The United States Department of Education recently granted Education Prof. Carolyn Callahan and Asst. Education Prof. Holly Hertberg-Davis $2.2 million to continue funding the Advanced Placement Challenge Program, a research program that aims to increase AP test scores among college-hopefuls from minority and low income backgrounds, Hertberg-Davis said.
The program is a collaborative effort between University professors and Virginia Beach Public Schools to improve the quality of their AP courses, Callahan said. She also noted that the program will collaborate with high school teachers and counselors alike to improve test scores.
“The AP Challenge Program will provide scaffolding in the form of social and emotional support as well as guidance in facing challenges, finding balance and honing study skills,” Hertberg-Davis said.
She explained that if all goes as planned, the University will host 45 rising 10th- and 11th-grade students during the summer to help them develop the necessary background, time-management and study skills before they begin studying AP material next fall. Funding from the grant, according to a University press release, will be provided for five years.
Hertberg-Davis noted that many professors have felt that the AP examinations do not adequately prepare students to take on college courses later, and that the program’s increased emphasis on training may help in this regard. Callahan explained that the University will also work with 15 high school teachers to teach them the most effective teaching strategies.
“The program is aimed at a boost for performance,” Callahan said, noting that despite the increased number of students enrolling in AP courses, the number of students that actually excel in taking the end-of-year examinations is dwindling. Hopefully, she said, the Advanced Placement Challenge Program, with the assistance of the recent government grant, will be able to overcome this hurdle.
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