French teacher Rita Davis has achieved the distinction of being among the first wave of educators who have received College Board approval for revised Advancement Placement curriculums that incorporate new research-based requirements under the Board’s sweeping revision of its AP program.
A veteran language instructor, Davis received approval for her French Language and Culture course, which provides opportunities for students to develop their skills in three key areas of communication and to enrich their cultural knowledge of France and other French-speaking countries.
In March, Davis will travel to Zurich, Switzerland to conduct AP workshops as part of the College Board’s international outreach. She will also conduct similar workshops for educators in the United States this month in New York City.
Davis spent a year developing her new coursework. The course is organized around six curricular themes: global challenges, beauty and aesthetics, science and technology, families and contemporary life, communities, and personal and public identifies. The class is conducted entirely in French, and students use authentic written and aural resources in developing proficiencies in interpersonal, interpretive and presentational skills. Students also are expected to make comparisons between and within cultures of the French-speaking world.
“It was a very rewarding experience and at the same time, a stimulating challenge to rework and envision change,” Davis said of her work. “My sense is that the revised curriculum engages students' curiosity and gives them more opportunity for fluid communication.”
“This is an invigorating time to be a French language teacher, and it is clear that the transition to an emphasis on oral and written comprehension and communication is a significant shift from the past concentration on language forms,” she explained.
Davis was born in Clermont-Ferrand, France, and has taught Middle and Upper School French for three decades. She serves as a consultant to the College Board, presenting workshops for new and experienced teachers of AP French. She started as an AP grader in 1991 and is currently an AP French Language and Culture grader. She has written one of the AP French Language Course overviews included in the 2008 AP Professional Development Guide. Davis is also currently co-president of the 240-member Philadelphia chapter of the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF).
The AP revision process, which will take place over three years, focuses on promoting 21st century skills such as critical thinking and analysis, effective communication and innovation. This year, new courses in German Language and Culture and World History are being approved. Next school year, Biology, Latin and Spanish Literature and Culture are to be revised. In 2013-2014, Chemistry and Spanish Language and Culture will undergo the same changes.
According to the College Board website, “AP course revisions promote rigorous, research-based curricula that reflect the most current advances in each discipline. History and science revisions focus on reducing scope and thereby freeing teachers to explore complex concepts and develop students’ essential thinking skills. Revisions to world languages stress the interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational modes of communication.”