italian-studies: Scholarly discussions in any field of Italian studies
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Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 01:40:30 -0400
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Subject: Advanced Placement Exam
Cari Amici:
Usually what comes from our list-serve involves events at our own Calandra
Italian American Institute or those organized by many other Italian and
Italian/American associations and organizations in the greater New York
metropolitan area. This missive I am sending you involves neither, though it
is about something intimately related to our communities. I am speaking of
the College Board˙˙s three-year old Advanced Placement Exam in Italian.
As some of you may know by now, the future of the Advanced Placement Exam in
Italian is on the chopping block after two and one-half years in existence.
This language might seem a bit dramatic, but it clearly describes the
current situation. Perhaps a bit more colorful and/or colloquial than one
might expect, but we really need to be as candid as we can about the
critical status of the Advanced Placement Exam in Italian and, more
important, the subsequent disadvantage to those high school students who
have opted for Italian over the so-called canonical languages: those
languages, we˙˙ve been told, that have more currency within the greater
United States collective consciousness.
As I wrote to you before, on January 14, 2008, there was a meeting between
an ah hoc committee in support of the AP in Italian (Matilda Raffa Cuomo,
Former First Lady of the State of New York and AP Italian Committee leader;
Francesco Maria Talò, Consul General of Italy in New York; Marco Mancini,
First Counselor at the Embassy of Italy in Washington; Luigi De Sanctis,
Director of the Education Office at the Embassy of Italy in Washington;
Alfio Russo, Director of the Education Office at the Consulate General of
Italy in New York; Margaret Cuomo, AP Italian committee; and myself as
president of AATI) and administrative members of the College Board.
To date, there have been two iterations of the exam. In 2006 there were
1,597; in 2007 there were 1,642; and for 2008 the CB projected 1,788. The
good news here is that we have broken 2,000 exams ordered as of April 9, and
there are still nine more days to go! This is growth, and one would normally
applaud such progress. The problem is that the College Board accepted to
create the AP Exam in Italian because, back when negotiations were being
conducted, it was expected that there would be approximately 500 schools and
10,000 students involved in the exam. These are the numbers to assure that
the exam, as the College Board explained, would not be a financial loss.
Regardless, the College Board did commit to continuing the exam, even at a
loss, but that the numbers of students would have to grow and financial
support would have to be forthcoming. Clearly, from what you can read above,
we are well under the initial estimate. There are less than 200 high schools
nation-wide that offer AP courses whose students take the exam. We are,
therefore, significantly lacking in the original expectations.
The upshot is that all of us, together, need to do all we can to improve the
number of students taking the AP Exam in Italian. There is no question that
if there are more students in high school who aspire to and take the AP Exam
in Italian, there will be more students populating more advanced courses in
colleges and universities. This is simple math. Let me also underscore
something that Dr. Cuomo pointed out in her letter published in the latest
American Association of Teachers of Italian Newsletter; that a student may
indeed sit for the AP Exam in Italian without having to participate in the
course. Rightfully so, as she states, ˙˙this opportunity will be most
attractive to native Italian speakers, and those American students learning
Italian independently.˙˙
But much more needs to be done, and the challenges are close to staggering!
As it stands, the Board of Directors of the College Board has most recently
decided to suspend the AP Exam in Italian after 2009 if the number of
students taking the exam does not markedly improve and funds to the tune of
$6,000.000 are not raised in order to (a) guarantee the exam for another
triennial (2010-2012) and (b) develop a more economical type of exam. In a
letter from the College Board we were told that it ˙˙requires that if [the
College Board is] to sustain AP Italian during the 2009-2010 academic year
and beyond, external funding [is necessary in order to] reduce [˙˙] annual
losses to the original budget approved for AP Italian. So $6 million in
external funding will be required to: (a) cover $1.8 million in operating
costs for the current paper/pencil face-to-face scoring model for AP Italian
for 2009-2010 and 2010-2011; (b) cover the conversion of the exam content
into the evidence-centered model (routine updating of the exam questions):
$1.2 million; and (c) cover the development and systems build for the
creation of the computer-based AP Italian Exams and the online scoring
network (i.e. converting AP Italian to the same model that has allowed [the
College Board] to operate Chinese and Japanese at lower volumes), launching
the new model for the 2011-2012 academic year: $3 million.˙˙
Part of the ˙˙broadsided effect,˙˙ as one of our colleagues called it, is that
the AP Commissioners in Italian have been dis-invited to the May meeting in
Atlanta. This meeting was to have been the final in a series begun in May
2007 in order to articulate claims, including skills-evidence-tasks and best
practices, in preparation for the revision of the AP language exams. The AP
Commissioners in Italian met with Commissions in French, Spanish, German,
Italian, Chinese, and Japanese in order to collaborate cross-linguistically
on the articulation. As Dr. Elvira Di Fabio, College Board AP Commissioner
for Italian, stated, the ˙˙implication of this action on the part of the
College Board would be that the Italian AP exam is no longer on the roaster
for revision.˙˙ Past president of the AATI and College Board AP Commissioner
for Italian, Dr. Paolo Giordano, stated the following: ˙˙Let me add that the
decision of the College Board to rescind its invitation to the Italian AP
National Commissioners for the next working meeting in May is disrespectful
and embarrassing, not just to the Commissioners but to all of us involved in
Italian Studies.˙˙
The above-mentioned ad hoc committee will meet later this month. At that
time, members of NIAF, OSIA, UNICO will also be present, as well as other
professors and teachers of Italian involved in the AP at various levels. The
major discussions at that time will be dedicated to funding and short-term
goals with regard to a greater diffusion of the AP Exam in Italian.
All of this inevitably speaks to an overall commitment on the part of the
Italian and Italian/American communities with regard to Italian culture and
its many facets. First and foremost, of course, is its language. If we do
not know the language, we simply cannot access a greater part of that
culture. Furthermore, for those of us who are children and grandchildren of
those who spent weeks in steerage, a greater knowledge of Italian affords us
greater knowledge to the hows and whys such immigration took place.
I close this piece with a few random thoughts, much of which, I am
confident, many would agree. Italian culture extends beyond the realm of
fashion and food; nice leather shoes and osso buco do not suffice! And to
underscore the importance of Italian cultural artifacts throughout the
centuries, I would remind everyone that France˙˙s Musée du Lourve, one of
that country˙˙s most grandiose, prized possessions (one that is chock full of
art from every corner of the world), is ubiquitously represented by the icon
of an Italian oil painting that measures 30 × 21 inches. A big job for such
a small painting!
Alla riscossa!
Anthony Julian Tamburri
Dean
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