The AP Capstone Diploma Program Focuses on Inquiry, Research, and Writing Skills Crucial for College and Career Success
Three students from Nations’ graduating class of 2017 are making school history as the first in the region to meet the requirements for the prestigious AP Capstone Diploma!
What is AP Capstone?
School of the Nations is one of more than 600 schools worldwide and one of three in Brazil to implement AP Capstone—an innovative diploma program that allows students to develop the skills that matter most for their future college success: research, collaboration, and communication. The program involves a two-course sequence: AP Seminar and AP Research. Developed in response to feedback from higher education faculty and college admission officers, AP Capstone complements the in-depth, subject-specific rigor of Advanced Placement courses and exams.
Students who complete AP Seminar and AP Research with scores of 3 or higher, and earn scores of 3 or higher on four additional AP Exams in subjects of their choice, receive the AP Capstone Diploma. Students who earn scores of 3 or higher on the two AP Capstone exams but do not earn qualifying scores on four additional AP Exams receive the AP Seminar and Research Certificate.
“This innovative program prepares a broader, more diverse student population for college and career success, and also provides our teachers with flexibility in the curriculum to expand access to challenging course work and the development of important skills.”
Sixty-Five Nations’ students took 118 Advanced Placement Exams in 2017, setting a record for School of the Nations.
Ten students took the AP Research Exam. Eight of them (80%) earned scores of 3 or above, and two earned the highest score of 5. Thirty-four students took the AP Seminar Exam. Twenty-five (73.5%) earned scores of 3 or above. Three of these students have now met the requirements to earn the AP Capstone Diploma, having earned scores of 3 or higher on four additional AP Exams in subjects of their choice.
How Do Capstone Courses Prepare Students for Academic and Career Success?
The AP Seminar course is taken by all students in Grade 11 and equips students with the skills to explore academic and real-world issues from multiple perspectives. Through a variety of materials — from articles and research studies to foundational and philosophical texts—students are challenged to explore complex questions; understand and evaluate opposing viewpoints; interpret and synthesize information; and develop, communicate, and defend evidence-based arguments. Teachers have the flexibility of choosing themes based on students’ interests, whether they be local, regional, national, or global in nature. Students can select from a variety of themes in the AP Seminar course, including education, innovation, sustainability, and technology. By tapping into students’ personal interests, AP Capstone gives a broader array of students an entry point into challenging course work. Students are assessed through an individual and team project, which they work on throughout the year as well as a year-end written exam.
The subsequent AP Research course, taken by all students in Grade 12, allows students to design, plan, and conduct a yearlong investigation on a topic of their choice with support from experts at the university level or in the community. Students build on the skills they learned in the AP Seminar course by employing research methods; ethical research practices; and accessing, analyzing, and synthesizing information to present an argument. At the end of the course, students have the confidence to present and orally defend their own scholarly academic research.
2017 AP Scholar Awards
The AP Scholar Awards recognize high school students who have demonstrated exemplary college-level achievement on AP Exams.
We offer our congratulations to the following students who, through their dedication and studies, have earned distinguished awards in the Advanced Placement Program this year.
AP Scholar with Distinction Awards are granted to students who receive an average score of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams.
2017 AP Scholar with Distinction
- Paula Cruz Pereira - Mariana M. de Sá - Beatriz M. Xavier
- Gabriel S. Mendonça
AP Scholar with Honor Awards are granted to students who receive an average score of at least 3.25 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on four or more of these exams.
2017 AP Scholar with Honor
- Anna Dudas - Pedro Henrique Q. Morais -Britney Mbeng
AP Capstone Diplomas are granted to students who earn scores of 3 or higher in AP Seminar and AP Research and on four additional AP Exams of their choosing.
2017 AP Capstone Diploma
- Paula Cruz Pereira - Mariana M. de Sá - Beatriz M. Xavier
-Anna Dudas - Gabriel S. Mendonça
AP Seminar and Research Certificates are granted to students who earn scores of 3 or higher in both AP Seminar and AP Research.
2017 AP Seminar and Research Certificate
-Ana Micaela L. Scheidemantel -Britney K. Mbeng - Chiang C. Siew
AP Scholar Awards are granted to students who receive scores of 3 or higher on three or more AP Exams.
2017 AP Scholar Awards
-Ana Micaela L. Scheidemantel - Matheus Alencastro Mendes Barros - Mateus N. Bezerra
- Victor Gaba - Gabriel F. Lopes - Flavia C. Patrício
- Chiang C. Siew - Marta Z. Silva - Stefan Z. Gonçalves
Summary of AP Exam Results
The table below shows the subject, the number of students taking an exam in a given subject, the number of students scoring 3 or above, and the average score by subject.
The five subjects with the highest percentage of scores of 3 and above are Calculus BC, English Literature & Composition, Physics I, Spanish Language & Culture, and Spanish Literature & Culture. One hundred percent of students who took these tests earned a score of 3 or above. AP Seminar was taken by the greatest number of students (34) with 74% earning a score of 3 or higher.