272 Georgia schools
earn honors for Advanced Placement programs, students and teachers also
recognized
MEDIA CONTACT:
Matt Cardoza, GaDOE Communications Office, (404) 651-7358, mcardoza@gadoe.org
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February 25,
2016 – State School
Superintendent Richard Woods today named 272 Advanced Placement (AP) Honor
Schools. These schools are part of an AP program in Georgia that is earning
accolades: Georgia is 13th
in the nation for the percentage of students earning the highest AP exam
scores (3, 4, and 5) and tied for third in the nation in one-year percentage
point growth in the percentage of public school graduates scoring a 3, 4, or 5 on
at least one of the exams.
The schools
being recognized by the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) fall into six
categories, based on the results of 2015 AP courses and exams. A list of
categories is below, and a full list of schools in each category is
attached.
Three Georgia
teachers were also recognized by the College Board as the 2016 AP Professionals
of the Year for the Southern Region. The three teachers – Kimberly Heglund,
John Jameson, and Joni Jameson – happen to be siblings, and all teach at Archer
High School in Gwinnett County. Each teacher has presented at the GaDOE’s AP
Regional Workshops each fall for 11 years.
And Georgia is
home to two AP Scholars for 2015 – the College Board grants State AP Scholar
recognition to one male and one female student in each U.S. state and the
District of Columbia. The winning students have scores of 3 or higher on the
greatest number of AP exams, and then the highest average score (at least 3.5)
on all AP exams taken. Learn
more about Georgia’s AP Scholars, Stephanie Niu and Sanket Mehta, in this post
on the Educating Georgia’s Future blog.
AP courses and
exams are administered by the College Board, which also administers the SAT. AP
courses are one of several ways Georgia students can access college-level
learning opportunities while in high school. Students who receive a 3, 4, or 5
on AP exams are often eligible to receive college credit.
“Through the AP
program, these schools are personalizing learning and expanding the
opportunities available for their students,” Superintendent Woods said. “This
honor is a credit to the hard work of many dedicated educators here in our
state, and I offer my congratulations to the teachers and students at each of
these schools – and my gratitude for their hard work and dedication.”
The Georgia
Department of Education began recognizing AP Honor Schools in 2008. The
recognition began with the first three categories listed below; the AP STEM and
AP STEM Achievement categories were added in 2011 and the AP Humanities
category was added in 2015.
Categories:
·
AP
Challenge Schools are schools with enrollments of 900 or fewer students and
students testing in four of the core areas (English, math, science, and social
studies).
·
AP
Access and Support Schools are schools with at least 30 percent of their AP
exams taken by students who identified themselves as African-American and/or
Hispanic, and 30 percent of all AP exams earning scores of 3 or higher.
·
AP
Merit Schools are schools with at least 20 percent of the student population
taking AP exams and at least 50 percent of all AP exams earning scores of 3 or
higher.
·
AP
STEM Schools are schools with students testing in at least two AP math courses
and two AP science courses (AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, AP Statistics, AP
Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Environmental Science, AP Physics B, AP Physics C, AP
Computer Science).
·
AP
STEM Achievement Schools are schools with students testing in at least two AP
math courses and two AP science courses, and at least 40 percent of the exam
scores on AP math and AP science exams earning scores of 3 or higher.
·
AP
Humanities Schools are schools with students testing in all of the following AP
courses: at least one ELA course, two social sciences courses, one fine arts
course and one world language course.
Links to lists
of schools:
Challenge
Access
and Support
Merit
STEM
STEM
Achievement
Humanities
Totals
and definitions