Advanced-Placement courses are offered in approximately 62% of high schools in the U.S. In May 2001 more than 450,000 AP exams in mathematics and science were taken. The International Baccalaureate Organization also provides high-level study and summative exams. The IB program provides an international standard of secondary education for children of diplomats and others living outside their home countries. A committee of the National Research Council has spent two years studying the effectiveness of these programs. Prepublication versions of that committee's findings and of a report from its content panel for chemistry have recently become available (1). Both are worthy of your attention.

The NRC study was motivated by several recent developments: improved understanding of teaching and learning, promulgation of standards for science education, and below-average performance of U.S. students when compared with those from other countries. The scope and philosophy of the report are evident in its recommendations.

• The primary goal of advanced study should be for students to achieve a deep conceptual understanding of content and unifying ideas and to develop skills of inquiry, analysis, and problem solving.
• To improve minority students' access to advanced study, courses in grades 6–10 that leave students unprepared for further study in a discipline should be eliminated from the curriculum.
• Advanced-study programs in science and mathematics should be made consistent with recent research findings on how people learn.
• Depth of understanding is more important than exhaustive coverage of content, and curricula should be reviewed frequently to include the latest developments in science and technology.
• Instruction should engage students in inquiry, employ multiple representations of ideas, and pose a variety of tasks.
• There should be frequent formative assessment as well as examinations to certify mastery, and assessments should evaluate depth of understanding using both content and process components.
• Programs for advanced study should clearly specify and monitor the qualifications expected of teachers; professional development opportunities must be available to teachers throughout their careers.
• Other approaches to advanced study in addition to AP and IB should be developed and evaluated.
• Institutions of higher education should base decisions about credit and advanced placement on more than just test scores.
• Introductory courses in colleges and universities should be modified in accord with the suggestions about curriculum and instruction earlier in this list.

The chemistry panel reports that the "AP and IB final examinations are formulaic and predictable in their approaches and question types". Thus, "with sufficient practice on how to take such examinationsstudents can score well on them primarily by rote". It also finds that the "examinations do not reflect recent developments in chemistry and in the teaching of chemistry" and that examinations and courses do not incorporate important disciplines, such as materials science and biochemistry, that are closely related to modern chemistry. The chemistry panel recommends that an AP or IB teacher should have at least a B.S. or B.A. in chemistry (including two semesters of physical chemistry with lab). Preferably the teacher should have a M.S. or M.A. in chemistry. Professional development should include content instruction, research participation, and pedagogy workshops. It should occur at regular intervals, be required, and be funded. Teachers should not be inhibited from taking advantage of professional development opportunities during the academic year. There should be more opportunities for interactions among AP and IB teachers and for interactions with college and university faculty, and teachers should be participating members of professional organizations such as the National Science Teachers Association and the ACS Division of Chemical Education.

All of these are good recommendations, yet they will be hard to implement. This Journal stands ready to help. For example, our discussion forum on general chemistry courses is open to AP and IB teachers and can put them in contact with both high school and college faculty.

Advanced-level high school courses are crucial to improving chemistry education. Let's resolve to work as hard as we can to make them as effective as possible.

Literature Cited

1. Learning and Understanding: Improving Advanced Study of Mathematics and Science in U.S. High Schools; Gollub, Jerry P., Bertenthal, Meryl W., Labov, Jay B., Curtis, Philip C., Eds.; Report of the Content Panel for Chemistry; Stanitski, Conrad L., Ed.; National Research Council. Center for Education, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, Committee on Programs for Advanced Study of Mathematics and Science in American High Schools. National Academy Press: Washington, DC, 2002. (Prepublication version is available at http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10129.html.)