UVa wins grant to help AP students

Two University of Virginia Curry School of Education professors will complete and implement a new support program for low-income and minority students enrolled in Advanced Placement courses.

Carolyn Callahan and Holly Hertberg-Davis received a five-year, $2.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Grant Program. With the grant, they will analyze the level at which underrepresented populations perform in Advanced Placement courses and develop and implement a program that will increase student success.

“Our goal is not just to increase representation of minority and low-income students in AP classes. In fact, schools are currently doing a pretty good job of that,” Callahan said. “We are interested in increasing learning, performance on AP exams and college aspirations and application.”

The number of black and Latino students taking AP exams between 2000 and 2006 more than doubled. However, in 2006 only 27 percent of black students taking those exams received a three or higher, compared with 32 percent in 2004 and 39 percent in 1997, according to College Board statistics.

The program, called The AP Challenge Program, will be based on a collection of data gathered by the two professors in AP programs across the country. The program is designed to be flexible to allow the teachers, counselors and students at the various schools to shape it to best fit their contexts and needs.

Additionally, students will attend a weeklong pre-AP summer program at UVa.

The students’ AP teachers and school counselors will teach the program, and it will focus on developing necessary background skills, such as writing, time management, study and higher-level thinking skills.

The professors hope to have initial results from their work by June 2010, with additional data coming in each year following. The final report should be finished by June 2013.