More good news

HERE’S HOW it’s supposed to work: Somebody has a good idea about how to improve education. A few schools might think it’s a good idea, too, and ask to get in on the action. The momentum mounts and the results might just be . . . phenomenal.

Test scores through the roof! The kids love it, and so do their parents and teachers. Not to mention Arkansas’ Newspaper, which can’t resist leading statewide cheers.

But as more and more schools get in on said Great Idea, more and more kids get involved, and as they do, the results are no longer so impressive. For example, in August, the state of Arkansas released the scores from last year’s ACT college entrance tests. The average dipped a bit.

Those in the know say that’s how it goes when more and more kids take the test. The pioneers give way to the just average.

At least that’s how it’s supposed to work. What goes up must come down and all that.

But then . . .

An article on the front page of your friendly statewide newspaper Friday said that the number of high-school kids taking Advanced Placement classes in Arkansas climbed to new highs last school year.

Good, good.

A total of 24,364 students in this state signed up for the more challenging classes and tests last year. That’s a 6.6 percent increase from the year before.

Good, good.

And the number of exams on which those students earned a 3 or above-which can qualify them for college credit-increased 8.6 percent.

Good . . . God.

Are we to believe that the number of students taking the tests went up significantly and the grades went up, too? Isn’t there some kind of scientific law against that, or at least statistical doctrine?

But that’s what the numbers would seem to say.

Forget about football, the English and math departments at these schools deserve their own cheering squads.

Back in 2005, the Legislature passed an act requiring the state to pay the fees for kids taking these AP tests. Arkansas, to our great credit and pride, is the only state in the Union that does that. And the investment has been worth it. Especially since it costs the state only a relatively small amount-$3 million a year-out of an annual education budget that surpasses $4 billion.

The state also awards schools and districts grants based on how well their students do on AP tests. Call it merit pay. The money can be used for teacher training, supplies, anything the school board can get approved by the state. Back in the 2011-12 school year, the state handed out about $611,000 in such awards, again a modest amount when compared to that $4 billion budget for education.

Our kids might do even better if the size of those awards were increased. Because so far the return on this modest investment has been astounding. Or at least the news must have surprised hardened observers of education, who know progress is slow. It’s slow in any endeavor that requires patient application and dedicated support over the long, very long, haul. Which is what education is. It should last a lifetime.

SO IT’S TIME-again-to pass out congratulations and thanks to the folks at the Advanced Initiative for Mathematics and Sciences, the non-profit outfit that educators say has been a contributing factor in the growth of AP classes around the state. This outfit works directly with dozens of selected high schools to prepare kids for those AP classes.

And once again the Exxon-Mobil Foundation and the Walton Family Foundation are to be congratulated for establishing and funding this mathematics-and-science initiative. The AIMS folks, using foundation money, gave out $339,800 last month to thousands of kids who did well on the AP tests. Which you might think would be another reason that so many kids in Arkansas want to take these classes. They pay off. In more than one way.

Thanks to everybody involved. Especially the students.