GREAT NEWS FOR GLOUCESTER CITY SCHOOLS: Placed on the College Board’s 7th Annual AP® District Honor Roll for Significant Gains
Friday, January 06, 2017
For Immediate Release: January 5, 2017
The Gloucester City School District Placed on the College Board’s 7th Annual AP® District Honor Roll for Significant Gains in Student Access and Success
GLOUCESTER CITY N.J. --Gloucester City School District is one of 433 school districts in the U.S. and Canada being honored by the College Board with placement on the 7th Annual AP® District Honor Roll. To be included on the 7th Annual Honor Roll, the Gloucester City School District had to, since 2014, increase the number of students participating in AP while also increasing or maintaining the percentage of students earning AP Exam scores of 3 or higher. Reaching these goals shows that this district is successfully identifying motivated, academically prepared students who are ready for AP.
National data from 2016 show that among black/African American, Hispanic, and Native American students with a high degree of readiness for AP, only about half are participating. The first step to getting more of these students to participate is to give them access. Courses must be made available, gatekeeping must stop, and doors must be equitably opened. The Gloucester City School District is committed to expanding the availability of AP courses among prepared and motivated students of all backgrounds.
“Congratulations to all the teachers and administrators in this district who have worked so tirelessly to both expand access to AP and also to help students succeed on the AP Exams,” said Trevor Packer, the College Board’s head of AP and Instruction. “These teachers and administrators are delivering real opportunity in their schools and classrooms, and students are rising to the challenge.” Helping more students learn at a higher level and earn higher AP scores is an objective of all members of the AP community, from AP teachers to district and school administrators to college professors. Many districts are experimenting with initiatives and strategies to see how they can expand access and improve student performance at the same time.
In 2016, more than 4,000 colleges and universities around the world received AP scores for college credit, advanced placement, or both, and/or consideration in the admission process.
Inclusion on the 7th Annual AP District Honor Roll is based on a review of three years of AP data, from 2014 to 2016, looking across 37 AP Exams, including world language and culture. The following criteria were used.
Districts must:
-
Increase participation/access to AP by at least 4% in large districts, at least 6 % in medium
districts, and at least 11% in small districts;
-
Increase or maintain the percentage of exams taken by black/African American, Hispanic/Latino,
and American Indian/Alaska Native students; and
-
Improve or maintain performance levels when comparing the 2016 percentage of students scoring
a 3 or higher to the 2014 percentage, unless the district has already attained a performance level at which more than 70% of its AP students earn a 3 or higher.
When these outcomes have been achieved among an AP student population in which 30% ormore are underrepresented minority students (black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, and American Indian/Alaska Native) and/or 30% or more are low-income students (students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch), a symbol has been affixed to the district name to highlight this work.
****
The Gloucester City School District is a school community that has a core of pillars such as respect, compassion and persistence. In my role as Superintendent of Schools for the Gloucester City School District I admire the hard work, dedication and determination of the students and the staff to create an outstanding learning environment. The Gloucester City school family has always had a tremendous sense of pride associated with the school district. This "pride" is shown in our classrooms, athletic fields, stage and civic responsibilities just to name a few. It is with great respect that I work with our highly qualified faculty and staff that continuously strive to make students successful both academically and socially. Our students work to compete in a global economic environment to learn to build a foundation for their future.
The hard work of so many has built an excellent opportunity for a school district to be an exceptional academic and social environment for children to have opportunities to succeed. The Gloucester City School District believes all of our children can reach their goals. Our diverse community shares the vision for learning and continuously works toward improving student achievement. We believe together, as a community, we are working toward preparing our children for the ever-changing demands of the 21st century. Quality academic practices are essential for developing students for the future. Malcolm Gladwell stated in the book Outliers: The Story of Success that, “Practice isn't the thing you do once you're good. It's the thing you do that makes you good.” We must encourage our students to engage and develop quality academic practices and habits to provide them opportunities.
About Gloucester City School District
The Gloucester City School District will be soon have a very significant change as the school district as we prepare for the opening of the long awaited Middle School. The new Middle School will give the students of Gloucester City a tremendous academic, social and athletic environment in which they will be able to opportunities of achievement.
The Gloucester City School District's curriculum, instruction and assessment are effectively aligned with the Common Core State Standards. We are continuously evaluating our practices through data driven decisions and best research practices. Our professional development focuses on improving student learning outcomes. The academic programs provide a foundation for young students. The staff builds on that foundation with other general education classes; Technology, Art, Music, World Language, Physical Education and Health are all implemented into our curriculum.
Our school community is fully aware of the importance of using each and every allocated dollar in the most efficient way possible to enhance student learning. In conjunction with active community groups such as PTO, our strategic planning allows us to utilize these resources in the most fiscally sound way. Our building is equipped with computers, Active/Smart Boards as well as additional technology focused on student and staff development.
The Gloucester City School District is privileged and well prepared to have a positive impact on the next generation of leaders. Please feel free to contact us should you have any questions or visit our website at www.gcsd.k12.nj.us for additional information about the Gloucester City School District.
SOURCE PRESS RELEASE