All over the state of Alabama, A+ College Ready program schools are celebrating the success of their Advanced Placement (AP) students based on the spring 2020 College Board AP score report.
Students at Dothan High School who received qualifying scores on their AP exams.
Advanced Placement is a program of the College Board that provides a framework for students to take college-level coursework while in high school and to earn college credit if they make a qualifying score on an internationally recognized Advanced Placement examination. In spring 2020, 21,104 total Alabama students took 38,831 AP exams and earned 18,430 qualifying scores potentially saving their families over $27 million in college tuition. Additionally, students of color in Alabama scored 2,509 qualifying scores–the highest number in our state’s history.
Alabama has seen a steady rise in AP participation and success as a result of the A+ College Ready program. A+ College Ready works with high schools in its Advanced Placement Training and Incentive Program (APTIP) to either begin an Advanced Placement program or to grow and improve an existing AP program. Since 2008, A+ College Ready has worked with 198 high schools. The three-year grant program provides high schools with in-depth teacher training, equipment, materials and supplies for the classroom, student study sessions led by master teachers, AP exam fee subsidies for AP students, and stipends and incentives based on performance for both teachers and students.
In spring 2020, three cohorts of high schools (cohorts 10, 11 and 12) were active program schools in the A+ College Ready AP Training and Incentive Program (APTIP). Each cohort continued their hard work, even amongst the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic during the very important March to May stretch in preparation for AP exams.
“I could not be more proud of the Alabama AP teachers, students, and school leaders who continued to work incessantly in a virtual format after the abrupt closing of schools last spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Tammy Dunn, VP of Academic Affairs for A+ College Ready. “I am also proud of the A+ College Ready content directors and staff who quickly began to create videos, materials, and support sessions to contribute to student success. We heard stories of AP students in rural Alabama taking their exam in the parking lot of McDonald’s because that is the only place they had wifi access. Kudos to every person in Alabama who went the extra mile in extraordinary times to help students earn qualifying scores on these exams.”
The newest cohort of schools, cohort 12, increased the number of AP courses offered in their school from 31 to 65 for a 110% increase. In spring 2019, prior to joining A+ College Ready, AP students in these schools collectively earned 84 qualifying scores. In spring 2020 after joining our program, students earned 221 qualifying scores–a 163% increase. Even more, three of the cohort 12 schools posted the first AP scores ever in the history of their school!
Cohort 10 schools finished the three-year APTIP program strong. During these schools’ three-year tenure in the A+ College Ready APTIP, they added 47 new AP courses, 1,225 AP student enrollments, and 426 qualifying scores. 7 of the 10 schools in Cohort 10 met or exceeded their A+ College Ready qualifying score goal one or more years of the program. Those exemplary schools are:
Students at Locust Fork High School Receiving their School of Excellence Award
Austin High School, Decatur City, School of Excellence 2020
Central High School, Phenix City, School of Excellence 2020
Decatur High School, Decatur City, School of Excellence 2019
Fayette County High School, Fayette County, School of Excellence 2019
Locust Fork High School, Blount County, School of Excellence 2020
West Limestone High School, Limestone County
School of Excellence 2018, School of Distinction 2019
East Limestone High School, Limestone County
School of Excellence 2018, School of Distinction 2020,
Mary D. Boehm School of Achievement 2020
Cohort 11 finished their second year in the A+ College Ready program in spring 2020. Only two of the nine schools had any AP classes prior to their work with A+ College Ready. In 2020, after two years with the A+ College Ready, cohort 11 school students had access to 49 AP courses and in May earned 266 qualifying scores, more than a tenfold increase! There are hundreds of students in these schools who have earned college credit that did not even have access to this coursework two years ago.
Congratulations to these Cohort 11 Schools who have met their AP qualifying score goals:
TR Miller Students made qualifying scores on their AP exams
TR Miller High School, Brewton City, School of Excellence 2019
Priceville High School, Morgan County, School of Excellence 2019
Pike Road High School, Pike Road City, School of Excellence 2019
Ardmore High School, Limestone County, School of Excellence 2020
A+ College Ready and its school partners are diligently working to regain the Advanced Placement momentum that was lost due to the pandemic. Currently, A+ College Ready is supporting Advanced Placement work in 33 program high schools with teacher training, student study sessions, and equipment, materials, and supplies.
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