22 Illinois School Districts Make AP Honor Roll

ILLINOIS — Hundreds of school districts, including 22 in Illinois, have been named to the annual AP District Honor Roll, which recognizes schools that increase access and performance related to Advanced Placement programs. More than 370 school districts across the country and in Canada were recognized on the 9th annual list.

To qualify, large school districts had to show there was at least 4 percent more participation and access to Advanced Placement programs. Medium districts had to see at least a 6 percent increase and small districts had to see at least 11 percent.

These schools increased access to Advanced Placement courses for minority students while also improving or maintaining the rate at which participating students scored a 3 or higher on an AP Exam.

Here are all the schools in Illinois:

• Barrington Community Unit School District 220★
• Burlington - Central Community Unit School District 301★
• Chicago Public Schools*‡★
• Vernon Hills - Community High School District 128★
• Diocese of Rockford Education Office
• Diocese of Springfield Education Office
• Dunlap Community Unit School District 323★
• East Aurora School District 131*‡
• Bensenville - Fenton Community High School District 100*‡
• Freeburg Community High School District 77
• Herscher Community Unit School District 2
• Aurora - Indian Prairie Community Unit School District 204★
• Lisle Community Unit School District 202★
• Minooka Community High School District 111
• Monticello Community Unit School District 25★
• Mt Zion Community Unit School District 3
• Naperville Community Unit School District 203★
• O'Fallon Township School District 203
• Saint Joseph-Ogden Community High School District 305
• Palatine - Township High School District 211★
• Troy - Triad Community School District 2★
• Williamsville Community Unit School District 15★

The organization noted the districts that saw at least 30 percent enrollment of American Indian, African-American and Hispanic/Latino students with an asterisk. Those where at least 30 percent of participants qualified for free or reduced lunch were noted with a dagger symbol. Districts that received a star achieved the honor over multiple years.

National data from this year showed that about half of underrepresented students with a “high degree of readiness for AP” participated in the program, the organization wrote on its website.

College Board sponsors the Advanced Placement program and the popular SAT test, which attempts to assess a students’ college-readiness. The Honor Roll recognition is based on three years of data from 2016 to 2018.

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.

Photo credit: Charles Dharapak/Associated Press