Federal grant helps students excel in classes at college level

The number of Hawaii public school students taking Advanced Placement courses has increased by more than 50 percent over the past five years, and officials are looking to continue that growth by attracting more low-income students to the rigorous classes.

With a three-year, $1.9 million federal grant, the Department of Education is beefing up training for AP teachers and offering extra help for students at 24 high schools that serve low-income communities.

The underlying hope is that more students will earn college credit through AP exams — and that students who might not have considered college as an option will begin seeing themselves as college material.

The new services for students include "brain camps" that give potential AP participants instruction on the types of study habits that the tough courses require. Students at the 24 high schools have also had Saturday prep sessions, where they can take full mock tests.

Anna Viggiano, a DOE educational specialist, said the mission is to attract more low-income students to AP courses while also making sure there are "safety nets" for them so they don’t fall through the cracks.

The number of Hawaii students taking AP courses has steadily increased over the past several years. In the 2011-12 school year, 4,530 students took AP courses, according to preliminary counts. That’s an increase of more than 1,000 students from two years earlier.

In the 2007-08 school year, 2,932 students took AP courses.

Also, the DOE said, many students are taking more than one AP course. In the 2011-12 school year, students took 6,686 AP exams, up by 873 exams from the previous year, when 5,813 exams were taken.

Data on how students performed on the exams last school year have not yet been released. In the 2010-11 school year, 41 percent of exams taken by Hawaii public school students were scored at 3 or better, compared with 42 percent the year before. Students who score a 3 or above can get college credit for courses at many universities. The top score is 5.

Viggiano said even those students who don’t get AP college credit will benefit from taking AP courses by getting access to class material that’s similar to what they would encounter in an average college class.

The DOE is enlarging its AP programs thanks to a federal grant awarded last year. Viggiano said getting the money in the second and third years of the grant is contingent on the department meeting its goals in beefing up AP offerings, training and help.

The DOE expects to get the second-year dispersal of grant funds.

Among the 24 schools the DOE is working with on the grant is Farrington High, which hadn’t had an AP program before the 2011-12 school year. The school’s first two AP courses, language arts and calculus, attracted about 25 students each, the school said.

In language arts, 10 students passed the exam to earn college credit.

In calculus, six did.

When the scores came in, "We really celebrated as a staff," said Farrington High Principal Al Carganilla. The school added AP courses, he said, because it wanted to send the message that "we have high expectations and we believe students are capable" of passing.

Farrington added biology and social studies to its AP lineup this year.