State school board looks to get more kids in AP courses

By Davin White, Staff writer
The Charleston Gazette
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State education officials have set ambitious goals aimed at enrolling more students in Advanced Placement courses and getting more of them to pass the exams at the end of the courses. 
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When certified by the New York-based College Board, Advanced Placement classes offer higher-level learning in subjects such as literature, calculus, foreign languages, history and science. They can mean college credit for students who score 3 or higher (out of 5) on the final exam.

By 2014, officials with the West Virginia Center for Professional Development want at least 15 percent of the graduating class to score a 3 or higher on one AP exam by 2014.

To be that successful, twice as many students in West Virginia would need to score a 3 or better when compared to the graduating class of 2009. Last year, about 15 out of every 200 graduating students scored a 3 or better, according to the College Board.

State education officials also want to increase participation in Advanced Placement. More than 17 percent of seniors in 2009 took at least one AP exam while in high school, up from 2008’s 15 percent, according to the College Board.

Dixie Billheimer, executive director of the West Virginia Center for Professional Development, presented a strategic plan for Advanced Placement to members of the state Board of Education at a meeting in Charleston on Tuesday.

She proposed changes that would require AP courses for students in the 10th grade and make students take an AP exam in order to receive a weighted grade in their class.

Teachers would need to attend a training session within the first year of teaching an AP course, and then get additional training once every three years thereafter, Billheimer said.

Also, high schools could receive incentives for each AP exam score of 3 or higher.

State Superintendent of Schools Steve Paine said he believes the changes will increase involvement in the AP program.

Paine said he wants to work with state Board of Education members to resolve finance issues and make necessary policy changes. Board member Lowell Johnson was concerned that some of the proposals probably would cost money, and said the state board doesn’t always “have the money to do what we want to do.”

Reach Davin White at davinwh…@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1254.