STATUS OF IOWA ONLINE AP ACADEMY AUGUST 2016
Prepared by
Kristin Flanary, M.A., Iowa Online AP Academy Administrator
Brian Douglas, M.B.A., Assistant Director for Finance, Operations, and Technology Susan Assouline, Ph.D., Belin-Blank Center Director Overview of IOAPA 2001-2016 Since its inception in 2001, the Iowa Online AP Academy (IOAPA) has had a significant, positive impact on the landscape of advanced course taking opportunities for Iowa’s highly capable high school students. Because of the online format of the coursework and supporting materials, geography is no longer a barrier for opportunity for challenge. The funding that supports the Belin-Blank Center infrastructure for IOAPA has led to: 1. More students registering for Advanced Placement (AP) classes; 2. More students benefitting from the online exam review; 3. More teachers receiving professional development through the Advanced Placement Teacher Training Institute; 4. Development of the Iowa AP Index, which ranks the top 50 schools according to the number of AP exams administered annually; 5. Implementation of AP preparation opportunities for middle school students. 1
AP PARTICIPATION IN IOWA: A REPORT OF THE IOWA ONLINE ADVANCED PLACEMENT ACADEMY 2001-2016 TABLE OF CONTENTS
About the Report ............................................................................................................................................................................3 Introduction......................................................................................................................................................................................3 Iowa Student Participation in AP .............................................................................................................................................4 Iowa Student Performance on the AP Exam ........................................................................................................................4
Highlights of IOAPA ....................................................................................................................................................................... 6 Online AP and AP-preparatory coursework through IOAPA ..............................................................................6 2015-2016 school participation in IOAPA .................................................................................................................7
Online AP exam review......................................................................................................................................................9 Professional development ................................................................................................................................................9 Support for Middle School Students .......................................................................................................................... 10
Support for IOAPA Schools ........................................................................................................................................... 12
Summary of 2015 – 2016 ......................................................................................................................................................... 13 On the Horizon.............................................................................................................................................................................. 13 Computer Science courses and partnership with Edhesive ............................................................................. 13 Broadening the curriculum options for middle school students ................................................................... 14 Research/Evaluation program .................................................................................................................................... 14 Creating an online community for IOAPA mentors and students.................................................................. 14 Collaboration with Iowa STEM Excellence and Leadership (SEAL) ............................................................. 14
Selected Resources .................................................................................................................................................................... 15 Appendix A: Timeline of history and funding of IOAPA .............................................................................................. 16 Appendix B: AP Participation vs. Dual Enrollment .................................................................................................... 177
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About the Report
The annual IOAPA report serves to highlight the progress of the Advanced Placement (AP) Program in the state of Iowa. Although the report is a product of the Iowa Online Advanced Placement Academy (IOAPA), and presents cumulative information about IOAPA, there is much general information about the AP program. This report is divided into several sections. The main body of the report presents pertinent data for AP in Iowa and the Iowa Online Advanced Placement Academy. Appendix A offers a useful snapshot of the history of the funding and implementation of IOAPA.
The maps on pages 9-10 reveal the widespread impact of IOAPA on the state of Iowa.
Iowa students have a reputation for excellent performance on standardized tests such as the Iowa Assessments and college entrance exams such as the ACT and SAT. Iowa’s students also stand out in their performance in the College Board’s Advanced Placement (AP) Program.
Special thanks to Katie Schabilion, the Iowa Online AP Academy’s graduate assistant, and Emily Ladendorf, the Belin-Blank Center’s Administrator for Technology and PR, for their assistance with data collection.
Introduction
The College Board’s AP Program allows students to pursue college-level studies and take college-level exams while in high school. In May 2015 (most recent data available), almost 2.5 million students across the country took 4.5 million AP Exams in 36 subjects. AP exams provide a uniform standard of academic accomplishment across geography, economic status, ethnicity, and school size. Students can earn college credit or advanced placement in college courses with a qualifying AP Exam score at thousands of colleges and universities. An AP Exam score of 5 is considered top-level work in a corresponding college course; many colleges and universities recognize an exam score of 3 with college credit or advanced placement in college courses. AP courses and exams help students experience college-level academics now, while they’re still in high school, better preparing them for the rigor of college courses. The exams also allow students to save time and money once they get to college, providing them with more study options and allowing them to move directly into upper-level courses in their field of interest. Research indicates that students who participate in the AP Program: • Stand out in the college admissions process. • Earn academic scholarships and awards from colleges and universities. • Perform as well or better in upper-level courses in the content area of their AP course(s). • Earn higher GPAs in college. • Have higher college graduation rates and are more likely to graduate college in four years or fewer.
