Linda Holly (right), Advanced Placement history teacher at Andrew Jackson High School, talks with student Amy Waddell who plans to take Holly's class next school year. - Carrie Rosema/staff

Students losing full advantage of advanced placement

By Thomas B. Pfankuch
Times-Union staff writer

In the 1995-96 school year, 29 students attended an advanced placement American History class at Andrew Jackson High School and took a final exam to qualify for college credits.

No one passed.

Overall that year, only 47 percent of Duval County high school students who took an advanced placement exam passed it, a success rate below both the state and national average.

The local advanced placement program has flaws that prevent more students from passing the exams, according to SchoolMatch, an Ohio-based consulting firm hired by The Florida Times-Union to audit the Duval County public schools.

The school system needs to improve its advanced placement program so about 70 percent of students pass the exams, said M. Donald Thomas, lead consultant for SchoolMatch.

It's also unacceptable, Thomas said, that the school system had 29 advanced placement classes last year in which no students passed the final exam.

''If they're teaching well, and they're teaching the curriculum, there's no reason for that,'' Thomas said.

Duval County administrators agree their advanced placement program can be improved. But they also consider the program a success because it helps prepare students for college even if they don't pass the difficult three-hour final exams.

Advanced placement classes are college-level courses offered to high school students who qualify for free college credit if they pass the final exam. Last year, Duval County students took 3,629 advanced placement exams, passing 1,722 times.

Some students are set up to fail the exams long before they reach high school, said Stephen Piscitelli, a former Jacksonville teacher who now advises advanced placement teachers.

Some students take the difficult advanced placement courses and exams without adequate reading and writing skills, Piscitelli said.

Students should be taught reading comprehension, study skills and effective writing long before they sit down in an advanced placement class, Piscitelli said. They also need to be taught to think, he said.

''You're not going to get a question on an AP test on when was the Declaration of Independence signed,'' Piscitelli said. ''They'll ask you why was it signed, and that's tough for kids who haven't been taught to think that way.''

Students in Linda Holley's advanced placement U.S. history class at Jackson high last semester said the class was far more difficult than any they had ever taken.

They weren't prepared for the amount of required reading and the intensity of the in-class discussions that require students to think about the causes and ramifications of history.

Passing the advanced placement exam is not required to pass the class. Students choose whether they want to take the advanced placement exams; last year, in fact, 23 percent of Duval County students did not take the final exam.

Thomas said Duval County should do more to encourage students to take the exams - especially since the $75 cost is picked up by the state. Many states require the students to pay the exam fees themselves.

After being shut out with her 29 advanced placement students last year, Holley said she regrouped.

She worked harder to reach the students through hands-on projects and by coming to class dressed in period costumes that bring history to life.

Holley also took advice from Piscitelli, who shared teaching methods and helped the students prepare for the grueling three-part exam that includes essay writing not found on many high school tests.

Holley, a 27-year teacher, has tried the past two years to improve her advanced placement teaching methods. But she said there are problems with the Duval County advanced placement program.

Teachers don't receive enough training, Holley said. Classes are too large, and students can't read or write well enough to pass the tests, she said.

Parents don't motivate their kids, and she said it's difficult to get advanced placement information from the district office.

''AP teachers are frazzled because we're trying to find so many ways to get kids to want to learn and get more involved,'' Holley said.

The school system's success rate is low for several reasons, said Maurice ''Tad'' Shuman, director of special programs in the Duval County schools. The reasons include:

An inclusive admissions policy that lets any willing student into advanced placement courses, though a College Board spokesman said most districts have similar policies.

A lack of money to train teachers in the advanced placement curriculum and methods.

A problem in some schools where students are not adequately taught reading and writing skills.

A district policy that encourages advanced placement teachers to take graduate-level college courses in their field of study instead of classes that instruct them how to teach advanced placement classes.

''We feel we're doing a good job. The question we have is, 'Can we do better?' '' Shuman said.

Last year, high school juniors and seniors in Duval County passed 1,722 advanced placement exams. Students in schools in lower-income neighborhoods did worse on the exams than students in schools in higher-income areas.

Shuman said the school system is proud that it has started advanced placement classes in some schools with low-income students, even if it brings down the county's advanced placement success rate.

