The College Board’s Advanced Placement (AP) program gives students the opportunity to take college-level courses while still in high school and offers them the chance to earn college credit or advanced placement into higher-level courses once they enter college. Although over 70% of public high schools in the United States offer Advanced Placement courses, according to Carsey Research of the University of New Hampshire, small, rural high schools are the least likely to offer AP courses. Nearly 50% of rural districts do not have an AP program compared to only 2.6% of urban schools. Furthermore, remote rural districts with small populations are nearly ten times less likely to offer AP than rural districts close to urban areas (http://scholars.unh.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1234&context= carsey).
As part of Scotland County R-I’s commitment to providing a high quality education, the district initiated its Advanced Placement program during the 2014-15 academic year by offering AP Calculus and AP Physics. In the 2015-16 year, three additional courses were added: AP Statistics, AP United States History, and AP Chemistry. The administration, teachers, and students have all been dedicated to developing and growing the AP Program at SCR-I. The AP courses culminate with an optional nationwide exam in May. These exams vary by course but typically include multiple choice, free response, and written sections. The AP exams are scored on a scale of 1 to 5 with the following indicators:
5- extremely well qualified
4- well qualified
3- qualified
2- possibly qualified
1- no recommendation
A score of 3 or above is considered a passing score and over 3,600 colleges and universities across the world award credit to students who earn passing scores. Over 4.5 million AP exams are taken each year and the national pass rate on each exam is usually around 50%. The College Board advises school districts that it takes a few years to develop and grow a quality AP program.
Last year five SCR-I students took AP exams, but no passing scores were earned. This year SCR-I saw significant growth in the program with 24 students taking one or more of the five AP courses offered. Each of these 24 students took at least one AP exam in May of 2016. The following students earned passing scores on one or more exams (a score of 3 or above) Morgan Alexander, Elijah Cooley, Austin Day, Caleb Doubet, Evan Hite, Megan Kice, and Justin McKee.
Two students deserve further recognition for earning a 5 on an AP exam, indicating that they were extremely well qualified in that particular subject.
Nationwide in 2015, only 21.8% of over 300,000 students who took the AP Calculus exam earned a 5. This year Caleb Doubet achieved this high level accomplishment by earning a 5 on the exam. He shared, “I am so grateful for the addition of AP courses into the curriculum at SCR-I. They have been very beneficial to students looking to go above and beyond in their high school education. The material is challenging and the AP exams I have taken are on an entirely different level than what I was used to seeing, but they are just what juniors and seniors in high school need to be introduced to. AP courses and exams offer the best college preparation out there and I’m thankful I could take part in them the past two years.”
Nationwide in 2015, only 9.4% of over 400,000 students who took the AP United States History exam earned a 5. On the 2016 exam, Evan Hite demonstrated his high level of knowledge by earning a 5 on this exam. Evan said, “Overall the AP experience was very rigorous to say the least. It took up a lot of time and energy but it was totally worth it to have the experience under your belt of what a true college class is like. The AP classes prepare you for the future in academics and you learn more than class material. You also learn sacrifice by deciding what you need to do to get all of your course work done and done well. Overall these classes are worth the effort, but you can only get out what you put into these classes as a final reward.”
With continued support and anticipated growth, the future of the AP program at SCR-1 looks promising. Exceptional challenges are needed for exceptional students. This program provides the rigor necessary to test these students academically, motivate them to succeed, encourage them to strive beyond what they feel they can achieve, and better prepare them for college courses.