AP Calculus AB

The key document for each AP course is the course and exam description. Start by reviewing it to understand the objectives and expectations of the course and exam.

AP Calculus AB and BC Course and Exam Description

Your course must fulfill these requirements.

AP Calculus AB curricular requirements:

• The students and teacher have access to a college-level calculus textbook, in print or electronic format.
• The course is structured to incorporate the big ideas and required content outlined in each of the units described in the course and exam description. The course provides opportunities for students to develop the skills related to:
  • Mathematical Practice 1: Implementing Mathematical Processes
  • Mathematical Practice 2: Connecting Representations
  • Mathematical Practice 3: Justification
  • Mathematical Practice 4: Communication and Notation
• Students have access to graphing calculators and opportunities to use them to solve problems and to explore and interpret calculus concepts.
• The course provides opportunities for students to use calculus to solve real-world problems.

AP Calculus AB resource requirements:

• The school ensures that each student has a college-level calculus textbook (in print or electronic format) for individual use inside and outside the classroom. The textbook is supplemented when necessary to meet the curricular requirements.
• The school ensures that the teacher has a copy of the most recent edition of a college-level calculus textbook or other appropriate materials to support instruction.
• The school ensures each student has a graphing calculator for individual use inside and outside of the classroom, with all required capabilities listed in the course and exam description.

The list below represents examples of textbooks that meet the resource requirements of AP Calculus AB and meet or exceed the required alignment to the learning objectives and skills in the course curriculum framework. The list is not exhaustive and the texts listed should not be regarded as endorsed, authorized, recommended, or approved by College Board. Not using a book from this list does not mean that a course will not receive authorization. Syllabi submitted as part of the AP Course Audit process will be evaluated holistically, with textbooks considered along with supplementary, supporting resources to confirm that the course as a whole provides students with the content delineated in the curricular requirements of the AP Course Audit. While every effort is made to keep this list current, it can take a few months for newly published titles and revised editions to be reviewed.

