Warsaw School Board Hears About Advanced Placement, Dual Credit
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David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
In her first presentation to the Warsaw School Board as chief accountability officer, Dani Barkey Monday gave some good news on Advanced Placement and dual credit data. “Our results this year were spectacular,” she said. AP is a program in the United States and Canada, supported by the College Board, which offers college-level curricula and examinations to high school students. A student who earns a 3, 4 or 5 on the exam receives college credit. Barkey said the College Board offers 38 AP classes, 15 of which are offered at Warsaw Community High School and Warsaw Area Career Center. Dual credit comes from agreements between high schools and post-secondary education institutions. A high school student enrolls in a college course and earns high school and college credit simultaneously. Barkey said dual credit is on the increase across the country. WCS offers more than 70 dual credit classes. She broke down the number of AP tests taken in 2014 by subject. The largest number of tests, 84, was taken in English language and composition, up by six from the previous year; English literature and composition, 71, up by 36; U.S. government and politics, 56, up by six; and U.S. history, 53, down by 49 from the previous year. While the total number of AP students increased from 66 in 2009 to 275 in 2013, it dropped to 221 in 2014. Likewise, the number of AP exams taken increased from 94 in 2009 to 453 to 2013, and only slightly dropped to 429 in 2014. The number of students earning a 3 or higher on the AP exams has continued to increase, from 35 in 2009 to 151 in 2014. Barkey showed that in 2014, WCS’s AP pass rate was over 60 percent, compared to Indiana’s rate of over 40 percent and the global rate of over 50 percent. “We really knocked Indiana out of the water,” she said. Some suggestions she offered for WCS to improve on AP included encouraging teachers to participate in ongoing professional development and refresher AP course trainings, having difficult conversations about scores and improvement strategies and encouraging collaboration between the AP teachers and other districts. On dual credit, Barkey said 331 seniors earned college credit, which was over 63 percent. A total of 717 students earned college credit. Of the 4,144 college credits earned, 2,709 were earned through WACC and 1,435 through WCHS. In other business, the school board heard: • WACC was awarded a $350,000 grant by The Center for Education and Career Innovations, as previously reported in the July 3 newspaper. The grant will be used to create “cutting-edge curriculum and purchase state-of the-art equipment, allowing students to acquire the current workplace skills needed for today’s advanced manufacturing companies,” according to information provided. • An anonymous donation of $2,500 was given to the Warsaw Robotics Club. The donor also is providing a matching grant of up to $600. • Heard WCS reopened its online pre-registration process for the 2014-15 school year through Friday. Online pre-registration can be completed by logging on to PowerSchool and registering each WCS student. This process must be completed before final registration, which will take place from 1 to 5 p.m. July 30; 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. July 31; and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aug. 1 in each school building. Families that have not pre-registered by Friday will have to go through the pre-registration process at the building before moving into the final registration lines. First day for students is Aug. 12. • Heard from Superintendent Dr. David Hoffert that there’s been a lot of interest in school corporation transfers to WCS. Hoffert said he’s predicting the enrollment numbers will be higher than last year. Parents can pick up information on transferring and the application to Warsaw Schools at any of the schools, website or the central office. • Heard from Hoffert that the half-day kindergarten program is set. Twenty-four students were registered for the program, which will be at Washington STEM Academy. Everyone on the waiting list was admitted, but if any other parents want to sign their child up for the half-day program, they will have to be put on the waiting list. • Heard the Mobile STEM Lab bus is in its finishing stages. An announcement for a ribbon-cutting ceremony will be announced very quickly, Hoffert reported.
