Advanced placement teachers learn how to improve technique at camp
Teachers wear T-shirts that say "Fear the Fractal" and shake and twist to teach statistics.
"If you’re on a nerd quest, you’ve come to the right place," said biology teacher Jennifer Miyashiro at a summer camp for high school instructors of advanced placement classes.
For those who don’t run with the nerd herd, a fractal is a structure that can be reduced into smaller parts which look like copies of the whole, such as a sliver of broccoli looking like a miniature of the broccoli flower head.
Josh Tabor, a statistics teacher from Oro Valley, Ariz., created a dance to demonstrate an extreme range in values. He performed it for other statistics instructors at the camp at Del Sol High School, near McLeod Drive and Patrick Lane.
"Hopefully, they will use it in their classes. It adds nerdy credibility," Tabor said.
"If you can show yourself as a real person and not be afraid to embarrass yourself, (the students are) more appreciative," Tabor explained. "I don’t have a dance for many other concepts, unfortunately. Kids will ask, ‘Do you have a dance for this? Do you have a dance for that?’ "
Getting the swagger to teach college-level courses was the purpose of the four-day camp last week, but local instructors are also bolstered by statistics showing more students are taking advanced placement courses and passing the College Board exams to qualify for college credits.
In 2009-10, the most recent data available, the local number of College Board test takers grew by 10 percent to 6,991. They took a total of 11,949 tests, 9 percent more than in 2008-09 . Students scored high enough on 5,418 of the tests — an increase of nearly 13 percent over the previous year — to qualify for credit at most universities.
The overall passing rate, however, has declined from 57 percent for 2001-02 to 45 percent for 2009-10. Educators said the percentage decline is to be expected because more students are taking more tests.
‘MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION’
Educators are pleased that the raw numbers of students passing and taking the tests are going up.
"The data is moving in the right direction," said Jennifer Peterson, an assistant principal at Sunrise Mountain High School and organizer of the AP camp at Del Sol. "When everything is going up in alignment, that’s what the data is supposed to show," Peterson said.
David Thiel , coordinator of mathematics for the Clark County School District, said the local passing rate on AP exams is in line with national averages. By definition, the tests are supposed to be difficult because they’re for college credit.
If more students were passing, "they would make the tests harder," Peterson said.
The College Board exams are typically three hours long and vary in what’s required of students. Art students must submit a portfolio of their work. Foreign language students must make an audio recording of themselves speaking the language.
The reward for a high score is that students can skip an introductory-level course and start at a higher level in college. They could finish their degrees faster and save thousands of dollars in college tuition.
GETTING SUBJECT OUT OF THE WAY
Some students, however, are just happy to be done with a subject.
"There are definitely some kids who are extremely excited (about passing) an AP exam because they know they never have to take a math exam again in their life," Tabor said.
Because 16,669 students took AP courses in the Clark County School District in 2009-10, the percentage of students taking the optional College Board was relatively small at 42 percent.
Educators note the national exam is optional and not necessary for the class grade. Because it’s a nondistrict exam in which results are not known until mid-July, local teachers don’t factor it into their students’ letter grades.
EXPENSE A FACTOR
Probably the biggest barrier for students is the expense. There is an $87 fee per College Board exam. Schools raise donations to pay students’ test fees. There are waivers based on a student’s family income.
But if a student is taking three or four AP classes, it can be prohibitively expensive to take all the tests. Many students just concentrate on the tests they think they have the best chance of passing, teachers said.
Regardless of outcome on the tests, colleges are impressed by students who take the more demanding classes.
"They would rather see a student get a C in a tough class than an A in a fluff class," said Rebecca Reichenbach, an AP biology teacher at West Prep Academy.
Students are usually recommended by teachers and guidance counselors for AP classes, but the classes are open to any student who wants to take them, Peterson said.
REACHING OUT TO MINORITIES
While minority participation is improving, Caucasians and Asians take the local College Board tests in the highest numbers. White students account for about 34 percent of district enrollment and represented about 40 percent of AP test takers in 2009-10. Asians account for about 10 percent of district enrollment and represented 22 percent of the test takers.
Educators said they’re reaching out to minorities.
Efforts at West Prep parallel the outreach shown in the 1988 movie "Stand and Deliver," which is about disadvantaged students at an east Los Angeles high school who earn college credit on their calculus AP exam.
Like the school in the movie, West Prep, near Martin Luther King and Lake Mead boulevards, serves mostly minority students. The students were given a summer course in pre-calculus to prepare them for calculus. The instructor, Steve Leibowitz, began teaching as a second career after retiring as a software engineer.
"I tell Steve he’s our Jaime Escalante," said West Prep Principal Mike Barton, referring to the Los Angeles math teacher portrayed in "Stand and Deliver."
Leibowitz has high hopes for his seven students who took the AP exam.
"If you give these kids a chance, they can produce," Leibowitz said. "They grew tremendously" over the past year.
To get an early look at her AP score, one of his students, Antanasia Jones, 16, paid an $8 fee on Friday to see the results before they will be released to her school later this month.
She scored a 4 on a scale of 5, which should qualify her for credit at most colleges. Jones, a senior in the fall, said she has set her sights on a number of universities, including Stanford and the University of Denver.
She is not sure what she will study, but it will involve math. "It’s one my strengths," Jones said. She said her AP class gave her confidence a boost.
"It makes me feel like I can handle some of the things they’re going to give me in college," Jones said.
Contact reporter James Haug at jhaug @reviewjournal.com or 702-374-7917.
