AP Success Series:
A Year of Support for Advanced Placement Teachers
Virtual
About the Facilitator
Shawn Harris has served Montana students and educators for more than 30 years as a classroom teacher and instructional leader. She spent over a decade working with the College Board, supporting Pre-AP and Advanced Placement programs and helping educators strengthen instruction, improve student success, and navigate AP course expectations.
Drawing on her extensive experience in both Montana schools and national AP programming, Shawn provides practical, research-based guidance specifically designed for educators teaching AP courses in rural and small-school settings. She currently lives in Missoula, supervises student teachers for the University of Montana, and continues to support educators through the Montana Professional Learning Collaborative.
About the AP Success Series
Teaching an Advanced Placement course can be both rewarding and challenging. Whether participants are first-year AP teachers or experienced educators looking for fresh ideas, the AP Success Series provides ongoing professional learning and support throughout the school year.
Rather than a one-time workshop, participants will receive monthly opportunities to collaborate with an experienced AP educator, discuss instructional challenges, share successful strategies, review student performance data, and receive timely guidance aligned with the AP instructional calendar.
Each session is designed to help teachers strengthen instruction, improve pacing and assessment practices, expand student access to AP coursework, and increase student confidence and readiness for AP Exams.
Learning Objectives
At the end of the AP Success Series, participants will be able to:
Topics May Include
Workshop Format
Meeting Schedule
Third Wednesday of each month (excluding December)
7:00–8:30 PM Mountain Time
Workshop Materials
Participants should have access to:
Professional Learning Credit
12 OPI Renewal Units
Registration & Cost
Registration Fee: $249 per participant
Group Discount
Schools and districts registering 3 or more participants receive a 10% discount.
This series provides 12 hours of direct professional learning and mentoring across eight live sessions, plus access to session recordings and ongoing collaboration with an experienced AP educator. Participants will receive personalized coaching, practical instructional support, opportunities to analyze student data, and collaboration with colleagues throughout the entire school year.
Compared to traditional one- or two-day workshops, the AP Success Series offers sustained, job-embedded professional learning that supports implementation throughout the academic year and aligns with the AP instructional calendar.
Minimum Enrollment: A minimum of 5 registered participants is required for this cohort to proceed. If minimum enrollment is not met, participants will receive a full refund or may apply their registration fee toward another MTPLC professional learning opportunity.
Why Participate?
Participants will benefit from:
Questions?
Jessica N. Johnson, M.Ed.
Executive Director
Montana Professional Learning Collaborative
📧 [email protected]
📞 406-210-0374
🌐 https://www.mtplc.org
Register: https://forms.gle/LMmRsbTbSDDwdE1i8
A Year of Support for Advanced Placement Teachers
Virtual
About the Facilitator
Shawn Harris has served Montana students and educators for more than 30 years as a classroom teacher and instructional leader. She spent over a decade working with the College Board, supporting Pre-AP and Advanced Placement programs and helping educators strengthen instruction, improve student success, and navigate AP course expectations.
Drawing on her extensive experience in both Montana schools and national AP programming, Shawn provides practical, research-based guidance specifically designed for educators teaching AP courses in rural and small-school settings. She currently lives in Missoula, supervises student teachers for the University of Montana, and continues to support educators through the Montana Professional Learning Collaborative.
About the AP Success Series
Teaching an Advanced Placement course can be both rewarding and challenging. Whether participants are first-year AP teachers or experienced educators looking for fresh ideas, the AP Success Series provides ongoing professional learning and support throughout the school year.
Rather than a one-time workshop, participants will receive monthly opportunities to collaborate with an experienced AP educator, discuss instructional challenges, share successful strategies, review student performance data, and receive timely guidance aligned with the AP instructional calendar.
Each session is designed to help teachers strengthen instruction, improve pacing and assessment practices, expand student access to AP coursework, and increase student confidence and readiness for AP Exams.
Learning Objectives
At the end of the AP Success Series, participants will be able to:
- Given their course's AP Course and Exam Description, construct a long-range instructional plan that sequences required units and course skills across their school calendar and identifies at least two pacing checkpoints before AP Exam administration.
- Given AP Classroom data from at least three Personal Progress Checks, identify the content and skill areas in which their students performed below expectations and describe a specific instructional adjustment for each area identified.
- Given released free-response questions and their scoring guidelines, apply AP scoring criteria to at least five samples of their own students' work and explain each score using the language of the scoring guidelines.
- Given the constraints of a rural or small-school teaching assignment, select at least three instructional practices from the series and document their use in their own AP course before the May session.
- Given their school's current AP enrollment figures, identify at least two specific actions to encourage additional students to enroll in AP courses and report the result of at least one action to the cohort.
Topics May Include
- Understanding the AP Course and Exam Description
- Long-range curriculum and pacing planning
- Effective instructional strategies for AP classrooms
- AP Classroom resources and instructional tools
- Using Personal Progress Check data to guide instruction
- Designing rigorous learning experiences
- Assessment and feedback practices
- Applying AP scoring guidelines to student work
- Preparing students for free-response and multiple-choice exams
- Supporting diverse learners in AP courses
- Increasing access and enrollment in AP courses
- Student motivation and engagement
- Question-and-answer sessions based on participant needs
- Sharing instructional resources and effective practices
Workshop Format
- Virtual monthly sessions
- All sessions will be recorded for participants who are unable to attend live.
Meeting Schedule
Third Wednesday of each month (excluding December)
7:00–8:30 PM Mountain Time
- September 16, 2026
- October 21, 2026
- November 18, 2026
- January 20, 2027
- February 17, 2027
- March 17, 2027
- April 21, 2027
- May 19, 2027
Workshop Materials
Participants should have access to:
- Their AP Course and Exam Description
- Current instructional materials and curriculum resources
- AP Classroom data, including Personal Progress Check results when available
- Released free-response questions and scoring guidelines
- Samples of student work
- Current AP enrollment information for their school
- Questions, student work, or instructional challenges they would like to discuss
Professional Learning Credit
12 OPI Renewal Units
Registration & Cost
Registration Fee: $249 per participant
Group Discount
Schools and districts registering 3 or more participants receive a 10% discount.
- Individual Registration: $249 per participant
- Group Registration (3+ participants): $224.10 per participant
This series provides 12 hours of direct professional learning and mentoring across eight live sessions, plus access to session recordings and ongoing collaboration with an experienced AP educator. Participants will receive personalized coaching, practical instructional support, opportunities to analyze student data, and collaboration with colleagues throughout the entire school year.
Compared to traditional one- or two-day workshops, the AP Success Series offers sustained, job-embedded professional learning that supports implementation throughout the academic year and aligns with the AP instructional calendar.
Minimum Enrollment: A minimum of 5 registered participants is required for this cohort to proceed. If minimum enrollment is not met, participants will receive a full refund or may apply their registration fee toward another MTPLC professional learning opportunity.
Why Participate?
Participants will benefit from:
- Monthly access to an experienced AP mentor
- Practical strategies that can be be implemented immediately
- Structured support for pacing, assessment, and AP Exam preparation
- Opportunities to review student data and refine instruction
- Ongoing collaboration with other Montana AP educators
- Support tailored to rural and small-school contexts
- Strategies for increasing student access to AP courses
- Increased confidence in delivering rigorous AP instruction
- Resources that support student achievement and AP Exam readiness
Questions?
Jessica N. Johnson, M.Ed.
Executive Director
Montana Professional Learning Collaborative
📧 [email protected]
📞 406-210-0374
🌐 https://www.mtplc.org
Register: https://forms.gle/LMmRsbTbSDDwdE1i8