Perk Valley Named to College Board's AP District Honor Roll

The following is from the Perkiomen Valley School District:

Perkiomen Valley School District is one of 477 school districts across the U.S. and Canada being honored by the College Board with placement on the 4th Annual AP® District Honor Roll for simultaneously increasing access to Advanced Placement® course work while increasing the percentage of students earning scores of 3 or higher on AP Exams.

Achieving both of these goals is the ideal scenario for a district’s AP program because it indicates that the district is successfully identifying motivated, academically prepared students who are likely to benefit most from rigorous AP course work. Perkiomen Valley is among a smaller group of districts (195 nationwide and including Canada) that has reached these goals for multiple years.

For the 2012-2013 school year, 87 percent of Perkiomen Valley students who took AP Exams earned scores of 3 or higher, and 826 tests were taken. In the previous school year, 86 percent of students scored a 3 or above and 707 tests were taken. Out of the entire graduating class from 2013, 43 percent of seniors scored a 3 or higher on at least one AP exam during their time in high school. More than 90 percent of colleges and universities across the U.S. offer college credit, advanced placement or both for a score of 3 or above on an AP Exam — which can potentially save students and their families thousands of dollars in college tuition.

“We are very proud to have been named to this distinguished list of schools for the fourth consecutive year,” said Superintendent Dr. Clifford Rogers. “We offer 20 Advanced Placement courses and for those who opt to take the end-of-course exams, it is our goal to help every student to achieve a score of 3 or higher. Being recognized at a national level for our efforts related to AP courses and exams is very encouraging as we continue our work toward helping every one of our students leave Perkiomen Valley High School ready for college or career.”

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 expand access and improve student performance simultaneously.

“We applaud the extraordinary efforts of the devoted teachers and administrators in this district who are offering more students the opportunity to engage in rigorous college-level course work,” said Trevor Packer, the College Board’s senior vice president of AP and Instruction. “These outcomes are a powerful testament to educators’ belief that a more diverse population of students is ready for the sort of rigor that will prepare them for success in college.”

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. Districts must:

·         Increase participation/access to AP by at least 4 percent in large districts, at least 6 percent in medium districts, and at least 11 percent in small districts;

·         Increase or maintain the percentage of exams taken by African American, Hispanic/Latino, and American Indian/Alaska Native students, and;

·         Improve performance levels when comparing the percentage of students in 2013 scoring a 3 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 3 or higher.

The complete AP District Honor Roll can be found here.