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player ready...An increasing number of students at Niles North and Niles West high schools are taking advanced placement courses to ready themselves for college, but School District 219 still has work to do to get more juniors and sophomores involved, officials said.
“The last few years, we have significantly increased our numbers of students taking AP courses as well as AP exams,” Anne Roloff, district 219 assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, told the Niles Township School District 219 Board during its Aug. 9 meeting.
“The exciting piece of this is that our scores have either remained about the same or have increased,” she said. “It’s a real testament to our staff, the hard-working teachers that we have.”
According to the district, AP courses are college-level courses taught in high school, which follow a rigorous curriculum.
Roloff said that approximately 26 percent of the district’s students take an AP exam, an increase from 14 percent in 2011-12. She also said the “AP world history course” is of special note. She explained that that course is offered to freshmen, and she said that of the 96 freshmen enrolled in the course, 93 took the AP exam and 88 percent eceived a passing grade.
Of all AP exams taken in the district in 2016, 82 percent of students received a passing score, which is well above the national rate of 57 percent and the state rate of 66 percent, Roloff said.
“We’re just really pleased with what we’re seeing,” she said.
All students in the district are strongly encouraged to take AP courses because students who are exposed to AP curriculum are more likely to be college ready and perform higher on the ACT, SAT, and other state testing, district officials said. They also said that the district’s enrollments in AP courses has increased significantly over the past several years, while scores have remained high.
“We know they will be successful in college if they are successful on AP course work,” Roloff said. “Most colleges and universities accept some form of AP course work as some form of credit.”
Board member Linda Lampert said she has been talking to parents who said that if the district is encouraging every student to take at least one AP course, the district should consider paying the $92 students are charged for the exam.
“I though that was very interesting,” Lampert said. “It is something I think we need to start discussing.”
Roloff also said the district has work to do because only about one-quarter of the student population takes AP courses or exams. She said that seniors tend to take the AP courses and exams and that the district must look at ways to get juniors and sophomores at the two high schools more involved.
“That number in my mind is too low,” she said. “I’d like to see that number closer to 40 or 50 percent.”
Brian Cox is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.