Districts dip on AP classes

By GINA KINSLOW
Glasgow Daily Times

GLASGOW August 28, 2008 12:10 pm

— The Kentucky Department of Education says the number of public high school students taking advanced placement exams continues to rise, but that’s not the case in the Caverna and Metcalfe County school districts.
Caverna used to offer advanced placement courses, but doesn’t now.
“It has to do with people who are qualified to teach them,” said Jane Edwards, guidance counselor at Caverna High School.
Caverna has two teachers who are qualified to teach advanced placement classes. One is teaching a dual-credit course for Campbellsville University this year, and there wasn’t enough room in the school’s schedule for the other teacher to have an advanced placement course.
Bennie Stephens, director of secondary education for Metcalfe County Schools, said he doesn’t see an increase in the number of students taking advanced placement classes, even though he and others in the district encourage students to do so.
Metcalfe County High School is offering only one advanced placement class this year — U.S. history.
Students who take advanced placement classes can earn college credit, as well as high school credit for the classes.
The classes are offered free, unlike dual-credit courses. The only fee students are required to pay is for the exam they take at the end of the class.
Students can score from one to five on the tests, with one being the lowest.
“If they don’t pass the exam with a three, four or five, they don’t get any credit at all,” Edwards said.
However, KDE says the number of public high school students taking AP exams and scoring between three and five has increased by more than 50 percent.
In 2004, 9,688 students in Kentucky took a total of 15,211 AP exams. The number of students who scored between three and five on the tests was 6,951.
This year, there were 14,687 students who took 23,308 AP exams, with 10,941 students scoring between three and five on the tests.
In 1987, the Kentucky Board of Education established the Commonwealth Diploma Program to encourage Kentucky’s high school students to take demanding courses that would prepare them for college. Criteria for the diploma include successful completion of at least four AP courses (English, science or mathematics, foreign language and one additional AP course) and completion of at least three AP exams, according to the KDE.
Senate Bill 74, passed by the Kentucky General Assembly in 2002, required the development of a core AP curriculum and the expansion of access to AP courses through the Kentucky Virtual High School. Currently, 34 AP courses are offered in Kentucky, including art history, biology, chemistry, English literature, U.S. history, physics and statistics.
In November 2005, the National Governors Association awarded grants of $500,000 each to Kentucky and five other states to improve access to and success in advanced placement courses. Kentucky has used the money to increase student and teacher preparation for AP and to develop advanced placement expansion.