Fayetteville among first to join new Pre-AP program

Julia Woodward (left), a teacher at Fayetteville High School, answers questions for Ian Kimbrow and Paolo Shults, both 15-yearold ninth-graders, Friday during class at the school. Fayetteville High School was recently selected from more than 1,000 schools to participate in the College Board’s new Pre-AP Program for ninth-graders beginning in the 2018-19 school year.
Julia Woodward (left), a teacher at Fayetteville High School, answers questions for Ian Kimbrow and Paolo Shults, both 15-yearold ninth-graders, Friday during class at the school. Fayetteville High School was recently selected from more than 1,000 schools to participate in the College Board’s new Pre-AP Program for ninth-graders beginning in the 2018-19 school year.

FAYETTEVILLE -- For many, "Pre-AP" is synonymous with rigorous classes, but until now, no national standard has been set for those classes, according to the College Board.

Fayetteville High School is one of 100 schools selected from 1,000 that applied to participate in the College Board's new Pre-AP pilot program for ninth-graders beginning in the 2018-19 school year. Arkansas High School in Texarkana is the only other school in the state participating in this pilot.

Pre-AP courses

Fayetteville High School will offer the follow Pre-AP courses to ninth-grade students for the 2018-19 school year:

English 9: offered to all students

Algebra I: offered to all students

Biology: available to students who took physical science in eighth grade

Theater: offered as an elective

Art: offered as an elective

World history and geography: offered as an elective

In 2019-20:

Chemistry

English 10

Geometry

Source: Fayetteville Public Schools

"It will provide greater opportunity for success. It's raising the bar for all kids and that is why we are doing this," said Mark Oesterle, executive director of secondary education for Fayetteville Public Schools.

Less than 50 percent of U.S. high school students are ready for college and 37 percent are prepared for college math and reading, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as the Nation's Report Card.

More than 300,000 high school students aren't taking AP courses and exams they have the potential to pass, based on scores on an SAT Suite assessment, according to the College Board.

The College Board is "mission-driven not-for-profit organization that connects students to college success and opportunity," according to its website. The board owns, develops and publishes the SAT and Advanced Placement Program tests.

With this data and teacher feedback, the board wants to create a uniform framework to give all students the opportunity to learn the foundational knowledge and skills they need to be successful in Advanced Placement and other college-level coursework, according to a news release.

This school year, 1,465 Fayetteville students are enrolled in either an AP or Pre-AP classes, taking a total of 3,749 AP or Pre-AP classes, Oesterle said.

The pilot will last for three years, adding 10th grade the second year and then eighth grade. At the end of the three-year pilot program, any school labelling a class "Pre-AP" must meet the College Board guidelines.

The program is designed to increase the number of students accessing and completing college level work before leaving high school and to improve the college readiness of all students, according to the release.

"We don't want this to be gatekeeping or limiting to any students," Oesterle said. "Our focus, and focus across the nation, is how do we close that achievement gap."

These classes will replace the standard class for the subjects offered. Oesterle said the courses won't mean additional or more difficult work. The difference will be more resources and strategies that will hopefully lead to higher grades and graduation rates. Fayetteville High had a 89 percent graduation rate for the 2016-17 school year.

Students seeking an accelerated learning pathway can take a "Pre-AP honors" class, Oesterle said.

"Those resources, skills and strategies are woven into the curriculum," he said. "We are not completely throwing out what we have done."

Fayetteville teachers will begin training directly with College Board representatives this summer to integrate the program material into their curriculums.

Cincy Mathis is a ninth-grade English teacher who has been working for the district for 20 years. She said the program is needed and hopes other teachers are as excited as she is about its potential.

"I don't think we can really go into a classroom and do whatever we want anymore," she said. "I hope we can create a better mindset for ourselves as teachers, so we can take what the College Board is going to give us and use it to our advantage. It takes some off our plate and gives us opportunity to have more time to focus on why we got into teaching in the first place."

The board has not released exactly what the coursework will look like, but there will be some standard outline for the order in which skills will be taught.

In English class, students would be learning the same critical reading and rhetorical analysis skills about the same time in the semester, for example, no matter what book they are reading, Mathis said.

This will make it easier for children who have to change schools mid-semester, Katie Stueart, 10th-grade English teacher and AP chairwoman for Fayetteville High.

"It will also help ensure the 9th grade class is clearly leading into the 10th-grade class and the 10th grade is potentially leading into that AP class," she said. "It's going to tighten the focus on some of these skills that prepare kids for AP class. We have always tried to standardize within, but this will provide some tools for teachers that they just haven't had access to before."

Mathis said it really boils down to providing students with the necessary skills, regardless of the path on which they will end up.

"Yes, we are labelling all classes Pre-AP but, in reality, Pre-AP skills are just good skills," Mathis said. "They are good in any classroom. Close reading and textual evidence, being able to support what you are saying and having deep and meaningful conversations -- these are not just for AP classes. That's what we should be doing throughout high school and beyond, be it college or a career."

NW News on 04/30/2018

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