Photo courtesy: Kelli Gile
Caption: Walnut Valley Unified School District is an AP Honor Roll recipient.
Walnut Valley Unified School District is an AP Honor Roll recipient. (Photo courtesy: Kelli Gile)
BY KELLI GILE
Walnut—Walnut Valley Unified School District has been named to College Board’s 2013 AP District Honor Roll.
The 4th annual list includes 477 districts across the U.S. and Canada being honored for increasing access to AP® course work while simultaneously maintaining or increasing the percentage of students earning scores of 3 or higher on AP Exams.
Walnut Valley has achieved the honor for multiple years.
“Congratulations to our outstanding students, teachers, staff members and administrators. This distinction confirms Walnut Valley’s ongoing commitment to preparing our students for college, careers and beyond,” said Superintendent Dr. Robert Taylor.
Reaching these goals indicates that these districts are successfully identifying motivated, academically prepared students who are likely to benefit from rigorous AP course work, according to College Board.
Data from 2013 show that among African American, Hispanic, and Native American students with a high degree of readiness for AP, only about half of students are participating because their schools do not always offer the AP course for which they have potential. These 477 districts are committed to expanding the availability of AP courses among prepared and motivated students of all backgrounds.
Helping more students learn at a higher level and earn higher AP scores is an objective of all members of the AP community, from AP teachers to district and school administrators, to college professors. Many districts are experimenting with a variety of initiatives and strategies to determine how to simultaneously expand access and improve student performance.
Inclusion on the 4th Annual AP District Honor Roll is based on the examination of three years of AP data, from 2011 to 2013, for the following criteria:
- Increased participation/access to AP by at least four percent in large districts, at least six percent in medium districts, and at least 11 percent in small districts;
- Increased or maintained the percentage of exams taken by African American, Hispanic/Latino, and American Indian/Alaska Native students, and;
- Improved performance levels when comparing the percentage of students in 2013 scoring a three or higher to those in 2011, unless the district has already attained a performance level at which more than 70 percent of its AP students are scoring a three or higher
