ADVANCED
PLACEMENT
ROBBINSDALE AREA SCHOOLS
ABOUT ROBBINSDALE
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Robbinsdale Area Schools serves all or parts of Brooklyn
Center, Brooklyn Park, Crystal, Golden Valley, New
Hope, Plymouth and Robbinsdale
Total district enrollment is approximately 12,700
students
Robbinsdale is home to two high schools, Armstrong and
Cooper, which together serve about 4200 students
 Armstrong offers Advanced Placement (AP)
 Cooper offers International Baccalaureate (IB) and
Middle Years Program (MYP)
Armstrong HS and Plymouth MS received a grant from
Minnesota Department of Education to raise student
achievement by increasing both participation in AP and
the total number of students receiving a score of 3+ on
AP exams
ABOUT ARMSTRONG
Armstrong has approximately 2130 students in
grades 9-12
 Student demographics are as follows:
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American Indian – 1%
Asian or Pacific Islander – 5.4%
Hispanic – 6.5%
Black, not Hispanic – 18.4%
White, not Hispanic – 68.7%
Total non-White population – 31.3%
22% of students receive free or reduced price
lunch
 Four counselors are assigned to students
alphabetically
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MORE ABOUT ARMSTRONG
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Educational Plans – Graduates of 2008:
Four year college 76%
 Two year college 16%
 Other education 8%
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College Placement Testing
Numbers below are mean composite scores
 PLAN - 2007
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AHS 17.9; National 17.8
ACT - 2008
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AHS 23.5; National 21.2
HISTORY OF AP AT ARMSTRONG
Historically, a counselor has served as the
coordinator of the AP Program
 AP started at Armstrong approximately 15-20
years ago
 An application process was in place for many AP
courses, and each department determined its own
process for application
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For example, the application for AP United States
History included a written prompt, application form,
two teacher recommendations and a check of
grades/class performance
GROWTH OF AP NATIONALLY
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Total number of students taking AP exams increased
by 15.6% in 2007
The number of African-American students taking
exams increased by 42%
The number of Latino students taking exams increased
by 23%
The number of Native-American students taking
exams increased by 19%
AP AT ARMSTRONG
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4 Pre-AP courses are offered at grades 9-10
17 AP courses are offered at grades 10-12, taught by 21
teachers
Course offerings are as follows:
9th
Grade
10th
Grade
11th Grade
12th Grade
•Pre-AP
English
•Pre-AP
Physical
Science
•Pre-AP
World
Geography
•Biology
•U.S.
History
•Pre-AP
English
•Environmental
Science
•Chemistry
•Statistics
•Calculus AB and
BC
•Music Theory
•English Language
& Composition
•European History
•Human Geography
•Environmental Science
•Physics B & C
•Statistics
•Calculus AB and BC
•Music Theory
•English Literature &
Composition
•Human Geography
•Economics
•Psychology
•US Government &
Politics
•Spanish Language
•Spanish Literature
BASELINE DATA, 2005-06
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While the AP Program served many students, the
demographics of students enrolled in Pre-AP/AP courses
did not reflect the demographics of AHS
At AHS, 13% of students enrolled in AP courses were
students of color, while 31% of all students enrolled at
AHS were students of color
The gap was greatest for African American students.
The total African American enrollment at AHS was
17%, compared to only 4% enrolled in AP courses
The number of low-income students enrolled in preAP/AP courses is harder to measure, as not all who
qualify for free and reduced lunch (FRL) applied for
FRL.
 25% of students at AHS received FRL, compared to 5%
enrolled in AP courses.
BASELINE DATA, 2005-06
One of the greatest predictors of college success is
the participation in AP courses
 At the time, 65% of AHS students continued their
post-secondary education at a four-year college or
university
 However, only 35% of seniors in 2005-2006 were
enrolled in an AP course
 And in 2006-2007 only 30% of seniors received a
qualifying score of 3 or higher on an AP exam
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AP GRANT INITIATIVES
Goal 1: Increase student academic achievement
through access to and the expansion of Pre-AP
and AP courses and enrollment, including lowincome and students of color enrollment
 Goal 2. Ensure that students are prepared to
handle the rigor of AP courses and earn college
credit or advanced placement on the AP exams
especially in English, math, and science
 Goal 3: Increase the number of teachers with AP,
Pre-AP, and AVID training that participate in
vertical teaming which will equip them to
prepare more students for the rigor of AP courses
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RECRUITMENT
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Information sessions held at each middle
school
Information presented to students at gradelevel registration meetings
AP Information Night held for students and
parents, with special invitations given to
underrepresented students who have never
taken AP
Targeted recruitment of underrepresented
students identified by teachers as potential AP
students
SUPPORT
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Hand-scheduling of underrepresented students
The AP Coordinators offered support to struggling
students and conferenced with any student wishing to
drop an AP course
The AP library was expanded and updated with
review and support materials available for student
check-out
Regular after school help sessions were offered for the
following courses: AP United State History, AP
Biology, AP Language & Composition, AP Chemistry,
and AP Calculus
AP teachers offered test prep review sessions
Pre-AP and AP teachers, along with former AP
students, were available to help students at the afterschool Extended Learning Time (ELT) program
AP Summer Prep enrichment classes were offered in
2008 and are being offered in 2009 to prepare
students for the rigors of AP
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Over 50% of all core content area teachers from
both Armstrong HS and Plymouth MS
participated in vertical teaming in the past two
years
 About 20 teachers and faculty participated in
AVID Path training
 Many have also worked both vertically and
horizontally with colleagues to implement PreAP, AP and/or AVID strategies into curriculum
 Professional development at Armstrong has
focused heavily on AVID strategies the past two
years
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RECENT DATA
Overall enrollment in Pre-AP and AP classes
increased from 1446 students in 2007-08 to 1899
students in 2008-09, an increase of 31%
 Enrollment will increase again in 2009-10
 The number of AP exams taken has increased as
follows:
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In 1999, 429 AP exams were administered
 In 2008, 878 exams were given, an increase of 13%
over 2007
 In 2009, over 1000 exams were given, an increase
of 12% over 2008
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See charts in packet for enrollment figures by
course
LOOKING AHEAD, WHAT WE LEARNED
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Change takes time and initiatives must be sustainable
Achieving and sustaining the goals of the grant involves changing
teacher/student attitudes and beliefs.
Teachers need to provide varied opportunities for students to
demonstrate learning
High expectations and rigorous curriculum must be maintained
Students need to see themselves as the reason for their individual
success
Students need to feel safe, supported, and successful
Time must be spent building community so all students feel
valued in the classroom
Student learning and growth is more important than test scores
Student word of mouth and personal testimonials help to grow
the program
CONTACT INFORMATION
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Cathryn Peterson, AP Coordinator & English
Teacher
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Erica Gullickson, AP & AVID Coordinator
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763-504-8887
cathryn_peterson@rdale.org
763-504-8784
erica_gullickson@rdale.org
Ali McClellan, Counselor
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763-504-8825
ali_mcclellan@rdale.org