by Brian Keaney

The High School will be offering more Advanced Placement courses next year thanks to a grant from Mass Insight.  The grant strives to increase the number of students taking AP courses in math, science, and English by providing training, supports, and incentives to both teachers and students.

Mort Orvol, president of the Massachusetts Math and Science Initiative, told the School Committee on Wednesday night that his organization will train additional teachers to teach the courses.  Some of those teachers will also be providing Saturday support sessions for students. 

The Saturday support sessions are voluntary, but attract hundreds of students who take advantage of them.  Orvol said he has been known to raffle off iPods to entice students to attend them, which will also be open to students from Milton and Randolph High Schools, who will also be participating in Dedham’s cohort.  More than 50% of students usually attend, according to Orlov.

With the additional AP courses being offered, teachers and administrators will be encouraged to steer more students towards them, including those who wouldn’t traditionally consider or be considered for AP courses.  “One of our goals is to reduce the barriers to admission,” Orlov said.

“This is not a ‘gifted and talented program,’” said Orlov, a former principal at Chelsea High School.  “We believe there is a large group of students in the middle who can really move to a high level of performance.”

The program, which is in its second year of existence in Massachusetts, has already seen an increase of 44% in participation in AP courses.  Orlov has set a goal of increasing participation by at least 50% in Dedham. 

Another way organizers hope to increase participation is to open up more courses to juniors and even sophomores.  Orlov said “there is a substantial trickle down effect” which benefits underclassmen and others who do not take the courses as well.  He said teachers have adjusted their lessons for 9th and 10th graders to better prepare them to take the courses later. 

Special education students could also participate and succeed in the program, Orlov said.  “There are times when you are going to stretch, and that’s ok,” he said.   

He said the students in the program should reflect the overall demographics of the school, and that the number of potential students “is actually quite large.” 

“This isn’t a Casablanca program where you round up the usual suspects,” said Orolv in reference to the 1942 film.

Calling it “very much a teacher program,” Orlov said “the level of professional development we are able to offer is substantial.”  One reason Dedham was selected, he said, is that they were already impressed with the quality of teachers at the school.  He said he hoped to “grow the bench” of teachers who qualified to teach AP courses.

Teachers participating receive monetary awards tied to their performance.  The AP exams are graded on a scale of 1 to 5 by the College Board.  A score of 3, 4, or 5 is known as a qualifying score and makes the student eligible to receive credit at most colleges.  For each student that receives a qualifying score, the teacher receives $100. 

All the teachers in a school who are teaching an AP course in a particular subject are also eligible to earn a “threshold award.”  Mass Insight will look at the previous two years of performance of the school, and set a goal.  If it is met, all the teachers receive a bonus between $1,000 and $3,000.  The bonuses are designed to reward both individual and collaborative effort, Orvol said.

Saying she was “just tickled” by the program, School Committee member Margaret Matthews said she had seen what could happen when the district focused on an area to improve.  She said she expected this program to show similar positive results.  Joanne McCormick, the Director of Guidance, said she hoped the program would encourage students to think about taking AP courses in other subjects as well. 

The AP courses and exams are designed to be college level work.  By providing additional exposure to this level of work in high school, organizers hope it will not only benefit students when they do get to college, but also to encourage more of them to attend.  The Initiative will track students who participate in the program once they reach college, and will gather data on them to measure their success.

“The participation in these programs is in the best interest of the students at Dedham High School,” said Committee member Tom Ryan.  “That’s all that matters to me.  Let’s go for it.”