District 155 placed on AP honor roll

Since 2010, District 155 has increased the number of students participating in AP by 154 while maintaining the high percentage (86 percent) of students earning AP Exam scores of 3 or higher. Most District 155 AP students take multiple exams, and the district has seen the number of AP Exams taken increase from 1,312 in 2010 to 1,665 in 2012.

More than 90 percent of colleges and universities across the U.S. offer college credit, advanced placement or both for a score of 3 or above on an AP Exam, which can potentially save students and their families thousands of dollars in college tuition.

“We are honored to receive this recognition from the College Board,” Superintendent Dr. Johnnie Thomas said in a news release “It is a testament to the efforts our faculty and administration have invested to promote and successfully implement the AP curriculum for our students. Our estimates indicate that the class of 2012, alone, saved $1.9 million in college costs as a result of AP honor scores.”

Inclusion on the Third Annual AP District Honor Roll is based on the examination of three years of AP data, from 2010 to 2012, for the following criteria:

Districts must:

• Increase participation/access to AP by at least 4 percent in large districts, at least 6 percent in medium districts and at least 11 percent in small districts;

• Ensure that the percentage of black, Hispanic/Latino and American Indian/Alaska Native students taking AP Exams did not decrease by more than 5 percent for large and medium districts or by more than 10 percent for small districts;

• Improve performance levels when comparing the percentage of students in 2012 scoring a 3 or higher to those in 2010, unless the district has already attained a performance level in which more than 70 percent of the AP students are scoring a 3 or higher.