Shuman said there is more to measuring the success of Duval's advanced placement program than just looking at the number passing exams.

Duval administrators also credit their advanced placement classes with bringing up overall college entrance exam scores. SchoolMatch said Duval students who take the American College Test (ACT) and the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) receive scores above the national average in districts similar to Duval County.

Last year, Duval high school students scored an average of 983 on the SAT, compared with a national average of 911 with a maximum score of 1,600.

On the ACT, Duval students scored an average of 20.1, compared with a national average of 18.5 with a maximum score of 36.

Advanced placement classes have been administered since 1955 by the non-profit College Board, an organization that works with colleges to improve incoming students.

Students who pass the advanced placement exams qualify for credits that are accepted at most universities, colleges and technical schools.

The Florida Legislature provides another incentive for schools to push the advanced placement program. Every time a student scores a 3, 4 or 5 on an advanced placement exam, the state hands the district $500, a total of $861,000 in Duval County last year.

Thomas New, a spokesman for the College Board, said advanced placement students tend to be better prepared for college even if they don't pass the exams. Advanced placement students also create higher goals for themselves, New said.

''If you raise the bar, it raises expectations,'' he said. ''The basic concept behind advanced placement is that many students, if given the right kind of coursework and right kind of incentives, can work to a higher level.''

Each year, the Duval school system sends its 123 advanced placement teachers to a one-day College Board seminar for a total cost of $5,000. That seminar is the only additional advanced placement training that the teachers typically receive, Shuman said.

Teachers whose students do poorly on the exams might be given additional advanced placement curriculum training.

But the school system should do more if it wants to improve its advanced placement program, experts said.

Piscitelli suggested creating incentives for advanced placement teachers to improve, such as bonuses, extra teaching supplies or field trips.

He also said Duval County should treat advanced placement like a ''program'' that starts when students are young.

Shuman said the school system could increase the number of students passing the exams by:

Requiring all advanced placement teachers to obtain at least 18 graduate-level college credits in their field of study, an effort that would cost $50,000 to $75,000 a year.

Committing more resources to teaching students reading and writing in elementary and middle schools.

Soliciting support from local businesses to send teachers back to school or to weeklong workshops sponsored by the College Board.

''This is a community that does not have a long tradition of sending students to college,'' said Shuman, who taught advanced placement classes at The Bolles School for eight years. ''Getting a taste of college while you're still in high school is really one of the most beneficial things we can do for students.''

SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Duval County administrators say the advanced placement exam given by the Educational Testing Service is as difficult as any first-year college exam. Students who receive a 3, 4 or 5 on the five-point exam qualify for college credit. The exams also include essay questions and questions based on documents and photos the students are provided.

Here are some sample European and American history questions from recent exams.

1. The Industrial Revolution in 18th Century England primarily involved new techniques in the production of:
A. shoes
B. textiles
C. ships
D. furniture
E. steel

2. Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity proposed:
A. a new atomic structure
B. fundamental concepts of a computer
C. a new conception of space and time
D. the origin of the universe from explosion of a single mass
E. the particulate nature of light

3. Compared to a pre-industrial economy, the most distinctive feature of a modern economy is its:
A. lack of economic cycles
B. lower wages for the literate middle class
C. elimination of hunger and poverty
D. increased democratization of the workplace
E. greater capacity to sustain growth over time

4. The French and Indian War was a pivotal point in America's relationship with Great Britain because it led Great Britain to:
A. encourage colonial manufacturing
B. impose revenue taxes on the colonies
C. restrict emigration from England
D. ignore the colonies
E. grant increased colonial self-government

5. The following immigrants were often forced to leave the U.S. and return to their country of origin:
A. Irish during the 1850s
B. Germans during World War I
C. Italians during the 1920s
D. Mexicans during the 1930s
E. Japanese during during World War II

6. The principal reason for the economic boom in the U.S. after World War II was:
A. full employment created because the government kept 10 million men in the armed services as a precautionary measure
B. the continued production of war materials on an around-the-clock basis
C. a shortage of consumer goods combined with a reserve of purchasing power in the form of accumulated savings
D. the continuance of the federal government's operation of basic industries like railroads
E. strong action by the federal government in behalf of organized labor

ANSWERS:

1.B, 2.C, 3.E, 4.B, 5.D, 6.C