Professors’ Summer Departure Heralds Arrival of AP Institute Teachers

While many Davidson College teachers have left the college grounds for summer projects and vacation, the college has played host to more than 300 other teachers in the past two weeks!

The arrivals were attending a College Board Advanced Placement Institute, which is being held at Davidson for the seventh year in a row. High school teachers from near and far attended institute workshops, which were offered in 16 subjects, including chemistry, German, economics, European history, English language and literature, U.S. government, environmental science and biology.

The teacher/students include 50 from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, but several have traveled to the institute from overseas, including the Netherlands and Korea.

The College Board offers AP courses for high school students in a total of 34 subjects. High school students take the rigorous courses because high scores on end-of-year AP exams count as college course credit at many of the colleges they will attend. The institute at Davidson employs trained College Board AP consultants who work with the AP teachers to help their high school students succeed in AP courses.

The institute's teacher/consultants include two with Davidson ties. Calculus teacher Bill Compton is a 1968 graduate of the college, and Frontis Johnston Professor of Economics Clark Ross has taught that subject. Ross has been active in Advanced Placement economics since the inception of the program in 1988. From 1998 to 2005, he served as Chief Faculty Consultant for AP economics.