AdvanceKentucky’s AP course program paying off for Kentucky students

We’ve already made it clear that we are big fans of the AdvanceKentucky program to improve the Advanced Placement (AP) college credit course program in Kentucky’s public high schools.

And, with the recent good news announcement from the Kentucky Department of Education that AP participation and performance increased again in 2011, I am confident that once again the AdvanceKentucky schools will be responsible for a considerable portion of the overall improvement (more on that is promised by AdvanceKentucky on September 22).

However, thanks to the Gleaner newspaper in Henderson, Kentucky, we already know that students in the Henderson County High School AdvanceKentucky program are reaping big benefits – such as $16,000 in cash awards – for earning AP scores of 3 or higher in recent testing.

The students will reap much more when they go on to college. Not only will the better educations they have received by taking these advanced courses put the students in a much better position to succeed in college, but they also can save another bundle on courses they won’t have to take in college.

You see, most colleges accept passage of an AP course with a 3 or higher score as proof that the student has mastered the college material covered in the course. Students don’t have to retake those courses in college but can move on to higher level subjects right upon college entry. That can make it possible for students to complete college a year ahead of their peers, which is a huge savings if you haven’t checked out the latest annual costs to attend a college.

Once the AdvanceKentucky report is released this Thursday, I’ll take a look at how many of the success stories in the KDE news release are due to the wonderful AdvanceKentucky initiative.

One thing I can tell you right now, no AP successes in Jefferson County will be due to the AdvanceKentucky program. You see, the teachers’ union in Jefferson County steadfastly refuses to allow any kids in our largest school district to benefit from AdvanceKentucky’s program.

Why?

Selfishness!

You see, teachers also get awards when their students do well in AdvanceKentucky courses. But, that just looks like merit pay for the ever-put-adults-first teachers’ union. So, the union in Louisville willingly sacrifices the best interests of both students and top-performing teachers to have its own way.