MEMORANDUM July 6, 2011

TO: Terry B. Grier, Ed.D. Superintendent of Schools

FROM: Carla J. Stevens Assistant Superintendent Research and Accountability

SUBJECT: 2011 ADVANCED PLACEMENT (AP): July 5, 2011 Initial Results

The initial results from the Advanced Placement (AP) examinations have been released by the College Board on July 5, 2011. It is anticipated that more exams results will accrue as exams continue to be scored by the College Board. The Advanced Placement Program provides high school students with the opportunity to take college-level courses and earn college credit. There are a total of 37 AP exams offered in 22 subject areas. HISD schools administered 33 of the 37 possible AP exams in 2011. The AP grade scale ranges from 1 to 5, and a score of 3 or higher qualifies a student to earn advanced placement, college credit, or both.

The number of HISD students participating in AP exams at the high school level in 2011 was 12,019 an increase of 3,428 students from the 8,591 students who took AP exams in 2010. The total number of exams taken by HISD high school students increased to 20,930 in 2011 from 16,556 in 2010, a 26-percent increase. The percentage of exams scored at a 3 or higher was 31 percent, a decrease of 7 percentage points from 2010. At the middle school level, 265 students from 12 campuses took AP exams primarily in Spanish Language. Table 1 is an attachment and depicts 2011 and 2010 AP participation and performance data by high school campus and districtwide, and Table 2 presents the same information for middle schools. State and global data are not yet available. Figure 1 presents district five-year trend data for the number of AP exams taken and the number and percent scored at 3 or higher.

Figure 1: 2007-2011 High School AP Exams Taken and Number Scored 3+ (July 5, 2011) 25,000 20,930 20,000 16,556

15,000 11,594 9,118 10,148 6,262 6,515 10,000 4,915 4,323 4,445 38% 31% 47% 44% 42% 5,000

0 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

AP Exams Taken AP Exams 3+

*Note: An additional 280 exams were taken by HISD middle school students in 2010 and 265 exams were taken in 2011. District Response to AP Results:

The AP/IB Team will continue to work to utilize available resources to assist Pre-AP and AP teachers in acquiring the appropriate professional development for the upcoming academic year. This will be done by increasing the visibility of resources such as the AP Instructional Planning Report. The AP Instructional Planning Report, a tool traditionally underutilized by AP teachers in general, will be used heavily in planning and designing professional development for HISD AP teachers. The use of the AP Instructional Planning Report provides a targeted look at the lack of understanding by students of specific elements within each AP exam.

In addition, schools with 0–10% qualifying scores will be targeted for professional development for the 2011-12 academic year. The AP/IB Team will be working closely with its partners to ensure that schools in this category participate in specific professional development opportunities designed to address the needs indicated by the data.

The plan for intervention for these campuses includes, but is not limited to the following:  All campuses are implementing the SpringBoard English/Language Arts curriculum for the 2011-12 school year o All ELA teachers are expected to complete SpringBoard training  All Pre-AP teachers will be expected to attend a Laying the Foundation (LTF) one- day workshop  All Pre-AP teachers will be expected to attend the LTF Pre-AP Summer Institute for Summer 2012  All AP teachers will be required to complete at least 30 hours of AP training by June 30, 2012  All AP teachers will continue to be expected to fully participate in the AP Mentor program  All AP teachers will continue to be expected to attend the AP/IB Celebration Saturday event

Those schools in this category include (but are not limited to): CLC HS Empowerment HS Energized for STEM Furr HS Houston MST Houston Academy for International Studies International HS at Sharpstown Jones HS Jordan HS Kashmere HS Madison HS Mount Carmel Sharpstown HS South Early College Sterling HS Wheatley HS Worthing HS Yates HS The final report for this year will be produced later in the fall and will include AP course participation information as well as more complete AP exam results. Further release of this preliminary information is at your discretion.

