown, PA

[Devon Smith]

I took the AP Latin Literature exam last year and received four college credits for it. It would be an absolute shame to remove this option. The Metamorphoses and Catullus were such wonderful works of literature, I'm so glad I read them. While the Aeneid is a classic, I don't think it offers quite the practice in scansion, nor does it offer the broad cultural knowledge given by the Literature program. I will be very upset if the program is removed.

[claire henry]

As a current student of AP Latin Literature, and one who is planning on taking the AP exam, I cannot imagine the college board not offering it as an option. My class has been exposed to some of the most brilliant, touching, and humorous ancient poetry as a result of the curriculum. Taking it away would be a detriment to the education of the many who enjoy Latin literature, and I sincerely hope that the college board will reconsider its decision.

Claire Henry
Owen J. Roberts High School
Pottstown, Pennsylvania

[Jane Lienau]

Although I absolutely love teaching the AP Vergil curriculum, I am distressed about this change. While I know that the French curriculum has received the same blow, their literature has not been reduced as ours has. I have developed my own program to allow most students to take the Vergil AP, but a few wish to double up senior year and take both, or take the Vergil junior year and hope for the Lit. exam senior year. Many colleges will only accept one, though, so perhaps we should be looking also in that direction. When my students wish to take two APs, I advise them to check with their college to see what it accepts before committing the $85...

I am concerned that reducing to one exam will limit teachers and encourage them to focus on one author. Vergil is amazing, but there ARE other Latin authors...

[Lindsay Howard]

Lindsay Howard
Grayson High School
Loganville, Georgia

[Jane Dunlap]

As a long-time supporter of both AP Latin programs who also juggles AP with International Baccalaureate Latin, both Higher Level and Standard Level, I am saddened by the recent decision and see that it will ultimately make the IB more attractive to schools and teachers who value the breadth of perspectives offered by Livy, Juvenal and Tacitus, as well as those of Ovid, Catullus, Cicero and Horace. I know I enjoy teaching diverse writers and genres.
Jane Dunlap
George School
Newtown, PA

[Steve Perkins]

I am sharing below an email I received from my department chair and that she received from Adriana Melnyk of the Indiana Department of Education. This response from Dr. Marcia Wilbur states clearly and unequivocally that the decision was based on the small number of minority students taking the exam and the blow to the financial bottom line. Dr. Wilbur says, "Each of these courses represents the second of two AP courses within that discipline, but altogether these programs are providing fewer than 400 students with their sole AP experience, and less than five one-thousandth of one percent of minority students!" She goes on to say, "...it is our sincere desire to continue to offer as many AP world language courses as our bottom line will permit." I am not sure how this squares with the response Ginny received that the issue was primarily one of psychometric validity.

Dr. Wilbur also states regarding the discontinued exams that they will "require a net financial investment of $25 million across the next five years." Has anyone seen AP publish its financials? On what, exactly, is this $25 million spent?

The one ray of hope in all this is that they are planning to revise the one remaining AP Latin exam to include more authors. Dr. Wilbur again, "It is the opinion of our World Languages Academic Advisory Committee that it will be better to embed a variety of literature in the one AP Latin course we will sustain, rather than having it focus solely on Vergil. Accordingly, we plan to convene in early fall 2008 a college faculty colloquium comprised of professors from fifty of the top classics and language departments nationwide to advise us on how we can make the remaining AP Latin program the best possible capstone experience for secondary school students seeking credit, placement, and further Latin studies in higher education."

While I happily acknowledge that our collegiate-level colleagues know what they want to see in the Latin students they receive and that it is the universities who will be awarding the credit, I find the exclusion of secondary teachers from this colloquium to be an insult, though not a surprising one at this point. Apparently, secondary magistri magistraeque are not to reason why, but merely shut up and do as we are told.

Dr. Wilbur's full letter appears below.

Steve Perkins
Indianapolis, IN

May 9, 2008

JNCL-NCLIS
4646 40th St NW
Suite 310
Washington, DC 20016-1859

Dear Dr. Edwards,

Thank you for your time to write to the College Board regarding our need to discontinue AP French Literature, AP Latin Literature, and possibly AP Italian Language & Culture. I’d like to take this opportunity to provide you with the most complete information possible. Because each of the subjects will result in a potentially different future state, I will also provide you with course specific information as relevant.

