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A+ College Ready Names 10 Huntsville City And Madison County Schools To Benefit From A $6.9 Million |
Governor Bob Riley and State School Superintendent Joe Morton were in Huntsville to make the
announcement to an audience of business leaders, educators and students.
“Alabama and the rest of the United States
face critical workforce shortages in the areas of math and science,” said
Governor Riley. “This partnership between The Schools Foundation, A+
College Ready and the schools will help ensure that Alabama students are prepared to succeed in
these subjects when they get to college.”
The seven high schools in the Madison County Schools and Huntsville City
Schools that will participate in the Advanced Placement Training and Incentive
Program are:
Buckhorn, Hazel Green, Madison County and Sparkman High Schools in the Madison
County School District; and Columbia, Huntsville High and Lee in the Huntsville
City School District.
Additionally, three high schools - New Hope
High School in Madison
County and Butler
and J.O. Johnson
High Schools in Huntsville City
- were selected to participate as Laying the Foundation Pre-AP program
schools. These schools and their feeder middle schools will institute a
training and incentive program designed to increase the number of students
engaged in Honors and Pre-AP coursework.
For the 2009-2010 school year, the selected high schools are projected to:
• Increase enrollment in AP Courses in mathematics, science
and English (MSE) by 129 percent
• Increase the number of AP courses offered by the schools by
64 percent
• More than double the number of qualifying scores students
receive on AP exams – increasing from 260 this year to 585 qualifying scores
after the first year of the initiative.
A+ College Ready will invest $4 million in training and incentives for these
ten schools over the next five years. When commitments by the state,
district and local business community are included, the total investment is
$6.9 million. The Schools Foundation is spearheading the fund drive to raise
$1.2 million to support the Huntsville
area expansion of the Advanced Placement program.
“College readiness for our youth is critical to the continued growth and
success of our community,” Tony Jones, Vice President, Boeing Huntsville Site Executive said. Boeing
is a lead sponsor for A+, having pledged $500,000 for the program. “We need
excellence in education to strengthen our high-tech workforce and to attract
new scientists, engineers, and leaders into aerospace. Our students
deserve the opportunity to pursue their personal and professional ambitions
that a strong education can provide. A+ won our support because it
provides opportunities, strengthens our teacher and mentor capabilities, and is
founded on the concept of accountability. We are honored to support this
tremendous initiative within our community. Our schools are excellent,
and they can be even better with the rigor and discipline of this
program.”
Program schools will receive training and incentives to help them expand their
AP programs. AP teachers will attend weeklong Summer Institutes,
get coaching from experienced and successful AP teachers and receive stipends
to compensate them for the extra time and work involved in teaching AP.
Financial incentives based on academic results will be available to teachers,
students and school leaders. Students can earn $100 for each qualifying score
on a math, science or English AP exam, and teachers will receive $100 for each
of their students who earn qualifying scores.
“Thanks to this exciting public-private partnership, teachers and students who
step up to the challenge of Advanced Placement classes will get the resources
and support they need to be successful. There is much to celebrate today,” said
Joe Morton, State Superintendent of Education.
The 10 schools announced today will join a network of A+ College Ready AP
Program schools that will include 80 schools over the next five years
throughout the state and many more across the country.
A+ College Ready, a division of the A+ Education Partnership, was
created with a $13.2 million grant from the National Math and Science
Initiative (NMSI) to implement a proven Advanced Placement training and
incentive initiative in public schools throughout Alabama. Key leadership
involved in launching and supporting A+ College Ready included the Governor,
the State Superintendent of Education, the Alabama Power Foundation, The Alabama
Math, Science and Technology Education Coalition, Regions Financial Corporation
and ExxonMobil Corporation. For more information, please visit
www.apluscollegeready.org
The National Math and Science Initiative was formed to address the
declining numbers of students equipped for careers in math and science, a trend
posing a great economic and intellectual threat to the nation. The
Advanced Placement Training and Incentive Program has three main goals: To
increase the number of students enrolled in Advanced Placement math, science
and English courses; to increase the number of students earning qualifying
scores on AP exams in those subject areas; and to increase the number of
students attending and graduating from college with degrees in math and science.
NMSI's primary donors are the ExxonMobil Corporation, the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation, and the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. For more
information, please visit www.nationalmathandscience.org
The Schools Foundation is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization whose
mission is to create higher expectations and widespread community support for
the three public school systems in Madison County Alabama, leading to
world-class performance of principals, teachers and students. The
foundation serves as an advocate and leading organization for community
engagement, as well as a vehicle for individuals and businesses to support
public education. The Schools Foundation donors for this initiative
include The Boeing Company, Science Applications International Corporation, RBC
Bank, AZ Technology, Redstone Federal Credit Union, System Studies and
Simulation, Inc., ERC, Inc., Compass Bank, Belzon, First Commercial Bank, WILL
Technology, Inc., Westar, COLSA Corporation, and Public FA, Inc. For more
information, please visit www.theschoolsfoundation.org
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