More Top Picks Annex Rooms
player ready...Lake Forest High School has been named to the AP District Honor Roll, according to the board that oversees the exams.
The College Board, a nonprofit that oversees college entrance exams, chose Lake Forest High School as one of 433 school districts across the country to earn the honor, according to its website. Advanced Placement classes offer college-level material and college credit to high school students.
From the 2013-2014 school year to the 2015-2016 school year, LFHS increased student enrollment in AP courses by 45 percent and increased the number of AP tests taken by 57 percent, according to Supt. Mike Simeck. During that time, LFHS had a passage rate of 95 percent for students taking AP exams, Simeck said.
Principal Chala Holland said there are a number of factors that play into the increase, including creating student resource centers in different subject areas that are staffed by faculty during the school day.
“There is nothing more frustrating than having a question or needing something answered in a timely manner,” Holland said. “Sometimes students don’t push themselves (to take AP classes) because they are too frightened with not having the support.”
Another factor is an increased use of data in determining who might be capable of taking AP classes, and a third is actually talking to students, which Holland said is being done in a more systematic fashion.
“Kids are often able to name what is working for them, where they feel challenged and where they can be pushed,” Holland said. “They are also good about naming what they need to be successful.”
Holland said people should expect to see an increase in supports for students wanting to take AP courses.
Approximately 8,000 high schools in the U.S. offer AP classes, and about 3 percent of them end up on the AP District Honor Roll, said Jose Rios, spokesman for The College Board.
In addition to college credit, students who take AP classes have a better chance of graduating high school on time, Rios said. And even students who score under 3 – AP tests are scored on a scale of 1 to 5, with 3 being the minimum to get college credit – have a better chance at succeeding in college, he said.
@reporterdude