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Iowa Student Participation in AP
At the beginning of the 21st century, Iowa’s students were limited in opportunities for AP courses and exams because of the large numbers of rural and small schools. According to the National Center of Education Statistics, 69.9% percent of public school districts in Iowa are in rural communities. Approximately 42% of all public school districts in the state of Iowa have a K-12 enrollment of 599 or less. It is not cost effective to offer AP courses in rural and small schools because of too-small class sizes. As a result, a culture of knowledge about and appreciation for AP continues to be developed in these schools. In response to the inequitable access to AP coursework, the University of Iowa’s Belin-Blank Center for Gifted Education has made a concerted effort since 2001, through the Iowa Online Advanced Placement Academy (IOAPA), to bring AP and advanced learning opportunities to all high schools in Iowa. IOAPA has a special focus on serving rural and small high schools so that Iowa geography does not determine educational opportunity.
IOAPA’s program opportunities for Iowa students, teachers, and schools started with federal funding awarded to the Belin-Blank Center through the Iowa Department of Education. For nearly ten years, IOAPA was funded primarily through federal dollars. A timeline of funding is presented in Appendix A.
The College Board has documented that Iowa student participation in the AP program has risen dramatically in Iowa since 2001, when IOAPA was implemented. Table 1. Growth of AP opportunities in Iowa from 2001 – 2015 (most recent data available) IA high schools offering at least 1 AP exam
AP exams taken by IA students
IA students taking AP exams
2001
156
5,995
4,069
2005
213
8,986
6,047
2014
220
18,860
12,029
2015
202
19,787
12,449
Iowa Student Performance on the AP Exam
Iowa student performance on the AP exam has improved considerably during the last decade. In 2005, 8.9% of graduates earned a score of 3 or better on at least one AP exam that year. Ten years later, 16.8% of 2015 graduates (most recent data available), earned a score of 3 or better on at least one 2015 AP exam. In fact, more 2015 Iowa graduates earned a score of 3 or better on at least one 2015 AP exam (5,188 graduates), than the total number of Iowa graduates even taking an AP exam ten years before (4,439 students in 2005).
Figure 1 (p. 5) shows 2015 AP exam participation and performance for the state of Iowa. This figure reveals that Iowa’s AP participation is low (Figure 1a), but when students in Iowa do participate in AP testing, they outperform students nationally (Figure 1b and c). In 2015, only 8.1% of Iowa’s high school students took AP exams (12,449 exam takers out of 153,576 total high school students). These students earned scores of 3 or better on 62.9% of their AP exams (compared to 57.5% nationally), and their mean score as a group was 2.96 (compared to 2.82 nationally). 4
Figure 1. AP exam participation and performance for Iowa students 2015 (most recent data available) A) Iowa Students Taking 2015 AP Exams
B) Iowa 2015 AP Exams Scored 3+
8.1%
62.9% IA AP Exams Passed (3+)
% IA Students Not Taking AP Exams
IA AP Exams Not Passed
% IA Students Taking AP Exams
C) AP Exams Scored 3+ Since 2005 80 70 60
Percent
50 40 30 20 10 0
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
Iowa
2010
USA
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Iowa’s participation in AP has doubled over the past decade, although it remains relatively low. Appendix B, “AP Participation vs. Dual Enrollment,” provides additional information about a growing issue related to AP participation. Namely, more students who earn college credit during the high school years are currently pursuing dual enrollment through community colleges, rather than AP courses, despite the fact that the rigor of the AP Program more closely matches the level of 4-year university courses. IOAPA plays an important role in continuing to offer more Iowa students and their teachers’ access to AP experiences. 5
HIGHLIGHTS OF IOAPA Online AP and AP-preparatory coursework through IOAPA
IOAPA is perhaps best known throughout Iowa for offering online, College Board-audited AP courses to students in accredited public and non-public high schools. While access to AP courses is important and necessary, access alone is insufficient if students are not receiving preparation in earlier years to succeed in AP courses. This year, IOAPA expanded its course offerings to include accelerated, high school-level, APpreparatory courses available to all eligible Iowa middle school students. The students receive academic challenge commensurate to their abilities and simultaneously prepare for future AP coursework. Eligibility guidelines include a score in the 95th percentile or above on a grade-level exam (e.g., Iowa Assessments) in addition to a score in the 50th percentile or above on an above-level exam (e.g., I-Excel for 4th6th grades; see “Support for Middle School Students”).
