In May, I wrote about students at Brashear High School in Pittsburgh just as they were about to face the springtime gantlet of advanced placement tests, which measure whether they had mastered college-level material. I had visited Brashear a couple of times, interested to see close up what was essentially a crash course by the school to raise its A.P. results.
The National Math and Science Initiative - a nonprofit group that seeks to improve teaching of science, math, technology and engineering - goes into high schools around the country that like Brashear are not high-achieving. The schools are often located in poorer urban or rural areas, and the initiative offers training and resources to help teachers; Saturday study sessions for students; and financial rewards. For each passing score (3 or higher on the tests, which are scored on a 1 to 5 scale), the organization pays $100 to the student and $100 to the teacher.
The initiative has an impressive track record. For participating schools, the number of passing scores on science and math A.P. tests jumps, on average, 85 percent the first year, and nearly triples by the end of the three-year program.
So how did Brashear do in its first year? Brashear and its 1,400 students are not among the worst, but also far from the best. The year before NMSI, of the 159 students who enrolled in A.P. science and math classes, just 10 accounted for the school's 13 passing scores; the lofty goal for 2013-14 was to quadruple that, to 55. The results, which came back in July, fell short but marked a sizable improvement: 33 passing scores, up 154 percent.
Students at the Science & Technology Academy, the other Pittsburgh high school participating in the initiative, also gained: to 32, up from 9.
'We couldn't be happier,' said Jaclyn Castma, the A.P. project manager for the Pittsburgh schools.
Gregg Fleisher, NMSI's chief academic officer, said that of the 289 high schools in Pennsylvania that had at least nine passing scores in science and math subjects in 2012-13, the Science & Technology Academy had the largest percentage increase in passing scores in 2013-14. Brashear had the second greatest.
A big gain at Brashear came in calculus; passing scores rose to 15 from 6. Jeff Laurenson, a longtime calculus teacher at Brashear, said the keys were Saturday study sessions and a mock exam in the spring.
The NMSI targets and higher expectations helped, too. 'It just energized the staff,' Mr. Laurenson said.
In chemistry, Sean Regan, who was teaching the A.P. class for the first time last year, optimistically thought last fall that 10 of his students could achieve passing scores. By the spring, he pared his expectations to a few. In the end, only one of his 23 students scored a 3. Still, that was one more passing score than in the three previous years combined.
'I'm not super thrilled, but it's a passing score,' Mr. Regan said. 'It's improvement.'
By another measure, Mr. Regan has been more successful. He has recruited 41 students to take A.P. chemistry this fall, up from 26 who signed up the year before, as part of an effort to convince more students that they can successfully tackle challenging classes. Over all, enrollment in A.P. science and math classes at Brashear has risen to 469 from 328. NMSI's goals remain ambitious: to double the passing scores in 2014-15, to 66, and then to reach 100 the following year.
Ms. Castma said she would like to expand the math and science initiative to the other Pittsburgh high schools, but that would take more financing. For now, she is trying to spread some of the lessons, inviting teachers from other schools to observe the review sessions. She said the success at Brashear would help persuade teachers and administrators to cast aside the notion that only the top students should take A.P.
'They're seeing you can have open enrollment and increase success,' she said.
Entities 0 Name: Brashear Count: 8 1 Name: A.P. Count: 7 2 Name: Pittsburgh Count: 4 3 Name: NMSI Count: 4 4 Name: Science & Technology Academy Count: 2 5 Name: Regan Count: 2 6 Name: Gregg Fleisher Count: 1 7 Name: Jaclyn Castma Count: 1 8 Name: Sean Regan Count: 1 9 Name: Laurenson Count: 1 10 Name: Brashear High School Count: 1 11 Name: Castma Count: 1 12 Name: Jeff Laurenson Count: 1 13 Name: National Math and Science Initiative Count: 1 14 Name: Pennsylvania Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1nFAc5I Title: Student-Built Apps Teach Colleges a Thing or Two Description: Vaibhav Verma was frustrated that he could not get into the most popular courses at Rutgers University, so he decided to try a new approach. He didn't sleep outside classrooms to be first in line when the door opened, or send professors a solicitous note.
Post a Comment for "Incentives Aid AP Science and Math Scores"