Educator Quick Start

AP Potential is a research-driven, free online tool designed to help schools expand access to their AP programs based on likely student outcomes. Learn how schools are using AP Potential. 

AP Potential helps schools: 

  • Generate rosters of students who are likely to score a 3 or higher on a given AP Exam based on their performance on the PSAT/NMSQT, PSAT 8/9, PSAT 10, or SAT*.

  • Better plan their master schedules by allowing them to determine which new courses to consider adding, and which existing courses to expand, given their students’ potential to succeed.  

*Note: AP Potential is calculated for 24 AP courses, now including AP Seminar and AP Computer Science Principles. Scores from PSAT-related assessments can help you identify 9th- and 10th grade students likely to succeed in 6 AP courses: AP World History, AP European History, AP Human Geography, AP Art History, AP Seminar, and AP Computer Science Principles.

Tool Enhancements 

The AP Potential tool will continue to provide schools with the ability to identify students who are likely to succeed in a particular AP course and easily generate custom letters to students and families to encourage participation in AP courses.

In addition to the current functionality, the educator portal of the AP Potential tool will have the following enhancements to help schools more easily identify opportunities to add sections or courses.

Enhancement

How to Use

Test Administration selection will expand in functionality to reflect the highest level of AP potential attained for the current school year across all PSAT/NMSQT, PSAT 8/9, PSAT 10, or SAT administrations.

Selecting [School Year] PSAT/SAT Suite of Assessments yields the largest possible number of students at your school who are ready to take AP. This may be especially useful for courses without grade requirements or new courses that earlier cohorts haven’t had the chance to take.

Grade selection options are currently individual grades from 8 to 12 or All Grades. The enhancement will add a 9–11 Grades selection.

Selecting 9th–11th grade includes students who still have an opportunity to take AP but excludes graduating seniors and students who haven’t started high school. This may be especially useful for recommending students for courses without grade requirements or for new courses that earlier cohorts haven’t had the chance to take, as well as for planning for courses to offer in the next school year.

Schools will be able to see a single table that displays the number of students who are likely to succeed in the schools’ current AP course offerings, as well as AP courses not offered.

Add a new course or sections to an existing course based on the number of students with the likelihood to succeed in AP. The tables will show you the following:

  • Blue = course not offered: Consider adding courses you don’t currently offer and in which many of your students have the potential to succeed.
  • Green = course offered: Evaluate the number of sections for courses you offer, and consider adding more sections.

Resources