Teaching AP for the First Time?
Use this checklist of resources to learn more about course requirements and instructional support.
1 Explore your course home page
Your course home page contains all the information you need—timely news about your course and exam, resources to use with your students, exam practice resources including past exam questions and sample student responses with scoring commentary, and more.
This is where you’ll find your course and exam description, the core document for your subject, describing the curriculum and the exam. It also provides information about the AP Program in general.
2 Use the AP Course Audit site
The AP Course Audit is the required course authorization process that provides teachers and administrators with guidelines and requirements for offering AP courses.
Once you enroll in the AP Course Audit you can add your course, submit your AP Course Audit form, and have your administrator approve it. This enables access to all AP resources, including those in AP Classroom, to inform your course planning.
Among the resources you might want to check out immediately are the Syllabus Development Guide, available in your AP Course Audit account in the Resources section, and the sample syllabi. You can base your class on one or more of the syllabi and you will also find a list of recommended textbooks.
3 Check out AP Classroom
AP Classroom provides flexible support to help you plan and teach your course and get daily feedback to adjust instruction and motivate students to improve.
You’ll find all AP Classroom resources here, including unit guides with resources for every topic and skill, personal progress checks, and a question bank so you can build your own tests using every AP question relevant to your course. You’ll also find AP practice exams that you can securely assign to students as they prepare for the AP Exam.
To assign AP resources to students, you or your AP coordinator will need to set up your class sections. Learn more about AP Classroom.
4 Join the AP Community
This is a discussion board for new and experienced teachers, where members ask and answer questions, share lessons, suggest materials, and more. The AP Community is a great source of support as you launch your course and includes an extensive resource library.
5 Seek out professional learning
Sign up for College Board-sponsored workshops, delivered online. Or, request funding to attend a weeklong AP Summer Institute.
6 Learn about AP Score Reports
Read about the AP Score Reports you’ll have access to, which can help you analyze your students’ exam data and measure your success.
If you have further questions, talk with your school’s AP coordinator for guidance or post on the AP Community.