advertisement

6 ways Glenbard Dist. 87 enrolled more students in AP

Glenbard High School District 87 has an ambitious goal for the Class of 2018.

Educators want 60 percent of those seniors to pass at least one AP exam during their time in high school. A passing score means college credit and money saved on tuition.

But the district had reached a plateau, with 39 percent to 43 percent of graduating seniors in recent years earning a 3 or better on the exam's 5-point scale.

At the same time, the district has long sought to increase the number of minority and low-income students in the college-level courses.

"We really needed a different game plan to attack this and really make that last final surge to see proportionality of these students in these classes," Assistant Superintendent Jeff Feucht said.

So the district became one of only seven Illinois schools in fall 2015 to spend a year working with Equal Opportunity Schools. The Seattle nonprofit group was founded by a Harvard grad and aims to close racial and economic gaps in AP enrollment.

Through the ongoing partnership, the district found 874 "missing" juniors and seniors who enrolled in AP this school year. These are teens whose teachers think they have the mindset for the workload but had previously fallen through the cracks.

Here's a look at part of the district's game plan to get more students in AP classes:

1. Data: The district will continue to poll teachers and students at all four schools through a fall survey developed by Equal Opportunity Schools. The questions ask teens about their career interests and academic goals, what keeps them from taking AP courses and who they view as "trusted adults" at their school.

The nonprofit then produces "student insight cards" with survey responses, open-ended comments, test scores and grades to help educators recruit teens who would make a good fit for AP.

An apple on the card represents a teacher who endorsed the student for the courses. Those "trusted adults" also are listed and can encourage students to challenge themselves in an area of interest.

Before, when schools considered whether students were right for AP, they used traditional benchmarks - grades, courses, input from parents - that "kept replicating the same types of groups of students," Feucht said.

EOS data, by contrast, reveals other assets - work ethic, experience in community service, motivation - that show why students could handle AP curriculum.

2. Equity teams: Each principal in the district's four schools assembled a diverse set of staff members to design a plan to reach out to students and parents about signing up for AP.

3. Supports for students: The district started AP Launch, a free, five-day summer course for any student new to AP. The program helps teens with vocabulary, writing and study skills.

At each school is a new AP Student Center, where teens spend their lunch breaks networking into study groups and working with a staff member on prioritizing their assignments. At South, a part-time guidance counselor supervises the space.

4. Teacher training: Workshops connected teachers with research by Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck on encouraging a "growth mindset" and avoiding subconscious messages "that tell students, 'Hey there's AP kids and non-AP kids. There's people that have the abilities to do this and some of you that don't,' " Feucht said.

5. Online activities: The district is using a new program that lets students answer practice questions written by AP teachers from across the country.

6. More data: While EOS sent a partnership director for regular visits last year, the district has now "actually taken over more of the work" to expand access to AP classes, Feucht said. But the nonprofit will do an analysis at the end of the year with feedback from students and their semester grades.

"Did they feel welcome? Did they feel like they belonged?" Feucht asks. "How can we be more supportive?"

EOS tracks only juniors and seniors to gauge equity in AP classrooms because of a relatively small number of the courses for the district's sophomores.

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.