LITTLE ROCK — A total of 556 students in 10 Arkansas high schools will pocket $75,400 next month after earning scores of 3s, 4s and 5s on the Advanced Placement tests that they took last spring in math, science and English.
The awards - $100 for each qualifying score - will prove to be a nice bit of spending money for the teenagers.
But the greater benefit will be the college preparation, college credit and tuition savings the students acquire by taking rigorous Advanced Placement courses and tests, officials said.
Preparing for careers in math and science is the goal of the Arkansas Advanced Initiative for Math and Science, a nonprofit organization based at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and largely funded by a $13.2 million grant from Exxon-Mobil Corp.
The organization provides not only the cash awards but also weekend tutoring to students, training to about 500 state teachers and equipment to the schools.
On Wednesday, Gov. Mike Beebe joined with leaders of the math and science initiative, state and local educators,and officials from ExxonMobil and the National Math and Science Initiative at Little Rock's Parkview Magnet High School to celebrate the first-year increases in the number of test takers and in qualifying scores at the 10 schools across the state.
The number of tests on which students earned scores of 3 or better increased by 38 percent to 754 in 2009 as compared with 544 in 2008. The number of tests on which black students scored 3 or better increased by 81 percent at the 10 schools, from 42 in 2008 to 76 in 2009.
Beebe said the initiative and the "amazing" student success will help Arkansas attack the one education statistic in which it continues to lag behind most of the nation - fewer than 20 percent of Arkansans over age 25 have bachelor's degrees.
"The people sitting in this audience - as the result of what's happened in this program - will have enhanced opportunities to be successful in higher education," Beebe told students. "You now have an obligation to continue to do what you have been provided the opportunity to achieve - that is, to go to college and finish it."
To show that it can be done even under the most difficult circumstances, Beebe told the students about his own life. He was born to a teen mother who dropped out of high school, worked as a waitress her entire life and never owned a car or even had a driver's license.
But, he said, she did place importance on an education for her son. Beebe graduated from Newport High, Arkansas State University at Jonesboro and the University of Arkansas School of Law at Fayetteville.
"I now hold the highest office in the state of Arkansas because of three things: the grace of God, a selfless, hardworking, wonderful mother, and education," Beebe said.
He added that that the students' quality of life and the opportunity to share in the American dream will be enhanced by their education.
Arkansas was one of six states two years ago to receive a six-year, multimillion-dollar grant from ExxonMobil to put into place the National Math and Science Initiative model for developing math and science skills through the Advanced Placement program.
As a result, the Arkansas initiative pays financial awards to students, provides rewards to Advanced Placement teachers at five of the 10 schools this year and expands that to all participating schools in the future, said Tommie Sue Anthony, president of the Arkansas Advanced Initiative for Math and Science.
The initiative also hosts three"Super Saturday" tutoring and test preparation sessions for students in math, science and English.
It provides between nine and 11 days of summer training to Advanced Placement and pre-Advanced Placement teachers, and it helps schools pay for equipment and supplies for the Advanced Placement classes.
Arkansas has been recognized by the College Board, the sponsor of the Advanced Placement program, for its efforts in recent years to increase student participation.
That has been spurred in part by state laws that require all high schools to offer at least four Advanced Placement courses. Additionally, the state pays the Advanced Placement test fees for students.
Anthony said the initiative is also a contributor to the growth.
"We are fast-forwarding the state's phenomenal results, but with a focus on math and science," she said.
The number of students in Advanced Placement programs statewide almost doubled in one year, from 1,850 in 2008 to 2,639 in 2009.
John Winn, chief program officer for the National Math and Science Initiative, on Wednesday praised the Arkansas program, including teachers, students and parents, for the 38 percent increase in qualifying scores.
"I've been in education for 37 years, and I'm here to tell you that you never find that kind of increase in education in one year," said Winn, a retired state commissioner of education in Florida. "That is absolutely fabulous."
"Some people say education change occurs slowly and youcannot make dramatic change in one year. Arkansas, you have said that is not true and we can make dramatic change," Winn said. "Some said that high-level, rigorous courses are just for a very few. You say, 'Not in Arkansas.'"
Truman Bell, education program officer for ExxonMobil Corp., called the Arkansas results "staggering" and said it will prepare Arkansas students to compete in the global economy and in what he described as phenomenal changes that will take place in science and technology in the next 50 years.
Parkview seniors and identical twin sisters Dolapo and Bukola Odeniyi told their fellow students and visitors that taking the rigorous Advanced Placement courses has given them skills to take on future challenges.
"We believe we can attend college with little or no fear. In our hearts we will know what to expect," Dolapo Odeniyi said. "We are sure that taking Advanced Placement classes will bring us closer to a better tomorrow."
The 16-year-olds are planning to major in medical science at Pomona College in California.
The initiative will distribute checks to the students at the 10 participating schools between Sept. 21 and Oct. 1, said Anthony, the Arkansas initiative's president.
Parkview students earned scores of 3 or better on 126 Advanced Placement tests in math, science and English, which will result in rewards totaling $12,600.
The student awards at Booneville High will be $1,900; El Dorado High, $9,300; Greenbrier High, $7,600; Greene County Tech High, $5,400; Lake HamiltonHigh, $8,100; Springdale Har-Ber High, $13,800; Pulaski County Special district's Mills University Studies High, $9,800; Newport High, $1,600; and Springdale High, $5,300.
In March 2009, an additional 13 schools were included in the initiative program: Ashdown, Crossett, Dumas, Fort Smith Northside, Hamburg, Green Forest, Magnolia, Pea Ridge, Rivercrest, Rogers Heritage, Rogers High, Russellville, and Waldron High School. A third group of at least seven high schools will be added later this year, Anthony said.
Little Rock School District Superintendent Linda Watson thanked the organizers of the initiative for the program, which she said will benefit students.
Larry Walters, principal at the 1,400-student El Dorado High School, said the initiative's financial incentives will add to other incentives made for several years by Murphy Oil Corp.
"Anytime you can put incentives out there in front of kids, they can see not only the academic benefits but experience an immediate benefit," Walters said.
Peter Joenks, assistant principal at the 1,760-student Springdale High, also welcomed the work of the initiative and the excitement it generated among students who e-mailed him over the summer to ask him about their financial rewards.
"Success breeds success," he said. "We are hoping that by planting this seed and the word gets around to other students, it will spur more kids to take those classes and do better on the tests."
Front Section, Pages 1, 5 on 08/27/2009