In 2015-16, IOAPA delivered AP and AP-preparatory courses using digital curriculum from Apex Learning and Redbird Advanced Learning. • •
12,416 semester enrollments have been completed by Iowa students, through IOAPA, since its inception in 2001. In the 2015-2016 academic year:
o 13 two-semester (9 high school, 4 middle school) and 8 one-semester (4 high school, 4 middle school) online courses were offered through IOAPA. Fourteen courses offered (66%) are STEM or STEM-related courses. These courses are marked with an asterisk. AP courses included: Biology*, Calculus AB*, Chemistry*, English Language & Composition, English Literature & Composition, Macroeconomics*, Microeconomics*, Psychology*, Spanish, Statistics*, U.S. Government & Politics, and U.S. History. We also offered Advanced Honors Computer Science* (not an AP course) for high school students.
Above-level middle school courses included: Algebra I (Honors)*, Biology (Honors)*, Creative Writing, Geometry (Honors)*, Physical Science (Honors)*, Probability and Statistics*, Psychology*, and U.S. History to the Civil War (Honors).
o 503 Iowa students (89 middle school, 414 high school), from 115 Iowa school districts (101 public, 14 nonpublic) enrolled in 657 IOAPA semester enrollments. The content area breakdown for 657 active and complete semester enrollments is depicted in Figure 2 (below).
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Figure 2. 2015-2016 IOAPA enrollment by discipline
World Languages, 10, 1% Math & Computer Science, 114, 17%
Social Science, 261, 40%
Science, 51, 8% History, 63, 10% English, 158, 24%
o The course completion rate was 94.5%. (Retention rate for all online learning opportunities is 20%-50% nationally.)
o Passing rate, determined by the grade earned by the students who completed a course, has been between 87-96% each year. Partnerships with schools and active mentors are the key to this high level of success. The overall passing rate for all courses was 87.9% in Fall 2015 and 89.8% in Spring 2016. (These are weighted averages to account for uneven sample sizes, with a much smaller group of MS students than HS students.)
HS students passed courses at a consistently high rate (90.7% in Fall 2015 and 90.1% in Spring 2016). Middle school students’ performance improved over the course of the year, with a passing rate of 72.1% in Fall 2015 rising to 87.9% in Spring 2016.
2015-2016 school participation in IOAPA •
In 2015-2016, 130 schools, in 60 of Iowa’s 99 counties, were IOAPA-registered schools. This total includes 106 high schools and 24 middle schools.
Figure 3 (below) maps IOAPA participation by county, both in terms of (A) the number of schools registered with IOAPA and (B) the number of students taking classes through IOAPA.
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Figure 3. 2015-2016 IOAPA registered schools and number of IOAPA students by county (A)
(B)
Table 2 reports the percentage of public and nonpublic school participation in IOAPA, according to K – 12 student population of the enrolled schools’ districts. The data suggest there is still work to be done to bring advanced courses to Iowa schools, especially for small schools.
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Table 2. Percentage of School Participation in IOAPA < 300
300-599
600-999
1,000-2,499
2,500-7,499
7,500+
Percent of Total IOAPA Schools
5.4
17.7
16.9
35.4
16.2
7.7
Percent of Total Iowa Schools
14.9
26.6
25.0
23.9
6.5
3.0
Online AP exam review •
•
•
•
IOAPA also covers the cost of the registration for online AP Exam Review through Apex Learning. Registration for AP Exam Review is for students in all AP classes in all Iowa accredited schools, not just those in IOAPA courses. However, schools must be registered with the IOAPA program before site coordinators can sign students up for the AP Exam Review. AP Exam Review was available for the following AP courses for the 2015-2016 school year: Biology, Calculus AB, Chemistry, English Language & Composition, English Literature & Composition, Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, Psychology, Spanish, Statistics, U.S. Government & Politics, and U.S. History.
