SSD Named to College Board’s AP Honor Roll

STARKVILLE, Miss. (Press Release) — The Starkville School District is one of only 3 districts in Mississippi to be named to the College Board’s AP District Honor Roll for significant gains in student access and success.

SSD was awarded this distinction because SHS simultaneously achieved increases in access to Advanced Placement courses for a broader number of students and improved the rate at which their AP students earned scores of 3 or higher on an AP Exam since 2012.

“It’s quite an accomplishment,” said SHS Principal David Baggett who credited teachers and students for the achievement. “They deserve the recognition for their hard work and dedication. This is something that SHS will continue to build on during the next several years.”

“SHS now offers up to 12 AP courses,” SSD Asst. Supt. Tori Holloway said. “This expanded AP schedule allows students to pursue a more rigorous course of study beginning in ninth grade which has resulted in more opportunities for our students to excel.”

“The devoted teachers and administrators in this district are delivering an undeniable benefit to their students: opportunity. When coupled with a student’s hard work, such opportunities can have myriad outcomes, whether building confidence, learning to craft effective arguments, earning credit for college, or persisting to graduate from college on time.” said Trevor Packer, the College Board’s senior vice president of AP and Instruction. “We applaud your conviction that a more diverse population of students is ready for the sort of rigor that will prepare them for success in college.”

Inclusion on the 5th Annual AP District Honor Roll is based on the examination of three years of AP data, from 2012 to 2014, looking across 34 AP Exams, including world language and culture. The following criteria were used.

Districts must:

• Increase participation/access to AP by at least 4 percent in large districts, at least 6 percent in medium districts, and at least 11 percent in small districts;
• Increase or maintain the percentage of exams taken by African American, Hispanic/Latino, and American Indian/Alaska Native students; and
• Improve performance levels when comparing the percentage of students in 2014 scoring a 3 or higher to those in 2012, unless the district has already attained a performance level at which more than 70 percent of its AP students are scoring a 3 or higher.

Starkville is among only seven school districts in Mississippi who have earned the AP Honor Roll distinction since it was first published in 2011.