Shortchanged

Abrams usefully shakes us out of our complacency about a program that seems good enough only because we expect so little of it.—Wall Street Journal[Abrams] says the [AP] program hurts students and the values of the liberal arts….The most damning portions of the book are on the present state of AP.—Inside Higher EdShortchanged is a brilliant book not just because of its content, but because of the way that Abrams grapples with the potential of a humanities….This book is everything we say that the humanities can do. And it’s everything that, according to Abrams, the Advanced Placement regime is likely to destroy.—Washington PostAnnie Abrams’s new book, Shortchanged, puts the story of Advanced Placement courses in perspective.It’s an important read for anyone contemplating the time honored courses, either from a teacher or student perspective. And it is a reminder that while the name ‘College Board’ sounds like some sort of quasi-governmental entity overseeing higher education, they are simply a private company with products to market.—Peter Greene, ForbesAbrams’s 2023 book, Shortchanged: How Advanced Placement Cheats Students, builds from the premise that any discussion of standardized testing–and about the endangered status of American liberal arts college education—also must attempt to understand how the businesses who created these exams have shaped secondary schooling.Abrams ably shows the philosophical traditions and geopolitical conditions that shaped the earliest versions of these tests.—Contingent MagazineThe writing is sharp, unrestrained, and sometimes funny….A critical scholar, Abrams consistently foregrounds issues of race and inequalityShortchanged is a valuable read for anyone connected to AP, from students and families to policymakers.We shouldn’t especially care what the individual founders might think of AP today, although they’d be horrified, to be sure. Abrams, however, insists that we ourselves should be horrified. Shortchanged provides that opportunity.—History of Education QuarterlyA clarion call for maintaining the humanities and liberal arts in our schools and encouraging the teaching of humanities in diverse and unique ways.—The History Teacher

Annie Abrams teaches high school English. She holds a doctorate in American literary history from New York University.