Discontinuation of 4 AP Courses
The College Board has announced that AP Computer Science AB, AP French Literature, and AP Latin Literature will be discontinued after the May 2009 exam administration, and partnerships will not be sought for extending those courses beyond that date. Each of these courses represents the second of two AP courses within that discipline, but altogether these programs are providing fewer than 400 students with their sole AP experience, and less than five one-thousandth of one percent of minority students! Yet they, along with Italian, require a net financial investment of $25 million across the next five years. Given the lack of educational funds in our country, the College Board feels strongly that we cannot best support world languages by continuing to invest $25 million in programs that only support 400 students uniquely. Instead we are discontinuing 4 AP subjects and are taking the associated investment, increasing by 50%, and providing much more focused and extensive investment in and support for the remaining AP world language and culture programs: German, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish Language, Spanish Literature, and French. We will not be considering any further discontinuations of AP world language and literature programs. This was a one-time decision made at a crucial juncture when we are making decisions to invest much more heavily in AP world language and culture programs than ever before.

AP Italian
The Board of Trustees of the College Board approved a significant initial investment to support AP Italian’s first three years. Unfortunately, the overall low levels of interest and participation among schools, teachers and students have made it necessary for the College Board to significantly exceed that investment just to sustain AP Italian up to now. The AP Italian Language and Culture course and exam represent a level of rigor and quality in curriculum and assessment design of which educators and the College Board are tremendously proud. Students participating in the AP Italian course enter college with impressive levels of proficiency in Italian and generate strong positive feedback from professors at institutions across the country, from Harvard to UCLA.

The College Board’s investment of resources, 400 percent higher than originally committed, demonstrates our passion for this program, but only allows us to offer AP Italian through the 2008-09 academic year. Therefore, the May 2009 AP Italian Language and Culture Exam will be the final offering of this program unless additional funding is secured. Between now and May 2009, our hope is that external partners will come forward to supplement the College Board’s investment. If this happens, we will be happy to announce a three-year extension of AP Italian through May 2012. In that time, we hope that advocates of AP Italian will be able to raise awareness and participation among students to the level of other programs, such as AP German. External support, similar to that provided for AP Chinese and AP Japanese, would enable the College Board to fund the conversion of the AP Italian exam administration and scoring model to the Web-based model employed by those subject areas, and would also enable the College Board to perform the necessary maintenance and support of the program. We will notify educators no later than May 1, 2009, if external support is forthcoming so that we can extend the AP Italian program into the three subsequent academic years (2009-2010, 2010-2011, and 2011-2012), after which an assessment of teacher and student participation would need to occur.

AP Latin Literature
We at the College Board value the study of Latin just as we value the study of other subjects ranging from Biology to German to Art History, for each of which we offer one, high-quality AP Examination. We want to provide the same level of support for Latin as we do for other AP subject areas, but this entails focusing our efforts on one rather than two separate AP Latin courses. It is the opinion of our World Languages Academic Advisory Committee that it will be better to embed a variety of literature in the one AP Latin course we will sustain, rather than having it focus solely on Vergil. Accordingly, we plan to convene in early fall 2008 a college faculty colloquium comprised of professors from fifty of the top classics and language departments nationwide to advise us on how we can make the remaining AP Latin program the best possible capstone experience for secondary school students seeking credit, placement, and further Latin studies in higher education. If you would be interested in attending an AP Latin Faculty Colloquium or would like to recommend colleagues who would be able to provide a depth of expertise on the matter, we would welcome such esteemed participation.

In summary, the two existing AP Latin courses will remain in place for the May 2009 exam. For May
2010, we will strive to offer an AP Latin Exam that provides teachers with an appropriate spectrum of
Latin texts, and as much choice as possible. If the development timeline does not allow us to have a modified AP Latin Exam ready for the May 2010 administration, we will only offer AP Latin Vergil in 2010 and offer the potentially changed AP Latin Exam in May 2011. Any and all changes will be announced well in advance, and we will make every effort to support AP Latin teachers in their efforts to deliver a new AP Latin Course.

AP French Literature
While we are disappointed to be announcing that next year is the final year of the AP French Literature program we are eager to focus our resources on efforts that will provide a much greater degree of support for all AP teachers than ever before. As we significantly scale up our support for AP world language and culture teachers, we cannot continue to offer two separate AP French courses and exams for the many reasons already stated in this letter. The large majority of students who take this course are by and large already served by other AP experiences. As part of the AP Course & Exam Review (see below) for AP French, we will be ensuring that AP French students read a variety of texts, including some authentic literature. AP German has continued to grow steadily, even since the discontinuation of AP German Literature.




Because AP Italian is new and has only had a short time to develop support in schools, our Board of Trustees will seek external financial support in order to maintain the course. But for the other three courses and exams being discontinued, regardless of the level of external financial support, our mission impact analyses did not allow us to recommend to the Executive Committee that we continue to invest organizational resources in maintenance and support of courses for which there was already a companion AP course and exam available in that same subject area.

