Rural schools seek additional AP courses

Superintendent Gary Wargo came to Bellevue on Tuesday in search of new ways his tiny rural LaCrosse School District can challenge students academically.

The question on Wargo's mind: How can his Whitman County district, with 140 students and 17 teachers, offer Advanced Placement (AP) courses?

"We have teachers interested in teaching AP courses," Wargo said. "We're trying to learn from other small schools what they are doing, how they are handling the challenge of scheduling those classes and preparing kids who want to take AP classes."

More than 30 rural school districts from across the state attended a conference at Bellevue's Interlake High School to discuss ways to get more AP courses into their high schools and middle schools. They also came to learn about a federal grant recently awarded to the state's Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) to help rural districts train teachers and set up AP courses.

The conference was hosted by the Bellevue School District, known nationally for its commitment to offering AP courses and for offering AP training courses to teachers.

About 85 percent of Bellevue's students take at least one AP course and 45 percent take four or more, said Mike Riley, Bellevue superintendent.

AP is a national program that offers rigorous classes in various subjects. Students who complete AP courses can take an exam and earn college credit. The courses are quickly becoming an important element on students' transcripts to get into college, but rural districts often are limited in their ability to offer the courses because of limited staff and money.

College admissions offices are looking toward AP courses to help determine whether applicants are up to the challenge of higher education, said Gaston Caperton, president of The College Board, a not-for-profit association that oversees the national AP program.

"It shows if the student has taken a high level of courses and can do a high level of work," Caperton said.

Rural school districts make up 48 percent of the districts statewide, but they host 2 percent of the AP exams each year, said Barbara Dittrich, OSPI's AP program supervisor.

The new federal grant will help establish more AP courses in about 50 rural school districts. The grant, which totals $1.4 million over three years, will give each district about $10,000 a year to help train teachers and establish programs, said Kathleen Plato, who wrote the state's grant application.

The state has received two previous federal grants to raise awareness about AP courses and build pre-AP courses at the elementary- and middle-school levels.

At least one rural school district believes it has shown that AP courses can be successfully offered, even with limited staffing.

In 2001, Blaine School District began building its AP courses and now offers 10.

"It's really changed the culture of the high school," said Scott Ellis, assistant principal at Blaine High School. "It changed the rigor, and now more students are looking for AP."

Rachel Tuinstra: 206-515-5637 or rtuinstra@seattletimes.com