AP and Honors Courses at Ridge View

Honors and Advanced Placement courses are recommended for the exceptionally talented college-bound students who have demonstrated a previous record of excellence in the subject area necessary to do rigorous academic work. These courses are designed to prepare students for College Board Advanced Placement examinations through which they may earn college credit.

Advanced Placement Courses:
Advanced Placement classes are extremely rigorous classes designed for students ready for college-level academic work.  Students enrolled in an AP class must take an exam administered by CollegeBoard.  The range of scores for an AP test is 0-5.  Most colleges award college credit to students who earn a score of 3 or higher.  Please check with the college you plan on attending to see what their policies are on awarding credit for AP exams.

The following criteria apply to the College Board’s Advanced Placement (AP) courses including these courses when offered online and in other nontraditional settings and when recorded on transcripts from accredited out-of-state schools and in state from sources other than the public schools that are accredited by the six accrediting agencies identified in State Board Regulation 43-273, Transfers and Withdrawals.

1. Only AP or IB courses can be awarded a full quality point above the CP weighting. Seminar or support courses for AP or IB may be weighted as honors but not as AP or IB courses.
2. An AP course can carry only one quality point.

Honors Courses
Honors courses, which extend and deepen the opportunities provided by courses at the high school level, are designed for students exhibiting superior abilities in the particular content area. The honors curriculum places emphasis on critical and analytical thinking, rational decision making, and inductive and deductive reasoning.

School districts may designate honors courses and give the assigned weighting under the following conditions:

1. An honors course must have a published syllabus that verifies rigor sufficiently beyond the College Preparatory (CP) requirements.
2. Textbooks and other course materials must be differentiated and more rigorous than those used in CP courses.
3. Honors courses may be offered in English, mathematics, science, and social studies. Honors weighting may be designated in other content areas for the third and fourth level of the courses, provided that the two above standards are met. Honors weighting may not be designated in any physical education courses.

One half of a quality point (.5) is added to the CP weighting for honors courses that meet the three criteria listed above. These criteria apply to all courses, including those offered online and in other nontraditional settings and those recorded on transcripts from accredited out-of-state schools and in state from sources other than the public schools that are accredited by the New England Association of Colleges and Schools, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, Western Association of Colleges and Schools, and Northwest Association of Colleges and Schools identified in State Board of Education Regulation 43-273, Transfers and Withdrawals.