Originally published December 7, 2007 at 12:00 AM | Page modified December 7, 2007 at 12:15 AM
AP classes buff up a school's image
Amy Baeder's Advanced Placement biology class was scheduled to do a photosynthesis lab Monday, but halfway through the first-period class...
Seattle Times education reporter
Amy Baeder's Advanced Placement biology class was scheduled to do a photosynthesis lab Monday, but halfway through the first-period class, the pre-lab questions had stumped almost everyone.
For most of the Cleveland High School sophomores, juniors and seniors, Baeder's class is the hardest they've ever taken. It moves faster, there are more tests, and the A's these top students are used to getting? Suffice it to say it's not happening.
"We won't get into specifics," said Thea Leidel, a senior.
It's one of two Advanced Placement (AP) courses Cleveland is offering for the first time — a move toward improving the high school's academic reputation.
To carry the AP brand, Baeder had to attend training and submit her class syllabus to The College Board, a New York organization that oversees the AP program. If students do well on the AP test at the end of the school year, they are eligible to earn college credit for the class.
"Our school has not had a very good image as far as academics recently," Baeder said. Offering more advanced courses helps. College preparation — and an edge in college admission — is behind massive growth in AP course offerings across the country over the past three decades. More than 14,000 schools nationwide offer at least one AP course.
In Washington, the number of students enrolled in AP courses more than doubled between 2001 and 2006 — to 37,173.
The Edmonds School District is working on expanding AP offerings to underclassmen in its high schools, a district spokeswoman said. Departing Bellevue schools Superintendent Mike Riley is known for increasing AP participation by making it a goal that every student in his district would take at least one AP course. Seattle's new superintendent, Maria Goodloe-Johnson, has said she has the same goal. To reach it, she's working on spreading AP around, giving more students access to the courses.
"When I say all kids should take AP, I believe students should not be denied access because it's not taught," Goodloe-Johnson said.
A 2007 University of Texas study showed students who took AP in high school earned better grades in college.
An outside audit of Seattle's gifted program released this week suggested the district deliver AP courses by video feed, if necessary, to more equally spread the opportunity among high schools.
Today, Seattle's AP offerings are inconsistent.
![]()
Garfield High School has the most AP courses in the district — 15. Any student can take them, but they are offered as part of the district's Accelerated Progress Program. Roosevelt has 11, and Ballard plans to offer 16 this school year, although not all of them have been approved by The College Board. Ingraham and Sealth high schools offer similarly advanced courses through another program called International Baccalaureate.
The lack of AP courses in the South End creates something of a downward spiral for those schools. Because state and district funding are tied to enrollment, they lose funding as fewer students enroll. That means they can't offer as many classes, which makes it harder to attract students.
That's certainly been the case for Cleveland, said Wayne Floyd, the school's interim principal.
"A lot of times when people are picking schools for their students, that's one of the things that they're looking for," he said of advanced classes. "It just gives the perception to the school that it's a quality school."
Rainier Beach High School has seen its enrollment fall by nearly half — to 374 students — in the past five years. The school plans to nearly double its AP offerings this year. This semester, the school's registrar says the school offers just three.
Adding AP courses to schools is expensive and relies on a dedicated teacher and money in the budget to pay for books and supplies.
Consider Baeder's class: Last spring, she lobbied to secure the class's place on the school schedule. Then she recruited a group of students who had taken the right prerequisites and were motivated enough to succeed in a college-level course. A private donation bought the course's $100 textbooks, but the school still had to scrounge up $1,500 for supplies. Each AP final exam — which students must take to be eligible for college credit — costs students $84.
This year, Cleveland also started offering an AP 11th-grade language-arts class. There are plans to add physics, chemistry, government and U.S. history.
Emily Heffter: 206-464-8246 or eheffter@seattletimes.com
Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company
NEW - 12:11 AM
Turnover in store for Seattle board
Obama coaxes states to change with school dollars
Seattle judge rules against parents in school closure suit
Head of Seattle's Alliance for Education resigning
District tweaks Seattle school boundary maps

Ken Auletta talks about "Googled"
Ken Auletta talks about Google with Brier Dudley at the Seattle Central Library.
nwjobs

Post a comment

Michelle Goodman blogs about work/life balance.
How to tell your office you're gravely ill
Post a comment
nwautos

Choosing a new sedan? Weigh the impact of your choice on your wallet and on the planet.
Post a comment
- 'Missing' SeaTac man found with new name, in new state
- Police: DNA from officer's slaying matches suspect
- Prosecutors consider charges against suspect in police shooting
- Three more fires ignite in Greenwood
- Steve Kelley | Hasselbeck gives Seahawks' sagging season a stay of execution
- Plans call for Triangle to become West Seattle gateway
- Bill Clinton meets with Senate Dems on health care
- Trucker dies as big-rig plummets off SF bridge
- Washington coordinator Nick Holt says his Huskies defense is improving
- McGinn next Seattle mayor; Mallahan concedes as vote gap widens
- Prosecutors prepare charges against suspect in police shooting
253 - House health bill unacceptable to many in Senate
246 - Pelosi tours Seattle's Swedish after health-care vote
167 - Prosecutors prepare charges against suspect in police shooting
142 - Alleged shooter tied to mosque of 9/11 hijackers
135 - Obama puts heat on Senate to speed health bill
123 - Resolute Fort Hood soldiers ready for return
118 - McGinn more than doubles his lead over Mallahan
97 - Cutaia says replay handled properly on Austin TD
69 - Josh Smith picks UCLA
68
- For 80-year-old Maple Valley man, hoops aren't just a dream
- Plans call for Triangle to become West Seattle gateway
- Three more fires ignite in Greenwood
- 'Missing' SeaTac man found with new name, in new state
- Pakistani-American cafe, bar owner on verge of being Granite Falls mayor
- Silver Lake restaurant destroyed by fire
- All You Can Eat | Fruit flies: thrill to the kill
- Police: DNA from officer's slaying matches suspect
- Taste | Ruth Reichl still reigns as queen of America's culinary scene
- Book review | Ayn Rand: goddess of the market, gateway to the American right