AP Spanish Literature serves a significantly larger and more diverse group of students than the groups served by the discontinued subjects—there are more AP Spanish Literature students than in all the discontinued subjects combined. For many underserved students, AP Spanish Literature is the only AP experience that provides them with a rigorous preparation for college success. For this reason, there are not plans to discontinue AP Spanish Literature.

We agree 100% with your organization that AP world language courses are vital to the development and maintenance of long-term, articulated language programs so that as many students as possible have the opportunity to reach an advanced level of language study prior to college admission. For this reason, we recently supported the creation of AP Chinese, AP Japanese, and AP Italian. While expect to sustain yearly losses in the offering of these courses (in addition to sustained losses on AP Latin and AP German), it is our sincere desire to continue to offer as many AP world language courses as our bottom line will permit. As a not-for-profit membership organization, the College Board is committed to supporting schools in their work to provide high-quality, college-level AP course work to their students. To accomplish this work, we must allocate resources appropriately so that AP teachers and students are supported in the most meaningful, effective, and wide-reaching ways. For the suite of AP world language courses, this generally means offering one capstone AP experience. To that end, we have been spending the past two years engaging in the AP World Language & Literature Course & Exam Review.

AP Course & Exam Review
All AP disciplines undergo periodic updates and changes. Because of the nature of the world language disciplines, we are making review of these subjects a priority. In partnership with colleges, universities, secondary schools, and disciplinary associations nationwide, the College Board is working to ensure that these programs maintain alignment with current advances and scholarship in their disciplines. The goals of the AP World Languages & Literature Course & Exam Review are: 1) to ensure that the suite of AP courses and exams align with the National Standards; and 2) to have assessments that are as parallel as is appropriate.

To achieve these goals, we have been working since fall 2006 with a number of AP World Language Commissioners—secondary and post-secondary faculty--who have contributed to the creation of AP world language and literature Curriculum Frameworks and corresponding Achievement Level Descriptors. We are deeply grateful for the many professional contributions that have added to the collective thinking about world language acquisition. The most exciting facet of the work is that the Curriculum Framework has been developed to serve across all of our AP world language offerings. We were able to come to consensus with 48 Commissioners across six languages on the appropriate knowledge, skills, and abilities that should be expected at the culmination of a capstone AP world language experience. In the revised courses, the three communication modes as well as the 5C’s will be prevalent. This has been ground-breaking work and the College Board is so pleased to be part of the national dialog surrounding world language education. The earliest roll-out of AP world language exam changes will be May, 2012.

As a result of the AP Course & Exam Review across the current AP suite of world language & literature offerings, the College Board is preparing to create more resources for teachers than ever before, as they work to prepare students for rigorous college-level work in high school. We will begin creating AP Vertical Team and Pre-AP resources for world language teachers immediately after the May 2008 Commission meetings, with the development of numerous new AP resources to follow immediately. language and culture programs in the following ways:

*Providing AP teachers with downloadable embedded assessments for measuring students’ knowledge, skills and abilities throughout the AP course, giving teachers much more information about students’ strengths and weaknesses before exam day.
*Providing AP teachers with downloadable curriculum modules so that they have college-level materials for delivering key concepts.
*Providing AP teachers with access to student AP Exam score reports online.
*Convening college professors to raise awareness of the quality of AP World Language and Culture teachers and students and to enhance existing credit/placement policies.

College Board staff have great personal affection for the four AP Exams that are being discontinued, primarily through our associations with the tremendous AP teachers and college faculty of those disciplines. While we and the AP community feel great disappointment now, we are hopeful that five years in the future, when teachers and students are receiving the benefits of our investment in their subject areas (remember that in three of the four AP subject areas, the elimination of the companion AP course is not reducing the overall financial investment in that subject area, and we are in fact increasing our investment in that subject area by 50 percent), they will agree that this was the right decision for their disciplines, and that the Pre-AP and AP resources we are providing for them will assist them in maintaining student enrollments. If you have ideas of ways the College Board could help teachers and schools during the discontinuation of these AP courses, please do not hesitate to reach out to me directly.
Again, thank you so much for your care and concern about the AP world language courses. If you have additional comments, questions, or suggestions, I would be more than pleased to speak with you at your earliest convenience. Thank you, as well, for your every effort to support our national agenda of world language education for all students. We share in that passion.

Respectfully,

Marcia Wilbur, Ph.D.
Executive Director, Curriculum & Content Development
Advanced Placement Program
[e-mail]