The Academy’s mission is to cultivate a critical mass of leaders and change agents who truly understand the AP Biology Curriculum Framework and are able to design and teach a course that exemplifies the framework. These leaders will also be able to design non-AP courses that emphasize big ideas and unifying concepts of biology and use the practices of science to help students learn these concepts.
Through participation in the Academy, educators have the opportunity to
- strengthen how they teach AP biology so students learn more meaningful biology and are more interested in studying biology in the future;
- experience the practices of science as articulated in the new framework;
- analyze and enhance their current curriculum materials to better reflect the new framework;
- learn to use formative and summative assessment information to examine what their students understand; and
- develop and increase their leadership capacity and advocacy skills to expand the AP Biology community.
BSCS Science Educator and Academy Director Brooke Bourdélat-Parks says, “As part of the AP Biology Leadership Academy, teachers attend a one-week institute in Colorado Springs each summer of the two-year program. During this time, we focus on the practices of science, the nature of the curriculum, teaching practices, assessment, and leadership. The teachers also participate in the NABT Professional Development Conference each fall. We continue to work with the teachers through an online component throughout the school year.”
|The College Board AP Biology framework focuses on four “big ideas” in biology.
The framework makes a shift from a content-driven course to an inquiry-based course.