Abington Makes the 'AP Honor Roll'

Abington School District is one of fewer than 400 school districts in the nation being honored by the College Board with a place on its AP Achievement List for opening AP classroom doors to a significantly broader pool of students, while maintaining or improving the percentage of students earning scores of 3 or higher.

From 2008 to 2010, Abington School District has increased the number of students participating in AP from 173 to 275 students,while maintaining the percentage of students earning AP exam scores of 3 or higher, the score typically needed to earn college credit.

Abington School District Superintendent Amy F. Sichel said, “Our novel Opportunities to Learn (OTL) initiative encourages students to take rigorous college preparatory, as well as honors and Advanced Placement, courses. Several years ago, with the expansion of OTL, we encouraged students to elect honors and AP courses—making them more available to a greater number of students.  Over the past several years, we have almost doubled the number of students taking AP exams while closely maintaining the percentage of students scoring 3 or better on the exams.  We are especially proud that the percentage of AP students who are African-American or Hispanic has more than doubled over the past two years.”

The AP Achievement List comprises all school districts that are simultaneously expanding opportunity and improving performance; even low-performing districts are included if they have been able to maintain or improve scores while expanding access. The list includes 388 school districts. California’s 37 districts on the list represents the largest number of districts from a single state, followed by Michigan with 29 districts and Pennsylvania with 28 districts.

According to College Board President Gaston Caperton, participation in college-level AP courses can level the playing field for underserved students, give them the confidence needed to succeed in college, and raise standards and performance in key subjects like science and math.

Many U.S. school districts have focused on expanding access to AP courses as part of a strategy for fostering college readiness. While these efforts have resulted in more students earning scores of 3 or better—the score typically cited as a “qualifying” or “successful” score because the majority of U.S. colleges and universities provide college credit or advanced placement for this score—these efforts have also resulted in more students now earning scores of 1 or 2.

Accordingly, there has been a slight decline since 2001 in the percentage of AP students scoring a 3 or better, a decline that is to be expected in any program attracting a broader cross-section of students.

“These districts are living proof that when access to AP is provided for the range and breadth of prepared and motivated students, districts can achieve even higher learning outcomes for their students—and the opportunity for so many more to earn college credit and placement—than when AP opportunities were restricted to a smaller segment of the high school population,” said Trevor Packer, vice president of the College Board’s Advanced Placement Program^.

Inclusion on the list is based on the following criteria:

1. Examination of three years of AP data, from 2008 to 2010
2. Increase in participation in/access to AP by at least 4 percent in large districts, at least 7 percent in medium districts and at least 11 percent in small districts
3. A steady or increasing percentage of exams taken by African-American, Hispanic/Latino and American Indian/Alaska Native students
4.  Performance levels maintained or improved when comparing the percentage of exams in 2010 scoring a 3 or higher to those in 2008, or the school has already attained a performance level in which more than 70 percent of the AP students are scoring a 3 or higher.

Additionally, school districts with an AP student population comprising 50 percent or more traditionally underrepresented minority students (African-American, Hispanic/Latino, American Indian/Alaska Native) and/or low-income students have been noted on the Achievement List to highlight significant improvements in equity and quality among the nation’s historically underserved student populations.

The complete AP Achievement List can be found at www.collegeboard.org. 

Information courtesy of Byron Goldstein/Abington School District