Northside students earn cash for test scores

Seventy-four Northside High School students have qualified to collectively earn $12,800 in cash awards based on their successful work in an math and science program.

According to a statement from the Arkansas Advanced Initiative for Math and Science, the 74 Northside students passed 128 advanced placement (AP) designed to be “reliable indicators of students’ subject-area knowledge and capacity for college-level thinking.”

The Northside High School program was received national recognition in August 2010 and a visit from Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe after students posted the largest increases among select students in the six state program.

Part of the program financially rewards students for high scores on the AP tests. ExxonMobil helped fund the program and student incentives with a $125 million grant.

AAIMS, based at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, was among the six states that first participated in the National Math and Science Initiative’s (NMSI) Advanced Placement Training implemented in 2008-2009. In addition to ExxonMobil, NMSI has received major funding support for its ground-breaking national initiatives from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, with additional support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Lockheed Martin Corp.

“The goal of APTIP is to boost student enrollment and achievement in rigorous AP courses, which significantly increases chances of success in college. The APTIP model has 17 years of documented results,” noted the AAIMS statement.

In 2010-2011, 31 high schools in 28 school districts across Arkansas have implemented APTIP, affecting approximately 8,404 public high school students. In 2011-2011, the program will be in 38 schools in 35 districts, with approximately 10,000 students participating.

AAIMS President Tommie Sue Anthony said the AAIMS schools average a 53% increase in qualifying scores for all students in their first year of participation in the incentive program.

The AAIMS program also reported that participating Arkansas schools produced:
• 39% of the state’s increase in qualifying AP scores in math, science, and English;
• 45% of all female qualifying scores in AP math, science, and English;
• 54% of all African American and Hispanic qualifying scores in AP math, science, and English; and,
• 43% of all the low-income qualifying scores in AP math, science, and English, indicating that the state is making significant gains toward closing the achievement gap among traditionally under-represented students.

“We are gratified and overwhelmed by the successes achieved by our students in the participating schools, resulting from our partnership with the National Math and Science Initiative,” Anthony said. “With its generous support, and that of the Walton Family Foundation, the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock we have made a tangible difference in the lives of our students by giving them the tools to succeed in advanced, college-level courses. This will ultimately impact their future in college and in their careers.”