<p>Massachusetts students in the class of 2010 outpaced the national average (16.9 percent of seniors scored a 3 or higher on an AP exam) and came in just behind the top performing states of Maryland (26.4 percent), New York (24.6 percent), Virginia (23.7 percent), and Connecticut (23.2 percent).</p>
<p>I just grabbed this from a report I googled as an illustration. I think it would be smart to also get an understanding of how kids nationally do on AP testing as well as how well kids in your state do. This might bolster your quest. 20 out of 90 students (as you mentioned in your post) if a “real” fact, is out pacing the national average and there’s no guarantee that those 20 students are the best and the brightest…it was one sampling of one AP test so it’s just a surface glimpse. If you really are simply interested in enrichment for a small fraction of your school’s students you might have more success/traction trying to organize some of those kids’ parents and look for opportunities or a work group for parents/students etc. The school may also be reluctant to clarify who the “top students” are…I know in our school they would not release that information and don’t even do the calculations for “senior scholars” until mid-late spring of senior year. I’m guessing they would release aggregate info on AP scores, but then again that would be a hodgepodge of sophomores, juniors and seniors. Just my opinion. </p>
<p>The composition of your school would be important also. There is published data on income levels, educational levels, how your school fares data-wise with other schools in neighboring districts…things that will clarify how your district is composed which can impact the services that the school needs to provide as well as the general make-up of the student body and all these things would be good to know before you go in and “ask” for potentially priviledged information private or not. Finally you would be smart to understand the opportunities within your state public universities…you would need a compelling rationale why it is “better” in general for these kids to look further than their public system. This would hold true for states like California, Texas, Virginia, Michigan and many others I haven’t even mentioned that have world class or near world class public universities…</p>
<p>I really enjoy reading the experiences of other parents. I’ve written fairly often about our local public. Ask a question at a Board of Education meeting? Nope, those are closed to parents … “We broadcast them on Public Access TV.” Info from the Guidance Department? Not even your own child’s records … not without pressing. Colleges students have been accepted to? Only for the top ten students … and then only for the colleges they will be attending. Colleges students have been rejected from? No. Naviance? YES!!! But I haven’t found a single parent whose student has been granted access. The school profile is probably public, but that doesn’t mean you can walk into the office and grab one (like you can at ANY of our local private high schools).</p>
<p>I know it sounds like I’m making this up … but I’m not. My point is that school systems vary widely. So keep trying different approaches until you get what you need. The fact that your child attends your public HS means the high school is probably pretty good, and good high schools tend to have good staffs.</p>
<p>A school district need not compile a record to comply with a FOIL request. But if the record exists, they must comply (assuming privacy of kids isn’t breeched )</p>
<p>"I really enjoy reading the experiences of other parents. I’ve written fairly often about our local public. Ask a question at a Board of Education meeting? Nope, those are closed to parents … “We broadcast them on Public Access TV.” "</p>
<p>Wow, you aren’t allowed to attend board meetings? That doesn’t seem legal - they are the board spending your tax dollars. How can they meet in secret, aren’t they acting on behalf of the parents and tax payers in the district???</p>
<p>Bappy1 - Yes, the report is called The College Board Summary Report. The report gives the scores for each individual high school. The report lists what AP classes were offered (not every AP course listed in our school’s catalog is offered every year - something I didn’t know until I saw a copy of the report), and the report gives a breakdown of the scores received. No individual student names are listed, although I think I remember that the teachers’ names are listed. Our public high school is listed every year in Newsweek’s expanded list of the “top public high schools” and our public schools make a big deal of touting this fact. What the school won’t mention is the fact that the year I requested the report, 89% of the students received a “1” on the AP Calc exam, and the highest score of “3” was achieved by only one student. While AP scores may not tell the whole story, I do think that they do provide some indication to parents about the quality of the programs/teacher instruction.</p>
<p>snowbeltmom - I have another question. You say that the Summary Report report provides the scores for each individual high school. This suggests that the report you received provides stats for multiple schools. Is that correct? If so, what set of schools are covered in the report you received? I wonder if this is a school report, district report or state level report. If district or state then maybe I should address my request to those organizations.</p>
<p>Bappy1 - Sorry my post wasn’t more clear; the report was for our local high school only. If I would have wanted to see the AP scores for a neighboring public school district, I would have had to call that specific school to request their results. Our district only has one high school. I don’t know how the College Board compiles the data if a district has more than one high school, whether the schools are merged into one report, or whether each individual high school’s stats are listed in a separate report. </p>
<p>Another possibility would be to call the College Board directly and see if they will mail/e-mail copies of your high school’s AP results for the last few years to you directly.</p>
<p>Thanks snowbeltmom. You have given me a bit more to work with. I contacted College Board directly without success earlier. I might try again now that I know the official report name that I need. I will also try my daughter’s school again as well as the district office.</p>
<p>It is great that you want to help these students.
You should know, though, that some districts do not want to publicize the results from the “better” school because they do not want the other schools to “look bad”, and they do not want the complaints and repurcussions from people whose kids go to those other schools. Many times, people start jumping up and down about “inequity” and so forth. (My theory is that the “inequity” is often taking place in infancy and parenting practices, not in resources for schools in the same district that rely on funding formulas to determine how resources are allocated. Inequity between districts is another matter, of course.)</p>