Hello AP/IB Boosters!
Contents
- Welcome
- College Board, AP Audit
- HECB
- New 4 Year University in Snohomish County?
- Robotics Tournament for Middle School Students
- World Languages Offered in Washington School Districts
- Community Service
- AP Exam Financial Assistance for Low Income Students
- US News and World Report, America’s Best Colleges
- Events
- College Board Online Event, New AP Teacher Open Workshop in
AP Calculus
- College Board Online Event, New AP Teacher Open Workshop in
AP English Literature and Composition
- College Board Online Event, Teaching Poetry in the AP
English Classroom
- College Board Online Event, Introducing AP Japanese
Language and Culture
- College Board Online Event, New AP Teacher Open Workshop in
AP United States History
- College Board Online Event, Introductory Online Workshop in
AP World History
- College Board Online Event, Technology Skills for Educators
- US Dept. of Education Online Event, High Schools: Expanding
the Promise of No Child Left Behind
- Constitution Day
Welcome
- We’re baaaaaaaaack. This is going to be a good year for our
community. That is not just hyperbole. There are many outside forces
(outside of the Everett School district) that are going to assist in
our efforts to bring about change (improvements) to the academics in
our district. This edition of our newsletter and others to follow will
enumerate all of them.
Our mission statement, goals, and 12 top priority issues can
be found at:
http://www.apibboosters.org/GoalsAndObjectives.html
The titles of our priority issues are:
- Additional Course Offerings
- Course Syllabi
- Teacher Quality
- Modified 6 Period Day Schedule
- National Exams
- Middle School & Elementary School Improvement
- Study Skills
- Required Summer Reading
- Progress Reports
- PE Credit for Sports Participation
- Academic Events
- Academic Recognition
We welcome your comments on all of our priority issues.
-
College Board, AP Audit
- Finally, the College Board is putting some teeth into its
guidelines on what is and what is not an AP course. We all know of
certain schools that misuse the AP label. Starting now (September 2005)
high schools will receive information on the upcoming (2007/2008
academic year) requirement to receive the AP approved course label. AP
teachers will need to fill out a form certifying that their course
meets the College Board’s guidelines. The school’s appropriate
department chairperson or principal will have to sign off on each
course. As part of the audit, a syllabus, sample assignment, and sample
exam will need to be submitted. Part of the audit form that must be
completed includes teacher background information. The College Board
recently published a document listing the qualifications for AP
teachers. The most important item is (no surprise) subject area
knowledge.
We expect there will be a few teachers who will complain
about this auditing. But auditing (trust but verify) courses is nothing
new. The University of California maintains a list of UC Approved
Honors courses for each high school in California. The International
Baccalaureate Organization requires IB schools to meet rigorous
standards before they can call themselves an IB school. And IB courses
are audited every year, throughout the year. IB teachers must
periodically submit sample student work to the IB auditors to verify
course content, rigor and grading policy. Auditing is just new to AP.
Thank you College Board.
- We told you it is going to be a good year.
-
HECB
"The Washington Higher Education Coordinating Board [HECB] is
a 10-member citizen board that administers the state's student
financial aid programs and provides planning, coordination, monitoring
and policy analysis for higher education in Washington.
The Board is charged by state law with representing the ‘broad
public interest above the interests of the individual colleges and
universities.’
- Created by the Legislature in 1985, the Board was formally
established in January 1986 as the successor to the Council of
Postsecondary Education. Appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the
Senate, board members serve four-year terms. The exceptions are the
Board chairman, who serves at the pleasure of the Governor, and the
student member, who serves a one-year term. The agency's executive
director serves at the pleasure of the Board.
Major functions of the Board include:
- Developing a strategic master plan for higher education and
monitoring progress in meeting the plan’s goals and strategies
- Developing and recommending policies to enhance the
availability, quality, efficiency and accountability of public higher
education in Washington
- Serving as an advocate for students and the overall higher
education system
- Creating a seamless system of public education
- Administering student financial aid programs
- Helping families save for college"
http://www.hecb.wa.gov/index.asp
Now here is the good news. The HECB has stated that the
"current minimum admission requirements are inadequate and that too
many high school graduates are not prepared for college-level work."
- We (AP/IB Boosters) couldn’t agree more.
The HECB is proposing the following:
- Requiring four credits of mathematics, with at least one
credit in the senior year of high school;
- Requiring two credits of laboratory science, one of which
is algebra-based;
- Requiring three credits of academic core coursework in each
year of high school; and
- Eliminating the statewide college Admissions Index, which
ranks students based solely on grade point averages and test scores and
does not consider the difficulty of coursework.
