District 204 ranks high in AP list

Indian Prairie School District 204 is among 388 schools nationwide and 27 in Illinois named to the College Board AP Achievement List.

School districts named to the list have expanded the number of students taking Advanced Placement courses, while also either improving performance on AP tests or maintaining high achievement. From 2008 to 2010, District 204 increased the number of students taking AP classes, raised the number of minority students taking AP tests and had at least 70 percent of students earn a score of three or higher — showing proficiency at the college level.

“If you do the math, that puts us in the top three percent of districts at both the state and national level in having that recognition,” board President Curt Bradshaw said. “I think it is neat to look at it from that perspective.”

About 10 years ago, the district started with a goal of increasing the number of AP classes offered to students. Today, 30 out of 34 possible courses are available to students.

“We really had made it a big goal for the high schools for us to have more and more AP classes, and from there, we moved to having more kids take part and then, we took a look at our minority students and made sure they also were taking part,” Superintendent Kathy Birkett said.

In the past three years, District 204 has increased the number of students taking AP courses from 1,205 to 1,634.

While District 204 does not keep figures on the number of minorities taking AP classes, a concerted effort has been made to increase minority participation, Birkett said. “Typically, (minority participation) is a nationwide problem and we were no different,” she said. Efforts to improve involvement include working to increase awareness with parents and students about the value of earning college credit and being more prepared for college by taking AP courses. In some cases, students were specifically encouraged to take a class.

“Sometimes it’s making that welcome a little bit larger and making that welcome more firm,” Birkett said.

Continuing to increase the number of students taking AP courses will help the district meet its goal of increasing the number of students exceeding state standards by introducing them to tougher course work, Birkett said. AP courses and exams, designed by the college board that oversees SAT college admission tests, can give students advanced placement or even college credit.

District 204 board members praised the district’s efforts. “It’s not just the score you get, but the participation because you are reading content that requires more critical thinking. It’s the content you would need to master if you were going to college,” board member Alka Tyle said. “For all those reasons, it is great.”