______CJS

CS:sw

Attachments c: Superintendent’s Direct Reports School Improvement Officers Martha Salazar-Zamora June Giddings High School Principals Estibaliz E. Arriaga Table 1: HISD 2010–2011 High School AP Participation and Number/Percent of Exams Scored at 3 or Higher 2010 2011 Number Number Number Number Number of Exams Number of Exams Taking Exams Scored % Scored Taking Exams Scored % Scored School Exams Taken 3+ 3+ Exams Taken 3+ 3+ Austin 455 697 139 20 289 390 54 14 Bellaire 838 2,558 2,146 84 885 2,572 2,024 79 Carnegie 354 715 459 64 441 935 575 61 Challenge 159 192 116 60 284 376 98 26 Chavez 725 1,019 197 19 692 977 177 18 CLC HS * * * * 9 13 ** ** Davis 283 440 108 25 317 541 111 20 DeBakey 399 961 804 84 413 969 831 86 East Early 62 74 16 22 268 380 50 13 Eastwood 211 384 123 32 245 529 148 28 Empowerment 27 28 10 36 11 13 ** ** Energ. STEM 60 60 ** ** 120 295 16 5 Furr 223 354 55 16 389 675 32 5 Hope Academy * * * * 1 1 ** ** Houston MST 291 551 53 10 275 446 21 5 HSLECJ 231 414 58 14 275 451 60 13 HSPVA 297 534 211 40 342 627 285 45 International 54 59 8 14 274 374 17 4 Int’l at Sharp 111 150 9 6 224 356 33 9 Jones 45 45 ** ** 80 135 ** ** Jordan 263 334 28 8 238 343 25 7 Kashmere 63 89 ** ** 86 137 ** ** Lamar 60 61 23 38 1,113 1,148 176 15 Lee 287 707 201 28 274 564 113 20 Madison 298 441 25 6 350 502 25 5 Milby 277 539 125 23 423 744 166 22 Mt. Carmel 40 52 8 15 71 110 8 7 New Aspirations * * * * 1 1 ** ** North EC * * * * 173 216 117 54 Reagan 278 460 100 22 315 552 93 17 Scarborough 81 152 27 18 98 209 33 16 Sharpstown 260 479 48 10 286 451 13 3 South EC * * * * 61 62 ** ** Sterling 27 27 ** ** 164 248 9 4 Waltrip 255 503 131 26 292 540 96 18 Washington 159 348 16 5 141 246 49 20 Westbury 308 669 87 13 442 792 102 13 Westside 1,076 1,938 924 48 1,193 2,251 945 42 Wheatley 66 77 ** ** 136 196 ** ** Worthing 102 141 5 4 196 339 5 1 Yates 149 303 ** ** 132 224 ** ** HISD 8,875 16,556 6,262 38 12,019 20,930 6,515 31 Texas 325,571 47 359,599 NA 3,213,22 3,359,66 Nation 5 58 6 NA *No AP exams offered. ** Values less than 5 are masked. Table 2: HISD 2010–2011 Middle School AP Participation and Number and Percent of Exams Scored at 3 or Higher 2010 2011 Number Number Number Number Number of Exams Number of Exams Taking Exams Scored % Scored Taking Exams Scored % Scored School Exams Taken 3+ 3+ Exams Taken 3+ 3+ Attucks Middle ** ** ** ** * * * * Burbank Middle 83 83 61 73 86 86 50 58 Clifton Middle ** ** ** ** * * * * Cullen Middle ** ** ** ** * * * * E-STEM MS 59 59 ** ** * * * * Jackson Middle 8 8 ** ** 8 8 ** ** Johnston Middle 27 27 22 81 24 24 22 92 Lanier Middle 19 19 17 89 11 11 9 82 Long Middle 45 45 28 62 22 22 9 41 Pershing Middle ** ** ** ** 19 19 16 84 Pin Oak MS * * * * 21 21 12 57 Proj.Chrysalis * * * * 24 24 22 92 Revere Middle * * * * 1 1 ** ** Sharpstown MS 17 17 15 88 17 17 12 71 West Briar MS 17 17 16 94 14 14 13 93 Wharton Acad. 18 18 ** ** HISD MS 280 280 166 59 265 265 173 65 *No AP exams offered. ** Values less than 5 are masked.