• Adams, Robert and Christopher Essex. Calculus: A Complete Course. 7th edition. Pearson Canada.
• Anton, Howard, Irl Bivens, and Stephen Davis. Calculus: Early Transcendentals, Single Variable. 11th edition. Wiley.
• Anton, Howard, Irl C. Bivens, and Stephen Davis. Calculus: Late Transcendental. 11th edition. Wiley.
• Anton, Howard, et al. Calculus, AP^® Edition. 11th edition. Wiley.
• Anton, Howard, et al. Calculus. 10th edition. Wiley.
• Anton, Howard, et al. Calculus: Single Variable. 10th edition. Wiley.
• Bean, Spencer, Michael Brust, Timothy Kelly, Corey Sullivan. AP Calculus AB. Flippedmath.com.
• Boelkins, Matthew, David Austin, and Steven Schlicker. Active Calculus. Creative Commons.  
• Briggs, William, Lyle Cochran, Bernard Gillett, and Eric Schulz. Calculus. 3rd edition. Pearson.
• Briggs, William, et al. Calculus AP Edition. 2nd edition. 2018. Pearson.
• Briggs, William. Calculus Early Transcendentals. 2019. Pearson
• Burger, Edward. Thinkwell Calculus. 2018. Pearson Canada  
• Demana, Franklin et al. Calculus: Graphical, Numerical, Algebraic AP Edition. 6th edition. 2020.
• Dietiker, Kysh, Sallee, Hoey. Calculus. 2nd edition. CPM.
• Dietiker, Kysh, Sallee, Hoey. Calculus-AP Calculus AB. 3rd edition. CPM Educational Program.
• Edwards, C. H. and D.E. Penney. Calculus. 6th edition. Prentice Hall.
• Foerster, Paul A. Calculus: Concepts and Applications. 2nd edition. Key Curriculum Press.
• Finney, Ross L. and Thomas, George B. Calculus and Analytic Geometry. 9th edition. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.
• Goldstein, Larry J., David I. Schneider, and David C. Lay. Calculus and its Applications. 9th edition. Prentice Hall. 2001.
• Hughes-Hallett, Deborah, et al. Calculus: Single and Multivariable, AP^® Edition. 7th edition. Wiley.
• Hughes-Hallett, Deborah, et al. Calculus: Single and Multivariable. 6th edition. Wiley.
• Hughes-Hallett, Deborah, et al. Calculus: Single Variable. 6th edition. Wiley.
• Joel Hass, Maurice Weir, George B. Thomas Jr. and Christopher Heil. University Calculus: Early Transcendentals. 3rd edition. Pearson. 
• Larson, Ron, and Bruce H. Edwards. Calculus (AP® Edition). 11th edition. National Geographic/Cengage Learning.
• Larson, Ron, and Bruce H. Edwards. Calculus, International Metric Edition. 11th edition. National Geographic/Cengage Learning. 2017.
• Larson, Ron and Bruce Edwards. Calculus I with Precalculus. A One Year Course. 2nd edition. Houghton Mifflin.
• Larson, Ron, and Bruce H. Edwards. Calculus of a Single Variable. 9th edition. National Geographic/Cengage Learning.
• Larson, Ron, and Bruce H. Edwards. Calculus: Early Transcendental Functions. 7th edition. National Geographic/Cengage Learning.
• Larson, Ron, and Bruce H. Edwards. Calculus: Early Transcendental Functions (AP® Edition). 6th edition. National Geographic/Cengage Learning.
• Larson, Ron, and Bruce H. Edwards. Calculus of a Single Variable (AP® Edition). 11th edition. National Geographic/Cengage Learning.
• Larson, Ron, and Bruce H. Edwards. Multivariable Calculus. 11th edition. Cengage. 2018
• Larson, Ron, and David C. Falvo. Calculus: An Applied Approach. 8th edition. Richard Stratton.
• Larson, Ron, Robert P. Hostetler, and Bruce H. Edwards. Calculus with Analytic Geometry. 8th edition. Houghton Mifflin.
• Lial, Margaret L., Raymond N. Greenwell, and Nathan P. Ritchey. Calculus with Applications. 8th edition. Pearson/Addison Wesley. 2005. 
• Master Math Mentor. AP Calculus AB Student Manual. MasterMathMentor.com. 2021.
• Myasnikov, Alexei. Gradarius for AP Calculus. 1st edition. Gradarius/Castle Point. 
• Newton, Josh, and Brent Ferguson. Calculus for the AP Course. 3rd edition. BFW.
• Rogawski, Jon and Cannon, Ray. Rogawski’s Calculus for AP^®. 2nd edition. Bedford, Freeman and Worth Publishing Group.
• Rogawski, Jon. Single Variable Calculus: Early Transcendentals. W H Freeman and Company.
• SABIS. Calculus Part 1. SABIS, 2020.
• Seong, Richard N.S. AP Calculus AB. 4th edition. 2019. Infinite Challenge Publishing Ltd.
• Smith, Robert T. and Roland B. Minton. Calculus, Early Transcendental Functions. 3rd edition. McGraw Hill.
• Stewart, James. Calculus. 8th edition. National Geographic/Cengage Learning.
• Stewart, James. Essential Calculus. 2nd edition. Brooks/Cole Cengage Learning. 2013.
• Stewart, James. Single Variable Calculus with Vector Functions. 7th edition. 2012. Cengage Learning. 
• Stewart, James. Calculus: Concepts and Contexts. 4th edition. National Geographic/Cengage Learning.
• Stewart, James. Calculus: Early Transcendentals. 8th edition. National Geographic/Cengage Learning.
• Stewart, James. Single Variable Calculus. 8th edition. National Geographic/Cengage Learning.
• Stewart, James and Stephen Kokoska. Calculus for AP^®: A Complete Course. 1st edition. National Geographic/Cengage Learning.
• Strang, Herman, et al. Calculus, Volumes 1 & 2. (both required). OpenStax.
• Sullivan, Michael, and Kathleen Miranda. Calculus for the AP^® Course. 3rd edition. Bedford, Freeman and Worth Publishing Group. 
• The Charles A. Dana Center. Agile Mind Calculus AB. Agile Mind.
• Weir, Maurice D., George B. Thomas, Frank R. Giordano, and Joel Hass. Thomas' Calculus Early Transcendentals. 11th edition. Addison- Wesley.

This annotated sample AP Calculus AB syllabus shows how the curricular requirements can be demonstrated in a syllabus and what level of detail you’ll need to include.

AP Calculus AB Sample Syllabus 1 (.pdf/360KB)

Review this document for help creating your syllabus.

Syllabus Development Guide: AP Calculus AB (.pdf/202.96 KB)

This resource includes the guidelines reviewers use to evaluate syllabi along with three samples of evidence for each requirement. This guide also specifies the level of detail required in the syllabus to receive course authorization.