The debate occurring right now is when to implement this
change. For more info, see the following:
http://www.hecb.wa.gov/Research/issues/admissions.asp
New 4 Year College in Snohomish County?
There is a serious proposal underway to plan and build a 4
year university in Snohomish County. Perhaps one that emphasizes math,
science, and engineering. We do live in a high tech hub – Boeing,
Microsoft, Biotech.
The following article in the Herald has quotes by the Everett
Mayor on this subject.
http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/05/08/23/100loc_university001.cfm
Robotics Tournament for Middle School
Students
- The FIRST Lego League organization sponsors an annual
international robotics tournament for middle school kids.
- http://www.usfirst.org/jrobtcs/flg_chal.htm
- The description below from FIRST is a prelude to the
September 12th challenge announcement.
- "2005 Ocean Odyssey Challenge
- FIRST LEGO League travels into the depths of the ocean to
explore the mysteries that lie below. The oceans are of vital
importance to the health of the Earth and to everyone that lives on
this planet; yet only 1% of these magnificent bodies of water have been
studied.
- Oceans provide inspiration, fun, and food. They absorb
carbon and generate oxygen, profoundly affecting the global
environmental system. A distress call has been issued to FIRST LEGO
League teams around the world to find solutions that will sustain the
health, bio-diversity, and productivity of the world’s oceans for
present and future generations."
World Languages Offered in Washington School
Districts
- As of this writing, our district continues to be one of the
few districts in the Puget Sound area that does not offer any Asian
Language courses. This is an oversight. Asian languages have been and
will continue to be important for our students as they enter the global
economy.
- For a list of World Language courses offered at nearby
schools, please see the following:
- http://www.apibboosters.org/WorldLanguages.html
- This web page also describes options (usually fee based)
that families may want to explore for their sons and daughters.
- The Washington State Coalition for International Education
organization maintains a statewide list of schools and what World
Language courses they teach.
- http://www.internationaledwa.org/wlprofile/high_school.htm
Community Service
- The Everett School District is one of the few districts in
our area that does not have a Community Service component to its
graduation requirements. Community Service, in our district, does not
receive the attention it deserves. For some ideas on this topic, see
the following web page:
- http://www.apibboosters.org/CommunityService.html
AP Exam Financial Assistance for Low Income
Students
As we do at the beginning of every school year, we contacted
the OSPI (Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction) to ask about
financial assistance to cover AP exams. Happily, the OSPI confirmed
that low-income students in Washington State will only pay $5 for each
AP exam.
US News and World Report, America’s Best
Colleges
While it is just one measurement, the US News and World
Report’s College Rankings might be of interest.
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/rankindex_brief.php
Events
College Board Online Event, New AP Teacher
Open Workshop in AP Calculus
- September 21, 2005, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. (ET)
College Board Online Event, New AP Teacher
Open Workshop in AP English Literature and Composition
- September 15, 2005, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. (ET)
College Board Online Event, Teaching Poetry
in the AP English Classroom
- September 27 and 28, 2005, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. (ET)
College Board Online Event, Introducing AP
Japanese Language and Culture
- September 14, 2005, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. (ET)
College Board Online Event, New AP Teacher
Open Workshop in AP United States History
- September 20, 2005, and January 24, 2006, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
(ET)
College Board Online Event, Introductory
Online Workshop in AP World History
September 17, 2005, 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (ET)
College Board Online Event, Technology
Skills for Educators
September 29, 2005, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. (ET)
US Dept. of Education Online Event, High
Schools: Expanding the Promise of No Child Left Behind
Tuesday, September 20, 2005, 8:00 PM - 9:00 PM ET
- Duration: 1 hr.
http://registerevent.ed.gov/
"The September broadcast of Education News Parents Can Use
will feature special ‘Back-to-School’ tips from U.S. Secretary of
Education Margaret Spellings and the 2005 National Teacher of the Year,
Jason Kamras, and will include a panel of educators, policy makers,
business and community leaders exploring key issues such as:
- How do U.S. high schools need to change to meet the demands
of the 21st century?
- How has No Child Left Behind impacted the academic
performance of our country’s younger students, and how can its
principles be expanded to our nation’s high schools?
- What high schools strategies are showing measurable results
in positively affecting the achievement gap?
- What are the most effective models of high school reform?
- What should parents be doing to ensure their middle and
high school aged children are prepared to succeed in the new school
year?"
Constitution Day
September 16th, 2005
The following National Archives site might be a possible
resource for teaching about the Constitution.
Teaching With Documents: Observing Constitution Day
http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/constitution-day/
Hurricane Katrina
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims of Hurricane
Katrina. A suggested way for you to help the relief effort is through
the American Red Cross.
http://www.redcross.org/
Thank you.
Until next month.