Objective
Believing that all willing and academically motivated students deserve to succeed in rigorous, college-level experiences and the advantages they bring, CollegeFirst: An Advanced Placement Mentoring Initiative trains college and graduate students to (1) provide academic tutoring and mentoring to high school students pursuing Advanced Placement coursework; (2) help implement a Pre-AP summer academic enrichment program for rising ninth graders in Birmingham, Montgomery and Huntsville.
Application for college students to tutor in the Summer Academic Institute.
CollegeFirst Mission
CollegeFirst is a partnership with
A+ College Ready, a collaborative initiative committed to expanding and strengthening math, science, and English Advanced Placement (AP) programs in Alabama. A+ College Ready and CollegeFirst play integral roles in responding to the declining stature of Alabama students in national and global competitiveness in math and science by heightening expectations of Alabama high school students, challenging them to cultivate their skills and abilities, and exposing them to the content knowledge they will need to succeed in college.
The following activities enable CollegeFirst to fulfill its mission and meet the needs of the population served:
1.
Tutoring and mentoring by college students for high school students enrolled in AP courses: Service-learning courses established in colleges and universities provide college students with the opportunity to earn academic credit to provide tutoring and mentoring for high school students in AP courses. College students are paired with one or a small group of high school students enrolled in an AP course related to the college student’s major or
expertise. The mentor and AP student(s) meet on a regular basis to strengthen concepts learned in the classroom and provide individualized attention. CollegeFirst will also include a distance learning component to reach AP students who attend school in areas away from participating college campuses. The relationships developed between mentor and AP student serve to enhance more than simply academic performance. AP students develop valuable personal relationships with college student mentors who succeeded in the same AP course when in high school and who are now succeeding in college. Many AP students will see these college mentors as positive role models and examples toward which to strive.
2.
AP Saturday exam prep session assistance from college students: Three full-day Saturday prep sessions for each AP course are offered to all enrolled AP students as the exam dates approach. These sessions are led by experienced AP teachers with support provided by college students assisting with science labs, practice exercises, and individual questions.
3.
Summer Academic Enrichment for high school students in participating schools : Using research-based approaches and models of effective practice, CollegeFirst strives to ensure that students in participating school systems have access to high-quality learning opportunities during the summer. CollegeFirst provides three weeks of high quality academic and cultural programming to help prepare young people to excel in AP courses.
Students receive three weeks of literacy and language instruction, targeted math and science instruction, as well as comprehensive transition skills for high school. The curriculum for the Summer Academic Enrichment program will be developed through a collaboration with Laying the Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of teacher training, classroom materials, and web-based resources.
Community Partners
Community partners include A+ College Ready, Laying the Foundation, the National Math and Science Initiative, twenty-three high schools in five districts across Alabama, colleges and universities across the state, and the State Department of Education. Collaborations are currently being developed at colleges and universities in Birmingham, Huntsville, and Montgomery to develop and implement opportunities for college students to receive academic credit for their participation. AP teachers and A+ College Ready administrators provide consultation with Impact staff to ensure that all guidance provided by CollegeFirst students aligns with the needs of the teachers, students, and AP curriculum.
The Need for CollegeFirst
AP Mentoring: U.S. education levels continue to fall in international rankings, dropping to 26th in math in 2006 (down from 20th in 2003) and to 20th in science in 2006 (down from 15th in 2003). This growing deficit results in an erosion of American competitiveness in the global economy (National Academies of Science). Alabama consistently ranks below the national average in math and science achievement. In 2007, Alabama ranked 42nd in the country in 8th grade science achievement and 50th in the country in 8th grade math achievement. During these precarious economic times, Alabama high schools must be proactive in reversing this trend.
Advanced Placement courses enable motivated students to take college-level courses taught by teachers in their local high schools. Through AP courses, talented and dedicated AP teachers help students develop and apply the skills, abilities and content knowledge they will need to succeed in college. Each AP course is modeled upon a
comparable college course, and college and university faculty play a vital role in ensuring that AP courses align with college-level standards. AP courses culminate in a suite of college-level assessments developed and scored by college and university faculty as well as experienced AP teachers (College Board 2009).
Research has consistently shown that students passing AP exams are three times more likely to earn a college degree than students who do not pass (College Board 2009). Six-year college graduation rates rise from 15 percent for African-American and Hispanic students to 60 percent or higher if they have passed at least one AP exam (National Center for Educational Accountability). Moreover, students enrolled in AP courses are internationally competitive. While the average U.S. student ranks below the international mean on the Trends in International Math and Science Study (TIMSS), students who receive a passing score on the AP Calculus and Physics exams rank first in the world in advanced math and science. Even those students simply enrolled in AP Calculus and Physics courses, receiving less than a passing score on the AP exam, were bested only by students from the top three nations in the world.
Recognizing the relationship between enrollment in AP courses and success in college, it is vital that Alabama’s high schools capitalize on this knowledge and increase the number of students able to participate in AP. However, in 2008, in math, science and English, Alabama ranked 43rd nationally in AP exams taken and 45th in exams passed (College Board). While 15.2 percent of America’s public school graduating class of 2008 received a passing score on an AP exam (25 percent took at least one AP exam), just 6.8 percent of Alabama’s public school graduating class of 2008 received a passing score on an AP exam (13.5 percent took at least one AP exam) (College Board). African-American students represent 34 percent of the Alabama public school graduating class of 2008, yet only 2.3 percent passed an AP exam in 2008 (Nationally, African- American students make up 14 percent of the overall student population and 3.3 percent of those receiving a passing score on AP exams.) (College Board).
Summer Programming: Academic studies have consistently shown that all young people – but especially those from low-income families – experience learning losses when they do not engage in educational activities during the summer (Cooper, Nye, Charleton, Lindsay, & Greathouse, 1996). Student achievement for both middle and low-income students improves at similar rates during the school year. During the summer, however, low-income youth experience cumulative summer learning losses contributing to a widening of the achievement gap over the course of several years (Alexander & Entwisel, 2002). On average, students loose approximately 2.6 months of grade-level equivalency in mathematical computation skills over the summer months, regardless of income level (Cooper et al.). Low-income youth, however, experience far greater summer learning losses than their higher-income peers. On average, middle-income students experience slight gains in reading performance over the summer months. Low-income students, however, experience an average of two months’ loss in reading achievement (Cooper et al.).
A+ College Ready Accomplishments
In just its second year of implementation (2009-10), A+ College Ready is partnering with twenty-three high schools in the Birmingham, Montgomery, Huntsville, Madison County, and Jefferson County school systems to implement a variety of AP expansion strategies. In two years, they have increased the number of AP courses offered in these schools from 80 to 144 and the number of students enrolled from 2,087 to 5,448. A+ College Ready expects a 141% increase in the number of passing scores on AP exams for the 2008-09 year (results will be available in July).
