Education on Centre: Bellefonte Area earns place on honor roll
Bellefonte Area School District is among an elite group of institutions that were honored earlier this year for its Advanced Placement course work.
According to a report from Bellefonte Area High School Principal Jen Brown, the district placed on the College Board’s sixth annual AP District Honor Roll for “significant gains in student access and success.”
“We’re super excited and this is a real honor,” Brown said at the school board meeting Tuesday night.
Brown said Bellefonte Area was among 425 districts in North America to be honored.
Superintendent Cheryl Potteiger said the College Board annually recognizes schools that increased access to AP courses, while students also increased performance scores to a grade 3 or higher.
In 2011, Bellefonte Area offered eight AP courses. This year, 21 AP courses are offered, Potteiger said.
“(That) means a lot of savings for parents in the long run,” Potteiger said.
Students who take AP courses and test with a score of 3 or higher are eligible to earn college credit. Tests are based on a five-point system.
To be included on the sixth annual honor roll, Bellefonte Area School District had to, since 2013, increase the number of students participating in AP courses while also increasing or maintaining the number of students earning AP Exam scores of 3 or higher, the report said.
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, the report said.
Britney Milazzo: 814-231-4648, @M11azzo
College Board AP honor roll
Requirements for the sixth annual AP District Honor Roll are based on three years of AP data, from 2013 to 2015, looking at 34 AP exams, including world language and culture. The following criteria were used:
▪ Increase participation/access to AP by at least 4 percent in large districts, at least 6 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
▪ 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
This story was originally published January 10, 2016 at 4:09 PM with the headline "Education on Centre: Bellefonte Area earns place on honor roll."