The Shelby County School District is one of 373 school districts in the U.S. and Canada and one of only three in Alabama being honored by the College Board with placement on the 9th Annual AP District Honor Roll.  To be included on the 9th Annual Honor Roll, Shelby County Schools had to, since 2016, increase the number of students participating in AP while also increasing or maintaining the percentage of students earning AP Exam scores of 3 or higher. Reaching these goals shows that this district is successfully identifying motivated, academically prepared students who are ready for AP.

“We are certainly very proud to receive this recognition from The College Board,” said Dr. Lewis Brooks, deputy superintendent and superintendent-elect for Shelby County Schools. “This could not happen without the work of our incredible teachers and the leadership in our high schools. We will continue to seek opportunities to provide rigorous instruction for the students within Shelby County Schools.”

National data from 2018 show that among American Indian/Alaska Native, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander students with a high degree of readiness for AP, only about half are participating. The first step to getting more of these students to participate is to give them access. Shelby County Schools is committed to expanding the availability of AP courses among prepared and motivated students of all backgrounds.

“Success in Advanced Placement is a combination of students’ own motivation and the opportunities educators provide for them,” said Trevor Packer, senior vice president of AP and Instruction at the College Board. “I’m inspired by the teachers and administrators in this district who have worked to clear a path for more students of all backgrounds to earn college credit during high school.”

Helping more students learn at a higher level and earn higher AP scores is an objective of all members of the AP community, from AP teachers to district and school administrators to college professors.  In 2018, more than 4,000 colleges and universities around the world received AP scores for college credit, advanced placement, or both, and/or consideration in the admissions process. Inclusion in the 9th Annual AP District Honor Roll is based on a review of three years of AP data, from 2016 to 2018, looking across 38 AP Exams, including world language and culture. The following criteria were used.

Districts must:

• Increase participation/access to AP by at least 4% in large districts, at least 6% in medium districts, and at least 11% in small districts;
• Increased or maintained the percentage of American Indian/Alaska Native, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander students taking exams and increased or maintained the percentage of American Indian/Alaska Native, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander students scoring 3+ on at least one AP Exam; and
• Improve or maintain performance levels when comparing the 2018 percentage of students scoring a 3 or higher to the 2016 percentage, unless the district has already attained a performance level at which more than 70% of its AP students earn a 3 or higher.

When these outcomes have been achieved among an AP student population in which 30% or more are underrepresented minority students (American Indian/Alaska Native, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander) and/or 30% or more are low–income students (students who qualify for free or reduced–price lunch), a symbol has been affixed to the district name to highlight this work.

The complete 9th Annual AP District Honor Roll can be found here:  https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/score-reports-data/awards/honor-roll