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Program to offer students money for high test scores Tuesday, Oct 9, 2007 By John Lyon Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - A new educational incentive program aims to make Advanced Placement programs more attractive to Arkansas high school students by offering them a deal: Do well on an AP test, get a check. Tommie Sue Anthony of Conway, president of the nonprofit foundation Arkansas Advanced Initiative for Math and Science, spoke Monday at the state Education Board's regular monthly meeting about the foundation's plan for increasing Arkansas students' participation and test scores in college-level courses. The foundation plans to use a $13.2 million grant from the National Math and Science Initiative to fund training for AP teachers and financial incentives for both teachers and students. "In many of our communities students have not been encouraged to take upper-level math and science," Anthony said. "They're afraid of taking the hard courses because it may jeopardize their grade points." Twenty-one high schools will be chosen to participate in the program. Eleven schools will be chosen to participate starting in the 2008-09 school year, and another 10 will join the program the following year. The schools will be classified either as "launch" schools, meaning AP participation is low, or "gain" schools, meaning AP participation is good but could be better. Students at launch schools will receive financial rewards for scores of 3 or better - 5 is the highest possible score - on AP exams in math, science or English subjects, Anthony said. For each score in that range, both the student and the student's teacher will receive a reward, probably about $100, he said. Financial incentives will not be available for students at gain schools, but AP teachers at gain schools will be offered a reward, probably about $1,500, for meeting improvement goals. Some teachers also will eligible for stipends. A program that rewards teachers based on students' test scores may sound similar to the controversial concept of merit-based pay, but Anthony urged the board to think of the incentives as compensation for extra work. "These teachers are going to be asked to do more work, work outside of the school day," she said. "We pay people for working additional hours, so this is not a bonus, if you will. This is actually paying those teachers for doing additional work on Saturdays after school, for tutoring students, running study sessions and those things." Arkansas was one of seven states chosen earlier this year to receive a grant from the National Math and Science Initiative. Exxon Mobile Corp. provided $125 million in starting funds for the initiative. The state Department of Education and Gov. Mike Beebe's office were involved in applying for the grant. Corporations such as Mobile Exxon Corp. are having difficulty finding American workers with math and science degrees, Anthony said. "If we're not producing math and science majors, then we're not going to continue to lead the world in technology," she said. Anthony said she hopes businesses in Arkansas will provide funding to expand the program. No state funding will be sought, she said. Under a state law that takes effect in the 2008-09 school year, all Arkansas high schools will be required to offer AP courses in the four core subjects - math, science, English and history. Between 2002 and last year, Arkansas led the nation with a 15.5 percent per-capita growth in the number of students passing math, science and English AP exams. However, Anthony said SAT scores suggest that many who could have excelled on AP exams did not take them. |
