LITTLE ROCK — Eight more Arkansas high schools are joining a $13.2 million initiative that pays students and teachers for success on annual Advanced Placement exams, officials said Monday.
Gov. Mike Beebe said at a news conference at the state Capitol that 31 Arkansas high schools are participating in the Arkansas Advanced Initiative for Math and Sciences based at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
The program, funded by a grant from the National Math and Science Initiative, is dedicated to increasing participation and scores in the rigorous college preparatory classes and exams. Research shows that students who succeed on AP exams are more likely to graduate from college.
“If you set the bar higher, if you expect more, you’ll get more,” Beebe said.
The high schools joining the initiative next school year are in Jonesboro, West Memphis, Conway, Arkadelphia, Sheridan, Smackover and Rison. The KIPP Delta College Preparatory charter high school in Helena-West Helena has also joined.
Tommie Sue Anthony, president of the Arkansas Advanced Initiative, said Monday that the program offers students at participating schools $100 for every score of 3 or higher on a 5-point scale on an AP test. Many colleges grant credit for such scores.
Teachers get $100 for each such score, too. In addition, teachers can earn $3,000 more annually if high percentages of their students earn a 3 or higher.
The initiative also provides extra training for teachers and tutoring for students.
The program already has netted results in terms of AP enrollment and exam success at the initial cohort of 10 schools that joined starting in the 2008-09 school year.
The number of AP science, math and English exams taken at the 10 schools has grown from 1,993 to 3,259 annually, an increase of 64 percent.
The number of exam scores of 3 or higher at the 10 schools has grown from 544 to 750, an increase of 38 percent, Anthony said.
The program matters because AP success is a predictor of college success. The National Center for Educational Accountability has found that students who score a 3 or higher on AP tests are more likely to earn college degrees.
In Arkansas, less than 20 percent of adults 25 or older have bachelor’s degrees. That ranks Arkansas 49th out of 50 states, according to the U.S. Census.
“We want to push them, pull them, shove them into these classes, then make them successful,” Anthony said.
The initiative is one component of a statewide emphasis on growing AP participation.
Unlike most states, Arkansas pays the $86 test fee for all first-time test takers. Also, the state requires all high schools to offer at least one AP class each in English, math, science, and social studies, which no other state does.
A February report from the College Board, the nonprofit that administers the AP program, said 34 percent of Arkansas’ 2009 graduating class took an AP class during high school. That compared with only 26.5 percent nationally, ranking the state fifth overall.
Arkansas’ AP participation rate has grown by 21.1 percentage points from just 12.9 percent of high school graduates in 2004. It’s the largest five-year increase in the nation, according to the College Board.
However, only 11 percent of the 2009 graduating class statewide earned scores of 3 or higher on the tests. That’s below the 15.9 percent national average in 2009.
Pam Martin, an AP English teacher at new participant Rison High School, said Monday that about 30 of the school’s 365 students are taking AP classes this school year.
Last year, she said, the majority of students who took the AP exams did not earn scores of 3 or higher.
Martin said Rison wants to triple its AP participation rate and also boost success on the exam. The $100 rewards should help in both instances, she said.
“It would appeal to you, wouldn’t it?” Martin said. “A 16-year-old has to be able to see the benefits.”
Arkansas, Pages 7 on 03/16/2010