Department of Education representative visits Center for Teaching and Learning

by Adam Frazier
August 28, 2009
Columbus, IN – Jon Gubera, AP and IB Director and Coordinator of Middle School Education for the Indiana Department of Education Center for Curriculum & Instructional Leadership, recently visited the Center for Teaching and Learning.
 
Gubera spoke with Indiana public and public charter high school instructors attending the CTL’s AP Summer Institute.
 
He said the Indiana Department of Education hopes to grow Indiana’s AP program in the coming years.
 
“Right now only 10 percent of high school graduates in Indiana have passed an AP exam with a score that will qualify for college credit,” Gubera said. “We have an opportunity for extraordinary growth. These courses prepare students for the types of challenges they will face in college. We need more kids involved in AP and believing they can do college level work.”
 
Gubera said institutes like those held at the CTL help AP teachers become better equipped to help their students be successful in the class and on the AP exams.
 
“It is extremely difficult for first-year AP teachers to build a framework for high school student success in a college-level course,” he said. “Workshops like these give new (and experienced) AP teachers a great opportunity to exchange ideas over content and pedagogy specific to the demands of their subjects and end of course assessments.  Additionally, working with other highly talented and dedicated teachers tends to serve as great motivation for all attendees.”
 
The CTL offered more than 120 hours of intense instruction for AP teachers in July.
 
Teachers from Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, Florida, and Washington attended the classes intended to prepare AP teachers to meet the demands of AP curriculum and improve overall classroom instruction. Endorsed College Board consultants from Indiana, Ohio, and Iowa served as instructors.
 
Classes include AP Economics (micro and macro), AP Computer Science, AP Calculus, and AP English Literature and Composition.
 
For more information about the Center for Teaching and Learning, visit www.columbusctl.com.