Placement test funds boosted

Friday, June 4, 2004 | 11:26 a.m.

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., and federal education officials will be in Carson City today to announce $585,000 in funds to help boost the number of students who take Advanced Placement tests.

The Advanced Placement Incentive Grant awards funds to be used for professional development, including putting teachers through workshops offered by the College Board, which oversees the AP tests. A second grant covers most of the $82 test fee for low-income students.

Nevada received funds from both grants three years ago and will use the new dollars to expand its AP programs, said Jacquelyn Moore, coordinator of the grant for the state education department.

Since 2001 the number of low-income students taking AP tests in Nevada has shot from 73 to 769 -- close to a ten-fold increase, Moore said. And the number of low-income students enrolling in AP classes has jumped almost nine-fold in the last three years, Moore said.

What isn't known is how low-income students fared on the exam or whether their pass rate has increased. AP exams are graded on a scale of 1 to 5. Students who score a 3 or higher are typically eligible for college credit.

Mary Ella Holloway, president of the Clark County Education Association, said it's not enough to only look at the volume of students involved in AP activities.

"The fact that you're taking a more difficult class can be beneficial even if you don't get a high enough score (on the AP exam) to get college credit," Holloway said. "However it's also important to know how our kids are performing."

Nevada has made "great strides" increasing the number of students who take AP classes and tests, particularly those from low-income homes, but "we are not done yet," Gibbons said.

"This grant funding will provide our teachers with additional resources to enable them to not only increase participation but also to increase scores," Gibbons said. "We are providing our schools with the means to do even more and go even further with the AP program -- a program that fosters critical thinking, problem-solving techniques and writing skills."

The number of Nevada students taking AP tests was up 20 percent in 2003 over the previous year, compared with 9 percent nationwide. Nevada led the nation with the largest increase in AP test-takers between 2002 and 2003.

While Nevada's AP test participation rate has increased, overall student performance on the exam has not. Nevada remains below the national average both in average scores and the percentage of students who earn the minimum score needed to be considered for college credit.

Since 2000 the state's average AP score has hovered between 2.8 and 2.86. The national average AP score in 2003 was 2.95.

Last year 57 percent of Nevada students who took AP tests scored at least a 3. Nationally 61.5 percent of students scored a 3 or higher last year

The AP exams are offered in more than 30 subject areas, including English, math, science and foreign languages. Typically, more AP classes have been offered at high schools in affluent areas than campuses in urban settings, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Minorities, particularly black and Hispanic students, compose a disproportionately low percentage of AP test takers compared with overall enrollment, the center reports.

A closer look at Nevada's AP test-takers reflects that national trend. Black students make up 10 percent of public school enrollment but accounted for just 2.5 percent of the AP tests taken last year. Public school enrollment in Nevada was 28 percent Hispanic last year, but those students made up only 7 percent of AP test-takers.

The pass rate for white students was 58 percent, compared with 54 percent for Hispanic students and 43 percent for black students. The average score for white students was 2.82 compared with 2.66 for Hispanic students and 2.4 for black students.

State and district officials say they are well aware of gap and the federal funds will help bolster programs and activities designed to close it.

For each of the past three years, the Clark County School District has received more than $100,000 as part of the prior federal incentive grant. Between 2002 and 2003 the number of low-income students who took AP exams increased by 16 percent, according to a district report. During the same period, the percentage of low-income students whose AP exam fees were paid for through the district's grant rose 24 percent.

For the current school year $22,001 in grant funds was spent reimbursing low-income students for AP exam fees, according to the district's Grants Development and Administration Department.

The Clark County School District keeps statistics on the numbers of students who enroll in AP classes and take the exam, but not final scores. Each high school keeps those statistics individually, Sue Daellenbach, director of testing for the district, said.

Daellenbach, who is in her third week as testing director, said eventually she would like to see the district keep statistics of student AP scores as well as participation rates.

The number of Clark County students enrolling in AP classes has been steadily increasing, Jane Kadoich, director of guidance and counseling for the Clark County School District, said. To ensure there are enough teachers qualified to offer the classes, the district will be using grant funds again this year to send teachers to a College Board training conference, Kadoich said. While the extra courses are not a requirement for teaching an AP class, "99.9 percent" of teachers sign up for the workshops, Kadoich said.

Enrollment fees can top $600 and the workshops are usually offered only in a few regional locations outside Nevada, requiring teachers to pay travel expenses as well, Kadoich said.

"The classes are extremely helpful but they can also be very expensive," Kadoich said. "The grants help us offset some of those costs."

Each Clark County high school offers an honors program, including AP courses. The number of courses and the variety of subjects vary from school to school.

"We've been encouraging more students to take the classes and more schools to offer them," Kadoich said. "We're looking to improve not only the number of students we have going on to college but how prepared they are when they get there."

To that end, beginning with the 2004-05 academic year all sophomores will be able to take the PSAT at the district's expense, Kadoich said. Typically, students wait until they are juniors to take the practice test, Kadoich said.

"We want to start planting the seeds in students' minds that AP classes are valuable and possible," Kadoich said.