Advanced placement college-prep courses, once considered for only the best and brightest students, are skyrocketing in popularity in both Salem and Peabody schools.
The number of students who pass the test — scoring a 3 or better on a 5-point scale — has also increased dramatically, according to numbers released this week.
The gains coincide with multi-year grants that both school districts have received from the Boston-based Massachusetts Math and Science Initiative to increase participation in AP classes and improve AP test scores in math, science and English. The program uses a variety of incentives, including paying both students and AP teachers $100 for each passing score.
"There seems to be a pretty good trend going on here. ... It has caused a cultural shift that has raised expectations," said Edward Sapienza, principal of Peabody Veterans Memorial High School. "Some kids have now taken six AP courses during their time here. They can almost skip their whole first year of college, and that's money in the bank."
AP students can get college credit for subjects in which they score a 3 or better, meaning they can move immediately to higher-level courses in college.
Peabody, which is now entering the third year of its five-year grant program, has seen the number of students taking AP tests jump dramatically — from 164 tests taken in 2007 to 511 last year. The number of students scoring 3 or better in math, science and English has jumped from 48 in 2007 to 169 last year.
Salem High School, which completed its first year in the program last school year, has seen big gains in both areas, as well.
Enrollment in math, science and English AP courses has jumped from 86 in 2010 to 161 last school year. Salem High School students scoring 3 or better more than doubled, from 42 in 2010 to 87 last year.
'Dramatic evidence'
The Salem School Committee had hoped the grant program would challenge students and improve AP test performance, and "at the end of the first year, we have seen dramatic evidence that both objectives were realized," Salem Superintendent William Cameron said.
"Many more students took highly demanding academic courses, and many more of the students who took those courses qualified for college credit. ... I am very proud of the results we've seen."
Salem Academy Charter School just completed its first year in the program and improved both the percentage of students taking AP courses and the number of students receiving qualifying scores in the tests, said Sean O'Neil, executive director of the school. Students participating in AP courses in math, science and English jumped from 20 to 44, and the number of qualifying scores rose from 15 to 22.
Danvers schools will join the grant program at the beginning of the next school year.
Until recent years, "many students looked at AP courses as programs only for elite students and, therefore, I think in many cases, students self-selected not to take the courses, because they thought they couldn't handle it," Cameron said.
But in both Peabody and Salem high schools, faculty now actively recruit students for AP courses, and most of those students have stuck with it and performed well.
"All the barriers have been taken away," Sapienza said. "If you are a straight F student and you really want to take an AP course, we will find a way to make it happen."
Even freshmen are eligible for the advanced classes. In Peabody last year, four freshmen scored a 3 or better on the AP biology test.
Bonuses for teachers
The program has not been without controversy, particularly with teachers unions. They have argued that $100 bonuses paid to AP teachers for each student who passes the test are unfair, because many teachers contribute to students' success throughout their lives.
Regardless of the controversy, Peabody Advanced Placement teachers were collectively paid $13,400 last year, the same amount as the students, and could get another $16,900 in the fall for this year's passing AP grades. Salem teachers and students will receive $8,700.
Sapienza and Cameron think the controversy about cash incentives is overblown.
"It's a lot of work for only $100," said Cameron, who also pointed out that there was no guarantee of cashing in unless students pass the test.
"And I don't believe the AP scores went up because teachers had the potential of earning extra money. The teachers were focused, and students were ready to learn. There's no evidence that money played any significant role in any of this."
"The teachers are not doing it for the money, they're doing it for the experience," Sapienza said.
As part of the program, teachers are given extensive training and support in their AP subject in the summers and throughout the school year, training that "makes them marketable anywhere," Sapienza said. "If I were a young teacher and this kind of opportunity for professional development were presented to me, I would jump at it."
Students are expected to attend three, five-hour Saturday study sessions throughout the school year for each AP course. At the weekend study sessions, students get free breakfast and lunch and are entered to win prizes, such as iPods and gift certificates. Attendance at the weekend work sessions was strong in both Peabody and Salem, the administrators said.
When the grant money ends in two years, schools will have to decide whether to keep the program going. Those discussions have not started yet.
"We're riding the crest of this wave, and the question is whether it can be sustained," Sapienza said. "... That will be the interesting part."
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