February 28, 2023. This month as students stayed busy working through Module 8, we were busy outside the classroom. We participated in our first-ever podcast with Future Groove podcast hosted by John Harris! In it we discuss the concept, structure and benefits of the AP4CTE program. A link is up in the AP Seminar Overview page and can also be found on Spotify, Apple, Google Podcasts and Amazon Music. We also presented at the Educating for Careers conference in Sacramento and received positive feedback and interest in implementing our AP Seminar curriculum in other schools. We look forward to collaborating with more teachers!
January 30, 2023. Our AP Seminar Content Archive page is now complete! Module 9 resources have been posted and all materials for Modules 1-7 have been replaced with the revised materials, as previously noted the documents have “final-revision” at the end of the file name to indicate that it is the most up-to-date version. Our Canvas and Google Classroom shells are also complete, if you would like a copy of either please email connect@ap4cte.org and we will be happy to send you import links and instructions.
In the classroom, students are still busy working through Module 8 and practicing for High-Stake Task 1. They will continue to focus on this preparation for the next month so that they will be ready for the AP Exam at the end of the year.
December 31, 2022. December was a busy month for us! All resources have been uploaded for Modules 7 & 8, including text selections, assessments, assignments, and teacher instructions. That leaves us with just one more module to post, Module 9, which we will upload early next month. Revisions for class materials in Modules 1- 5 are underway. We have posted the revised materials for Module 1 and will be posting the materials for subsequent modules next month. All documents will have “final_revision” at the end of the file name to indicate that it is the most up-to-date version of the materials.
We have reached an exciting milestone in our pilot class as we will begin Module 8 next month when students return from break. This module will last two months, much longer than any previous module. Throughout this module, students will put into practice the skills learned in the previous seven modules as they practice and prepare for the College Board’s High-Stake Task 1.
November 30, 2022. More module materials have been uploaded! Suggested text selections have been added to Modules 1 & 2 for use with the module assignments. All teacher and student resources for Module 6 are now live on the site. On the AP Seminar Content Archive page, you will find teacher instructions, assessments, student assignments, text selections, argument structure templates, and grading rubrics.
Now that we have had an opportunity to run through Modules 1 -5 in our pilot class, we will update our materials with revisions made while teaching. Next month we will post the revised fine-tuned materials for Modules 1 & 2.
October 31, 2022. We have been busy adding to the AP Seminar Content Archive page! All teacher instructions, quizzes, and student assignments have been added for Modules 3 through 5. We will soon add suggested text selections, grading rubrics, and PowerPoint presentations for these modules.
Things are still going very well in class with our students. They have been engaging with course stimulus materials and participating in class discussions. We have also been busy laying the groundwork to increase awareness of AP Seminar to help recruit CTE students for enrollment in Fall 2023. Meetings with CTE teachers in all pathways have been a huge help in creating an understanding of how to work together to integrate AP Seminar topics into CTE classes and vice versa. Only through this type of collaboration can we genuinely address CTE student needs in our AP Capstone courses and better prepare them for college and career readiness.
September 25, 2022. Course overview materials have been added to the AP Seminar Content Archive page, as well as all teacher instructions and student assignments for Modules 1 and 2. We will be adding PowerPoint presentations for these modules in the coming months.
We have now concluded Modules 1 and 2 in our pilot class without any significant hiccups regarding students and learning. However, since this is the first time AP Seminar is being offered at our pilot high school, we needed more enrollment to have a standalone section of strictly CTE students. Unfortunately, we only have a few CTE students enrolled across all sections. While we would have liked to have more students to help us gauge student engagement and success from a CTE student perspective, we are focused on helping the students that we have and have learned that we need to work on better recruitment for future enrollments.
August 18, 2022. For many parents, AP courses are the gold standard to offer their children a head start in preparing for success after high school. CTE courses are sometimes viewed as secondary opportunities. For many students interested in learning in-demand industry skills through CTE courses, AP exams may seem too far out of their comfort zone. And lastly, many AP teachers lack content knowledge and teaching experience in CTE pathways and vice versa.
At Downey Unified School District, we aim to solve these problems with AP4CTE. Our AP Seminar and AP Research courses marry the two worlds of AP academic structure with CTE’s current industry content. Students with all academic interests can benefit from this College and Career Readiness opportunity. AP teachers join forces with CTE teachers to tailor course reading and research materials to specific CTE pathways. In both courses, students take a deeper dive into the research side of the industry that complements the skills they are learning in their pathway courses.
This project journal chronicles our journey, asks for your ideas, and hopes to open doors to make AP courses more accessible to all students.