In the 2015-2016 school year, there were 1,477 student registrations for online AP Exam Review. IOAPA pays for a student; each student can then enroll in multiple AP Exam Review courses. The total number of exam review modules in which students participated was 1,820. Participation in AP Exam Review by content area for 2015-2016: o English: 373 (20.5%) o Math: 288 (15.8%) o Science: 212 (11.6%) o Social Studies: 941 (51.7%) o World Languages: 6 (0.3%)
Professional development •
• • •
IOAPA provides professional development grants for teachers to participate in the College Boardapproved Advanced Placement Teacher Training Institute (APTTI) at the University of Iowa. Since 2001, 799 IOAPA grants have been distributed for Iowa teachers to attend AP teacher training (APTTI), including 69 grants in July 2016. Since 2001, 2,479 teachers have participated in APTTI, including the 122 teachers who attended APTTI in 2016. All 2016 APTTI participants received AP-preparatory and AP teacher materials, including textbooks from the College Board and other book publishing companies.
All 2016 APTTI participants were offered the opportunity to enroll in courses for University of Iowa credit, through the College of Education, with a 50% tuition scholarship from the Belin-Blank Center: 9
•
o 17 teachers enrolled in a 2-credit-hour course focusing on teacher training for Advanced Placement courses. o 6 teachers enrolled in a 1-credit-hour course focusing on differentiated instruction at the secondary school level.
In 2015, the College of Education began offering Iowa Licensure Renewal Units for successful completion of APTTI, through the support of the Teacher Leader Center. This year, 23 Iowa teachers each earned two Iowa Licensure Renewal Units at APTTI.
Support for Middle School Students •
•
•
•
One of the best ways to determine who is ready for additional academic challenge is through the abovelevel testing model. The Belin-Blank Center's academic talent search program, Belin-Blank Exceptional Student Talent Search (BESTS),—offered in-school, above-level testing for Iowa students in 6th grade, funded through IOAPA. In-school testing was used with 6th graders so schools and parents could use the information to determine readiness for advanced learning opportunities in middle school, thus paving the way to AP participation in high school.
In previous years, and for a portion of the 2015-2016 academic year, BESTS used ACT’s Explore test, originally designed for 8th-grade students, as an above-level test for 4th-6th-grade students. ACT has since discontinued the Explore test. Beginning in April 2016, BESTS began using I-Excel, a new online, above-level test developed by the Belin-Blank Center. I-Excel licenses content developed by ACT that was designed to measure academic progress of junior high students. From that content, the Belin-Blank Center identifies the academic talents of bright 4th-6th-grade students.
In the 2015-2016 school year, 411 6th graders from 28 Iowa schools participated in above-level testing through IOAPA (see Table 3). A total of 270 students took the Explore test and 141 students took IExcel.
