The College Board’s Advanced Placement Program gives high school students a chance to do college level work in a variety of subjects ranging from calculus to chemistry. The AP exam is graded on a scale of 1 to 5, with 3 or higher considered qualifying scores, sometimes referred to as passing scores.

If students score well enough on an AP test, students can earn course credit or placement in advanced credit courses at most colleges and universities.

The AP program has established a track record of positive results. In a state-wide Texas study, AP success correlated with much greater success in college. Six-year college graduation rates rise from ~15 percent for African-American and Hispanic students to ~60 percent if they have scored a 3 or higher on at least one AP exam.

Students enrolled in AP courses are also competitive internationally–while the U.S. ranked below the international average on the Trends in International Math and Science Study (TIMSS), students who had taken the AP Calculus exam ranked first in the world in advanced mathematics.

NMSI support is targeting the 12 AP math, science, and English tests: Calculus AB, Calculus BC, Computer Science A, Statistics, Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science; Physics B, Physics C, Electricity and Magnetism, Physics C, Mechanics, English Language, and English Literature.

For more information visit www.apcentral.collegeboard.com

*AP , Advanced Placement Program and SAT are registered trademarks of the College Board, which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, this product.

NMSI is in the process of replicating across the country an AP Training and Incentive program that originated in Dallas in 2000. That program AP Strategies, provides incentive programs for AP and pre-AP mathematics, science, and English courses in Texas.

Similar NMSI programs around the country, will include extensive formal and informal training of teachers, additional time on task for students, financial incentives based on academic results, and the cultivation of Lead Teachers to provide leadership to the program in their schools by mentoring other teachers. Financial incentives also are provided to students who receive passing scores on Advanced Placement exams and to teachers who help them.

Thanks to APS assistance, participation in AP math, science and English courses has grown dramatically. On average, over five years APS triples the number of students passing AP English exams, quadruples the number passing AP math exams, and quintuples the number passing AP science exams.

A 2007 analysis of the AP Strategies Training and Incentive program by Cornell economist C. Kirabo Jackson linked the program to a 30 percent rise in the number of students with high SAT and ACT scores and an 8 percent rise in college-going students.

Seven states have been awarded NMSI grants of up to $13.2 million from a pool of 28 applicants to create AP Strategies programs.

[For more information, visit www.apstrategies.org]