Lamar CISD is one of 425 school districts in the U.S. and Canada – and one of only 25 in Texas -- being honored by the College Board with placement on the 6th Annual AP® District Honor Roll.
The award is given for increasing access to Advanced Placement course work while simultaneously maintaining or increasing the percentage of students earning scores of 3 or higher on AP Exams. Reaching these goals indicates that a district is successfully identifying motivated, academically prepared students who are ready for the opportunity of AP. Since 2013, Lamar CISD had to increase the number of students participating in AP while also increasing or maintaining the number of students earning AP Exam scores of 3 or higher to be included on the 6th Annual Honor Roll.
“I’m proud of our students, as well as the teachers and staff members who helped to make this national honor a reality,” said Lamar CISD Superintendent Dr. Thomas Randle. “We’re working very hard in Lamar CISD to expand opportunities for our students to take Advanced Placement coursework along with other rigorous curriculum.”
National data from 2015 show only about half of African American, Hispanic and Native American students with a high degree of readiness for AP are participating in Advanced Placement classes. The first step to delivering the opportunity of AP is providing access by ensuring courses are available and the doors are equitably opened so these students can participate.
Helping more students learn at a higher level and earn higher AP scores is an objective of all members of the AP community, from AP teachers to district and school administrators to college professors. In 2015, more than 3,800 colleges and universities around the world received AP scores for college credit, advanced placement, and/or consideration in the admission process, with many colleges and universities in the United States offering credit in one or more subjects for qualifying AP scores.
Inclusion on the 6th Annual AP District Honor Roll is based on the examination of three years of AP data, from 2013 to 2015, looking across 34 AP Exams, including world language and culture. The following criteria were used.
Districts must:
• Increase participation/access to AP by at least four percent in large districts, at least six percent in medium districts and at least 11 percent in small districts;
• Increase or maintain the percentage of exams taken by black/African American, Hispanic/Latino and American Indian/Alaska Native students; and
• Improve or maintain performance levels when comparing the 2015 percentage of students scoring a 3 or higher to the 2013 percentage, unless the district has already attained a performance level at which more than 70 percent of its AP students are scoring a 3 or higher.
When these outcomes have been achieved among an AP student population in which 30 percent or more are underrepresented minority students (African American, Hispanic/Latino, American Indian/Alaska Native) and/or 30 percent or more are low-income students (students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch), the achievement is noted by a symbol on the list of honor roll districts.