Table 3. Middle schools participating in 6 th -grade above-level testing through IOAPA (N = 28) SCHOOL
Mediapolis Elementary School St Albert Catholic Schools Colo Elementary School Winterset Middle School Ames Middle School Nevada Middle School Lewis Central Middle School Southeast Polk Junior High School St Malachy School North Polk Central Elementary School Oskaloosa Middle School PCM Middle School Southeast Webster Junior High Roundy Elementary School CAM Middle School
CITY
Mediapolis Council Bluffs Colo Winterset Ames Nevada Council Bluffs Pleasant Hill Creston Alleman Oskaloosa Prairie City Burnside Columbus Junction Massena
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COUNTY
Des Moines Pottawattamie Story Madison Story Story Pottawattamie Polk Union Polk Mahaska Jasper Webster Louisa Cass
TEST
Explore Explore Explore Explore Explore Explore Explore Explore Explore Explore I-Excel I-Excel I-Excel I-Excel I-Excel
Earlham Elementary School Robert Blue School Ames Homeschool Harlan Community Middle School Vinton-Shellsburg Middle School Orange City Christian School Briggs Elementary School Lenihan Intermediate School Sacred Heart School Louisa-Muscatine Elementary Tri-Center Elementary School Anamosa Middle School West Middle School
•
•
Earlham Eagle Grove Ames Harlan Vinton Orange City Maquoketa Marshalltown Boone Letts Neola Anamosa Sioux City
Madison Wright Story Shelby Benton Sioux Jackson Marshall Boone Louisa Pottawattamie Jones Woodbury
I-Excel I-Excel I-Excel I-Excel I-Excel I-Excel I-Excel I-Excel I-Excel I-Excel I-Excel I-Excel I-Excel
On a scoring scale of 1 to 25, the 6th graders taking Explore or I-Excel scored an average composite score of 17. This score corresponds to an average national percentile ranking (i.e., comparison to 8th graders, the normative group for whom the test was developed) at the 74th percentile. In other words, the highly-able 6th graders who took the Explore or I-Excel test out-performed 8th graders, by doing as well as, or better, than 74% of the 8th grade sample.
These 6th graders were part of a national sample of bright 6th graders who participate in the nationwide elementary student talent search. Iowa’s 6th graders did as well as, or better than, 38% of the national sample of bright 6th graders.
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Support for IOAPA Schools •
•
•
•
•
•
This year, we established a new partnership with online course vendor Edhesive, to offer three new computer science courses: Introduction to Computer Science (grades 6-9), AP Computer Science A (grades 9-12), and AP Computer Science Principles (grades 9-12). These courses will be added to our course catalog and offered to Iowa students for the first time during the 2016-2017 academic year.
This spring, we collected and evaluated program data regarding Fall 2015 student enrollment and performance in IOAPA courses for middle school and for high school. These data were incorporated into two infographics, which break down large amounts of complex information into a visual and easy-tounderstand format. These two infographics are included at the end of this report. We distributed these infographics widely during our 2016-17 fall registration period, in order to help students and teachers make decisions about which IOAPA courses may be a good fit for individual students. We also plan to add Spring 2016 data and produce updated infographics reflecting the full 2015-16 academic year, to be made available in time for the spring 2017 registration period. Our website (www.belinblank.org/ioapa) serves as the central location for spreading awareness and information about the advanced coursework opportunities available to Iowa students through IOAPA. Throughout the 2015-16 academic year, the IOAPA website was updated to increase readability and user-friendliness. In this way, we can better inform and support new, continuing, and prospective IOAPA partners. We debuted a more organized, user-friendly website in time for the fall 2016 registration period, opening mid-April 2016.
We updated the Support Materials section of the IOAPA website to include the aforementioned course infographics. We also used this section of the website to continue distributing an IOAPA Handbook, an informational PowerPoint presentation to help mentors and site coordinators implement IOAPA in their home school districts, and a video introduction of the Apex course instructors. IOAPA regularly uses the Belin-Blank Center blog (http://belinblank.wordpress.com/) and a Twitter account (https://twitter.com/kflanaryIOAPA) to promote student success and retention. Together, these accounts are currently reaching 3,468 followers (3,224 blog followers, 244 Twitter followers). A collection of 2015-2016 IOAPA blog posts is included at the end of this document.
This year’s middle schools offering IOAPA courses to their students were among the first in the state of Iowa to participate in the program. As such, a host of logistical issues needed to be resolved in order for schools and students to have a successful IOAPA experience. In order to support these schools, we published an entire series of blog posts throughout the year, designed to offer potential solutions to these logistical issues, and raise important to consider while setting up IOAPA courses in the middle school. The series can be accessed here: https://belinblank.wordpress.com/2015/12/28/in-case-youmissed-it-ioapa-for-middle-school-students/. (The posts in this series are also included individually within the blog posts at the end of this report.)
