Birmingham Public Schools Make College Board's AP District Honor Roll

Birmingham Public Schools is one of 539 school districts across the U.S. and Canada being honored by the College Board with placement on the third annual AP District Honor Roll for simultaneously increasing access to Advanced Placement course work while increasing the percentage of students earning scores of 3 or higher on AP exams.

Achieving both of these goals is the ideal scenario for a district’s AP program because it indicates that the district is successfully identifying motivated, academically prepared students who are likely to benefit most from rigorous AP course work.

More than 90 percent of colleges and universities across the U.S. offer college credit, advanced placement or both for a score of 3 or higher on an AP Exam — which can potentially save students and their families thousands of dollars in college tuition. 

A total of 539 school districts across 44 of 50 states in the U. S. and six Canadian provinces achieved honor roll status. The state of Massachusetts was represented by the largest number of AP Honor Roll districts, with 46, followed by Michigan, with 39.

“We applaud the extraordinary efforts of the devoted teachers and administrators in these 539 districts, who are fostering rigorous work worth doing. These educators have not only expanded student access to AP course work, but they have enabled more of their students to achieve on a college level — which is helping to create a strong college-going culture,” said College Board President, David Coleman.

Inclusion on the 3rd Annual AP District Honor Roll is based on the examination of three years of AP data, from 2010 to 2012 for the following criteria:

Districts must:

• 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.
• Ensure that the percentage of African American, Hispanic/Latino, and American Indian/Alaska Native students taking AP Exams did not decrease by more than 5 percent for large and medium districts or by more than 10 percent for small districts.
• Improve performance levels when comparing the percentage of students in 2012 scoring a 3 or higher to those in 2010, unless the district has already attained a performance level in which more than 70 percent of the AP students are scoring a 3 or higher.