Fulton Schools Recognized for African-American AP Student Performance

Fulton County Schools is one of six urban school districts nationwide to be profiled for its successful strategies in boosting African-American student participation and performance on Advanced Placement tests.

The report, "The Road to Equity: Expanding AP Access and Success for African-American Students," was produced by The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation and details how Fulton County Schools is increasing college readiness of African-American students. In Fulton, African-American students have improved their AP passing rates quickly enough to gain on their white peers while increasing or keeping participation rates steady.

"It’s not enough to just increase our African-American students’ participation. We must also continue providing access and support to make sure our students are successful," said Superintendent Robert Avossa. "This report [from the Broad Foundation] is eye-opening in how well our schools are doing, but to reach our strategic goal of increased college preparedness, we have to do more to engage all of our minority student populations."   

In looking to identify urban school districts with promising trends in student achievement and college-readiness, The Broad Foundation analyzed four years of AP exam participation and passing rates for students in the 75 districts whose demographics qualify them for consideration for the annual Broad Prize for Urban Education, a $1 million award that recognizes districts demonstrating the greatest overall performance and improvement in student achievement while reducing achievement gaps among students from low-income families and students of color.

The foundation found that the districts were able to simultaneously raise performance on AP tests without losing ground on participation by employing many of the following practices and strategies: 

1. Offer a rigorous curriculum beginning in elementary grades
2. Expand access to gifted programs
3. Analyze student results on precursors to college entrance exams – like PSAT – to identify potential AP students and actively recruit them to enroll in AP courses
4. Provide extra academic and social support to students
5. Dramatically increase the number of AP course offerings
6. Offer additional teacher training and professional development
7. Instill confidence in students about their college-going potential
8. Educate parents about the benefits of AP

The College Board’s Advanced Placement program is a benchmark for academic rigor and offers high school students the opportunity to earn college credit, thus saving students time and money. Enrollment in AP courses has tripled since 2000 as districts moved to increase course offerings and broaden student recruits in the challenging courses.

The full report is located online.

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