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SUMMARY OF 2015 – 2016 The Iowa Online AP Academy (IOAPA) provides four primary areas of activity: 1. online above-level and AP coursework; 2. online AP exam review; 3. professional development about AP courses, provided by College Board Consultants; 4. above-level assessment to provide specific data that aligns readiness for accelerated programming. In 2015-16, IOAPA expanded its offerings to include above-level coursework available to all eligible Iowa middle school students, in order to better prepare Iowa’s students for AP coursework once they reach high school. In 2015 (most recent data available), a greater number of Iowa high school seniors took an AP exam and earned a score of 3 (or higher), than the total number of Iowa students participating in the AP program in 2005. Iowa students who take AP exams continue to out-perform the national average.
Participation in AP programming (coursework, professional development, and exam review) continues to increase in Iowa – and across the nation. IOAPA is an important resource for Iowa’s excellent students and their teachers, because, despite continuous growth, our AP participation remains lower than the national average.
ON THE HORIZON Computer Science courses and partnership with Edhesive
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2012) predicts that computer occupations will grow at a rate of 22.1% between 2010 and 2020, with software developers growing by 32.4%. These jobs will also pay well, with computer and information research scientists expected to earn an annual salary of $100,600. Advanced Placement course enrollment trends reflect this anticipated growth. National enrollment in AP Computer Science A has steadily increased over the past decade. Compared to all other AP courses offered, it has also demonstrated the largest enrollment percent change each year since 2012 (18% in 2012, 19% in 2013, 26% in 2014, 25% in 2015). Despite this national growth, only 10% of Iowa schools teach an AP Computer Science course, the state currently has no K-12 Computer Science curriculum standards, and high schools are not required to offer Computer Science courses (https://code.org/promote/ia). To help fill this gap, IOAPA will partner with online course vendor Edhesive to offer three Computer Science courses, beginning in the 2016-17 academic year. Courses include Introduction to Computer Science (grades 6-9), AP Computer Science A (grades 9-12), and AP Computer Science Principles (grades 9-12). Together, these courses will create the option for Iowa students to develop Computer Science literacy and mastery upon high school graduation, making them more competitive in their future endeavors. These more extensive and cost-effective courses ($85 $150 / student / year) will replace our current Advanced Honors Computer Science course, provided by Redbird Advanced Learning. All Edhesive courses will also come with professional development materials for mentors, along with student and mentor support forums, where participants can interact with other students/mentors and submit questions for course instructional staff to answer. 13
Broadening the curriculum options for middle school students
Through Apex Learning, we will be adding Spanish I (Honors) to our course catalog (grades 6-8), beginning in Fall 2016. It is currently very difficult or impossible for students to complete the prerequisite 3-4 years of high school-level Spanish courses necessary for enrollment in AP Spanish by grade 12. Bright middle school students will now be able to complete the first year of high-school level Spanish before grade 9, placing them on a trajectory to enroll in AP Spanish by grade 12.
Research/Evaluation program
IOAPA began a comprehensive self-study and program review in Spring 2014, which has continued throughout the 2015-2016 academic year. Currently, we are exploring Mentor perceptions of AP courses compared to Concurrent Enrollment courses, in terms of the academic qualities students need for success in these courses, and the preparation they each offer for college. A manuscript on this topic has been written and is being revised for submission to an academic journal. We also plan to examine any barriers that may prevent IOAPA students from taking an AP Exam, in an effort to determine how we might help remove barriers and increase Iowa students’ AP participation and exam scores.
Creating an online community for IOAPA mentors and students
IOAPA is exploring options for creating an online community designed to enable mentors and students to convene virtually for support and discussion. IOAPA students often do not have many other students in their school taking advanced coursework. An online IOAPA community would provide an opportunity for these students to connect with other advanced students across the state to ask questions, discuss coursework in an ungraded and informal format, and provide encouragement to each other. Similarly, mentors often have questions about how to incorporate advanced coursework into their school’s existing curriculum and students’ busy schedules. An online community for IOAPA Mentors would allow them to exchange ideas and information with other IOAPA mentors from within and outside of their school district. Options currently under consideration for these communities include the online learning management platforms Edmodo, Schoology, and Google Classrooms.
