Students participating in the three-year-old Arkansas Advanced Initiative for Math and Science Inc. (AAIMS) effort to increase Advance Placement (AP) scores posted a 32 percent overall increase in qualifying scores in math, science, and English this year.

The results, released today by AAIMS President Tommie Sue Anthony, also showed that AAIMS schools average a 53 percent increase in qualifying scores for all students in their first year of participation in the incentive program.

“We are gratified and overwhelmed by the successes achieved by our students in the participating schools, resulting from our partnership with the National Math and Science Initiative,” Anthony said.

AAIMS schools produced:

• 39 percent of the state’s increase in qualifying AP scores in math, science, and English
• 45 percent of all female qualifying scores in AP math, science, and English
• 54 percent of all African American and Hispanic qualifying scores in AP math, science, and English
• 43 percent of all the low-income qualifying scores in AP math, science, and English, indicating that the state is making significant gains toward closing the achievement gap among traditionally under-represented students

“With its generous support, and that of the Walton Family Foundation, the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, we have made a tangible difference in the lives of our students by giving them the tools to succeed in advanced, college-level courses. This will ultimately impact their future in college and in their careers.”

AAIMS, whose offices are housed at UALR, was among the six states that first participated in the National Math and Science Initiative’s Advanced Placement Training implemented in 2008-2009. The goal of APTIP is to boost student enrollment and achievement in rigorous AP courses, which significantly increases chances of success in college. The APTIP model has 17 years of documented results.

In 2010-2011, 31 high schools in 28 school districts across Arkansas have implemented APTIP, affecting approximately 8,404 public high school students. In 2011-2011, the program will be in 38 schools in 35 districts, with approximately 10,000 students participating.

The state of Arkansas and the local community partners have provided financial support to sustain and grow the AP program.

“The continued gains in student achievement in these courses across the board confirms that taking a proven program such as APTIP and successfully replicating it on a national scale has very real benefits for students,” said Dr. Mary Ann Rankin, chief executive officer of NMSI.

“We are opening doors to college for many more students, which is essential to our country’s future. In today’s highly competitive world, the next generation of leaders and innovators must have a mastery of science, technology, engineering and math.”

This fall, the NMSI program will be implemented in a record 310 U.S. public schools and is expected to reach 350 high schools by fall of 2012.

As of September, NMSI will have also trained more than 8,000 teachers as part of the enhanced professional development at the core of APTIP that also includes on-going support from master teachers for teachers in the classroom.

APTIP increases dramatically the performance of high school students in rigorous AP courses in math, science, and English. The comprehensive approach includes intensive teacher training, support from master teachers, more time on task for students in special study sessions, open enrollment, and incentives.

Passing AP exam scores are almost universally accepted for course credit by the nation’s colleges and universities, which see success in AP courses as reliable indicators of students’ subject-area knowledge and capacity for college-level thinking.

NMSI, a nonprofit organization, is an agent of change that was launched in 2007 by top leaders in business, education, and science to improve student achievement in math and science across the American public school system.

Its mission is to bring best practices to the education sector by replicating two proven programs on a national scale that have more than 12 years of data proving they work: the AP Training and Incentive Program and UTeach, a program to recruit and prepare college students to become qualified math, science and computer science teachers.

NMSI has received major funding support for its ground-breaking national initiatives from ExxonMobil Corp., the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, with additional support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Lockheed Martin Corp.

For more information, contact Anthony at 501-683-7684 or Rena Pederson, NMSI communications director, at 214-665-2523.