Alabama led the nation in percent increase of qualifying scores on AP math, science in English exams during 2008-2014. In this guest post from Robert Summers, A+ College Ready Science Content Director, he explains why that honor may hold true this year too.
It is 2015 and we are just 3.5 months away from the College Board’s Advanced Placement (AP) exams. Alabama is strongly positioned to defend its # 1 ranking in percentage increase of qualifying scores for AP Math, Science and English exams. Over the last 6 years, Alabama has had the nation’s largest percentage increase in students willing to take AP Math, Science, and English courses. In addition, Alabama has had the largest percentage increase of passing scores for all students as a state, and also for minority students as a state.
A+ College Ready, in conjunction with the Alabama Department of Education, is developing Pre-AP and AP curriculum materials that are changing Alabama teachers’ lives and student outcomes in a positive direction. These resources are causing student ACT scores to jump 6 – 10 points on the science reasoning portion of the exam, helping students earn full-ride scholarships to in-state institutions, improving the students’ work ethic, improving teacher quality, and also improving teacher happiness. The A+ College Ready program is changing the culture of expectation in rural and urban schools. If students and teachers can experience successes on a daily basis, they become empowered to feel that they can be successful every day in all challenges. While these materials were created for Pre-AP, they can be modified minimally to meet the requirements for a “great general” class as well, a claim to which many of our program teachers will attest. The result is a high-quality education for all students!
Just yesterday, I was at Opp High school in rural, southern Alabama watching more than 50 10th-grade Chemistry students have a blast reviewing for their unit test on Solution Chemistry. Why were they having such an awesome time? Although the test is going to be tough, the students were quickly getting every question correct (math and content), and such success is what they genuinely enjoyed. Those students were excited and ready for the unit test. This is not a factoid or definition test, but instead a test with ACT/AP style questions where there are only application-level questions.
The teacher told me that her students “love coming to class everyday” because the resources allow her to “bring the science to life!” The students get to “see” words and “see” processes. Her students get to experience science the way it was intended to be taught by the great masters of science in the past. Every day they get the opportunity to see and experience the beauty that is science, and their excitement shows by their attitude, willingness to engage and explore, and most notably — from a teacher and administrator perspective — the test scores.
These same curriculum materials are what is fueling the A+ College Ready Program AP success at the grassroots level. These students are getting a better foundation, and building the skills and confidence to challenge and overcome. Teachers are getting the complete package in curriculum resources, support, and trainings. We are beginning to implement those same skills in our middle school courses. In one year, we will have a unified set of curriculum materials that will span 6th-grade Earth Science to AP available for our Program schools and any other schools that may wish to join the revolution to, “change the way we teach science; and change the outcome.”
To find out more about this unique program and partnership with the Alabama State Department of Education, go to the A+ College Ready website (www.apluscollegeready.org). Watch for the ACT scores recently released for each state. Keep a close eye on that Alabama score! We are building the rocket to roar to the top!
Originally posted by Robert Summers
January 29, 2015
(edited February 16, 2015)