Collaboration with Iowa STEM Excellence and Leadership (SEAL)
In 2014, the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, the nation’s largest scholarship organization, awarded the Talent Development Award to the Belin-Blank Center in order to establish the Iowa STEM Excellence and Leadership (SEAL) program. The extracurricular math and science program for high-potential middle-school students from predominately rural, low-income school districts allows students to be better prepared for AP classes offered through IOAPA. IOAPA continues to work with the SEAL program to plan a long-term research project examining the factors that influence such students’ participation, retention, and success in advanced coursework.
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SELECTED RESOURCES Code.org. (n.d.) Support K-12 computer science education in Iowa. https://code.org/advocacy/statefacts/IA.pdf Accessed on: August 12, 2016.
College Board. (2015). National totals: School AP score distributions by total and ethnic group. http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/misc/ap/national-summary-2015.xlsx Accessed on: July 28, 2016.
College Board. (2015). Iowa totals: School AP score distributions by total and ethnic group. http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/misc/ap/iowa-summary-2015.xlsx Accessed on: July 28, 2016. College Board. (2015). Program summary report. https://securemedia.collegeboard.org/digitalServices/pdf/research/2015/Program-Summary-Report-2015.pdf Accessed on: August 12, 2016
Iowa Department of Education. (2015). The Annual Condition of Education Report. https://www.educateiowa.gov/documents/annual-condition-education-report-pk-12/2016/04/annualcondition-education-report-2015 Accessed on: July 28, 2016. McKillip, M.E.M. and A. Rawls. (2013). A closer examination of the academic benefits of AP. The Journal of Educational Research. 106:4. 305-318. DOI: 10.1080/00220671.2012.692732 Theokas and Saaris. (2013). Finding America’s missing AP and IB students. The Education Trust.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2012). Occupational employment projections to 2020. http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2012/01/art5full.pdf Accessed on: August 15, 2015. Wilson, H.E. and J.L. Adelson. (2012). College choices of academically talented secondary students. Journal of Advanced Academics. 23(1). 32-5
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APPENDIX A:
TIMELINE OF HISTORY AND FUNDING OF IOAPA In 2007, IOAPA was selected by the U.S. Department of Education as one of the nation’s top six programs to feature in its report Connecting Students to Advanced Courses Online: Innovations in Education. In November 2009, the Iowa Department of Education released the publication Senior Year Plus: Guide for Educators and Educational Administrators, which was subsequently updated in May 2011. Senior Year Plus was enacted by the Iowa Legislature in 2008 to provide increased and more equal access to college credit and Advanced Placement courses. The Senior Year Plus program (Iowa Code 261E.1) “shall consist of … a. Advanced placement classes” (see Iowa Code 261E.4 for more). The obligation to offer AP courses can be met by encouraging students to participate in IOAPA. The Senior Year Plus program also includes a provision to ensure that AP teachers are appropriately licensed and meet the minimum certification requirements for AP.
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APPENDIX B: AP PARTICIPATION VS. DUAL ENROLLMENT While the AP Program most closely matches the rigor of coursework at a 4-year university, it is only one of several options for students to earn college credit while still in high school. Other options include concurrent enrollment in community college courses and post-secondary enrollment options (PSEO) through community colleges or other institutions of higher education.
Figure 4a reports Iowa student enrollment in these programs; Figure 4b reports the type of institutions through which students choose to enroll in PSEO courses. Figure 4 shows that, while AP participation has been steadily, yet incrementally, increasing since 2001, many thousands of students are choosing community college enrollment. These data demonstrate a need to emphasize the benefits of AP to schools and students for whom more rigorous coursework is appropriate.
Figure 2. Iowa high school student enrollment in college credit programs (A) 45000 40000
Student Enrollment by Program Type
35000 30000 25000 20000 15000 10000
5000 0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Annual IA Student AP program enrollment Concurrent enrollment students enrolled
PSEO Course Enrollment at Comm. Colleges (9-12 graders)
(continued on next page)
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(B)
PSEO Enrollment by Institution Type
12000 10000
8000 6000 4000 2000 0
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
PSEO Course Enrollment at Regents Institutions (9-12 graders) PSEO Course Enrollment at Comm. Colleges (9-12 graders) PSEO Course Enrollment at Private 4-yr (9-12 graders) PSEO Course Enrollment at Private 2-yr (9-12 graders)
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